Appeal No. 2006-3254
Application No. 10/347,982
(see column 4, lines 28-35, in particular), which meets the limitation of
being from ‘about’ 1 to ‘about’ 99.9% by weight.” (Answer 4.)
The Examiner also argues that Jokura “teaches that the di-carboxylic
acid salt may be formed by adding an alkali to the composition following the
addition of an acid to the composition, thereby forming the salt via
neutralization in the system (see column 3, lines 45-50.)” (Answer 5.) The
Examiner concludes that “the dicarboxylic acid salts in the composition of
Jokura et al. must comprise a mixture of both fully neutralized and half
neutralized acid, as the addition of alkali to the acid will result in a
composition having some content of both the fully and partially neutralized
acid.” (Id.)
In particular, the Examiner argues that “‘free acid,’ ‘partially
neutralized’ acid (formula I), and ‘fully neutralized[’] acid (formula II), exist
in solution in equilibrium with one another, with the concentration of the
different forms being governed by the individual Ka of each ‘neutralization’
reaction.” (Answer 14.) “[T]he ratio of partially neutralized acid to fully
neutralized acid will be dependent upon the concentration of H+ in solution.
In other words, the ratio of partially neutralized to fully neutralized acid is
governed by the pH of the solution.” (Answer 16 (emphasis in original).)
Thus, the Examiner concludes that “solutions having the same pH should
have the same or similar ratios of partially neutralized to fully neutralized
salts.” (Id.)
In addition, the Examiner notes that Jokura “teaches that a desirable
pH range is from 3 to 10 and preferably from 3 to 9, and exemplifies
compositions having a pH of 4.1 (see column 3, lines 60-65 and Table 2)”
4
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