Appeal No. 94-0898
Application No. 07/785,644
The claims on appeal are directed to a process for removing
Group VIII metal catalyst residues from a polyketone copolymer as
described in representative claim 1, the sole independent claim:
1. A process for the removal of Group VIII metal
catalyst residues from a carbon monoxide-olefin
polyketone copolymer which comprises contacting the
polyketone with an effective amount of a beta diketone
compound to effect the removal of catalyst residues
therefrom.
The references relied upon by the examiner are:
Brons et al (Brons) 4,798,884 Jan. 17, 1989
van Broekhoven et al 4,855,400 Aug. 8, 1989
(Van Broekhoven)
Blytas et al (Blytas) 4,960,865 Oct. 2, 1990
All of the appealed claims stand rejected for obviousness
under 35 USC ' 103 in view of either Brons or van Broekhoven or
Blytas. We shall sustain this rejection since we are of the
opinion that the examiner has established a prima facie case of
obviousness which has not been convincingly rebutted.
In an attempt at rebuttal, appellants refer to Table 1 of
Blytas which, according to appellants, shows that acetyl acetone
(acac) is ineffective for recovering palladium from a polyketone
copolymer. Therefore, in appellant=s view, Blytas teaches away
from using acac, one of the beta diketone compounds specifically
disclosed in appellant=s own specification as a useful reagent.
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