Appeal No. 95-1079
Application 08/037,192
3 4
properties or what appellants term as “polydispersity.” The
examiner maintains that Mahabadi’s chain transfer component in
step (a) is essentially appellants’ stable free radical agent
because the “stable free radical agent is defined by appellant
[sic, appellants] on page 13 of the specification as free radical
polymerization inhibitors ...” (answer, page 3). Appellants
contend that Mahabadi’s chain transfer agents function as
polymerization inhibitors, and not as agents to control the
molecular weight distribution properties of the polymer. 5
Appellants argue that
[s]ubstituting the chain transfer agents recited in
Mahabadi for the stable free radical agents of the
3According to appellants, these properties include: “extent of monomer
to polymer conversion or degree of a polymerization; control of molecular
weight and polydispersity of the bulk product; viscosity of the bulk product;
temperature profile control, that is the absence of large exotherms; and gel
control or minimization of gel body formation” (specification, page 9).
4The term “polydispersity” has not been defined in appellants’
specification. The closest dictionary definition we could find was in The Van
Nostrand Chemist’s Dictionary, Edited by Honig et al., D. Van Nostrand
Company, Inc., New York, 1953, page 548 which defined a “polydisperse system”
as being a “colloidal system that consists of particles of different sizes.”
From this definition we construe the meaning of “polydispersity properties” in
the context of appellants’ specification to mean a system of polymers having
different properties such as molecular weight, viscosity, degree of
polymerization, etc.
5We note that appellants incorporated the Mahabadi patent by reference
in its entirety into their specification (see page 3) and included a brief
overview of Mahabadi’s process. At least at the time the application was
filed, appellants placed no emphasis on any difference in the function of
Mahabadi’s chain inhibitor and their “stable free radical agent” which would
patentably distinguish their process over the Mahabadi process.
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