Appeal No. 95-5080 Application 07/952,122 are open to blending and/or reaction of the components in any sequence, such as the pre-reaction of components a and d. The applicant urges that the prereacted epoxy resin cannot satisfy a mixture of a) and d) of the instant claims because a chemical reaction generally alters the character and properties of the involved species and the wording of the instant claims requires the presence of four individual components and does not encompass reaction products which may be obtained by a specific reaction of two or more compounds. After careful consideration of the arguments of the examiner and appellants as well as the evidence relied upon by both, we find ourselves in agreement with the appellants that the instant claims recite a blend of four ingredients and that the prereacted epoxy resin cannot satisfy both a) and d) as the examiner has alleged. We cannot agree with the examiner's reasoning with respect to the rejection of record and we reverse this rejection. However, we are of the view that the teachings of Henton and Lee would have rendered the instant claims prima facie obvious. Our reasons follow. There is no dispute that Henton teaches a liquid epoxy resin (column 2, line 60 - column 3, line 52) in combination with 8Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007