Appeal No. 94-2267
Application No. 07/896,799
reference as a whole would have suggested such a feature. It
appears that the examiner is arguing that the recited transparent
polymer alloys are inherently obtained.
To establish a prima facie case of unpatentability under
inherency, the examiner has the initial burden of establishing
that the transparent polymer alloys are inevitably formed by
blending the crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) and the
polyarylate described in the Robeson reference. In re Oelirich,
666 F.2d 578, 581, 212 USPQ 323, 326 (CCPA 1981); Ex parte Levy,
17 USPQ2d 1461, 1464 (Bd. Pat. App. & Int. 1990). On this
record, however, the examiner has not supplied any objective
evidence or scientific reasoning that the Robeson references
inherently produces transparent organic polymer alloys suitable
for optical applications, when the crystalline portion of the
crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) is present. There is also no
indication that the crystalline portion of the crystalline
poly(aryl ether ketone) can be homogeneously mixed
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