Appeal 2006-2774
Application 10/309,493
Appellant admits in the Specification that “fire retardant coatings or
paints have been used for many years” (Spec. 1: [0002]).
For example, Liu (US 5,968,669), cited in the Specification at [0003],
describes a fire retardant intumescent coating which can be spread on
particle board (Liu, at col. 8, Example 17). The coating composition
comprises seven of the same components recited in claim 1, including
pentaerythritol (a), ammonium polyphosphate (c), chloroparaffin (d),
polyvinylacetate latex (e), titanium dioxide ((f) of claim 1), surfactant ((g) of
claim 1), and water in amount which overlaps with (j) of claim 1 (Liu, at col.
6, Table III and Example 2).
In addition to Liu, Wainwright (US 5,532,292) also describes an
intumescent coating composition that can be spread like paint (Wainwright,
Abstract). The composition comprises seven of the same components
recited in claim 1, including a charring agent such as pentaerythritol (a)
(Wainwright, at col. 4, ll. 28-30), a char reinforcement material, such as
glass frits and other inorganic fibrous material (b) (Wainwright, at col. 1, l.
62 to col. 2, l. 20), ammonium phosphate (c) (Wainwright, at col. 4, ll. 25-
28), a blowing agent (d) (Wainwright, at col. 4, ll. 30-31); water borne
binder such as vinyl acrylic copolymer (e) (Wainwright, at col. 5, ll. 23-32),
pigment such as zinc oxide (f) (Wainwright, at col. 4, ll. 41-42), and water
(j) (Wainwright, at col. 5, l. 7 and 23; at col. 7, ll. 5-21).
Wainwright also discloses that its composition can be in the form of
either a paint or a putty (Wainwright, Abstract and at col. 9, ll. 31-45).
Thus, persons of skill in the art at the time the invention was made would
have recognized that a fire barrier composition could be produced as a paint
or in a more solid form, such as a putty or caulking, as described by
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