Appeal 2007-1855
Application 10/815,650
requirement of a CV of 80% or less” (Moriyama Declaration ¶¶ 8 and 9).
We find a similar conclusion reported in the Specification for Comparative
Example 1 (Specification 23:10-19).
We determine there is no difference between the kinds of materials
disclosed in the written description in the Specification and described in
Machida for the resin binder and the colorant ingredients, including
activated carbon as charcoal powder, of the claimed and prior art toner
compositions. There is also no difference in the methods disclosed in the
Specification and described in Machida by which the ingredients can be
blended and pulverized to obtain a toner composition and apply the toner
composition to obtain electrostatic image development resulting in printed
copies, or in the methods of evaluating the copies on the same properties
although by somewhat different tests. The activated carbon is disclosed in
the Specification and claimed to have a volume-based median particle size
(D50) of 5.6 µm or less, and a coefficient of variation of 80% or less based
on the D50, while Machida describes an average particle size of no more than
5 µm. Indeed, the commercially available, coconut shell-based activated
carbon Shirasagi KA-2 and YP-17 used in the Specification examples have a
D50 of 3.81 µm and 5.15 µm, respectively, and a CV of 60.3% and 59.9%,
respectively, are illustrated in the Specification. Machida’s examples
illustrate activated carbon “Shirasagi A-1” with an average particle size of
1.0 µm and 4.5 µm, but the reference apparently does not establish the
material from which this commercial activated carbon is made.
In this respect, the Examiner does not contest Appellant Moriyama’s
testimony that commercially activated carbon “Shirasagi A-1” exemplified
in Machida has a D50 of 39.605 µm (see above p. 3). See, e.g., In re Reuter,
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