Appeal No. 94-4489
Application No. 07/857,216
prima facie obvious). Moreover, appellants have not disputed
the examiner’s finding (see Supplemental Answer, page 2) that:
High temperature thermoplastic microcapsules of the
type claimed by the applicant were not only
available at the time of the invention of Gaworoski
et al. but were specifically disclosed for use in
the printing blanket of Gaworowski et al.
Compare also Gaworowski’s microcapsule material relating to
copolymers of vinylidene chloride, methacrylate, polyvinyl
chloride and acrylonitrile at column 4, lines 61-63, with
appellants’ microsphere materials listed at page 11, lines 1
and 2, of the specification. Accordingly, we agree with the
examiner that it would have been obvious to employ
thermoplastic microspheres having a melting temperature of
135°C with a reasonable expectation of obtaining a desired
compressible printing blanket.
In any event, we note that the Gaworowski reference, like
appellants, recognizes the importance of using thermoplastic
microspheres and avoiding the melting of thermoplastic
microspheres during vulcanization at conventional
vulcanization temperatures in a process for making a
compressible printing blanket. See column 2, lines 44-68.
Upon recognizing the importance of using thermoplastic
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