Appeal No. 95-0954
Application 08/058,092
to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Vaeck, 947
F.2d 488, 493, 20 USPQ2d 1438, 1442 (Fed. Cir. 1991); In re
O’Farrell, 853 F.2d 894, 902, 7 USPQ2d 1673, 1680 (Fed. Cir.
1988); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 892-93, 225 USPQ 645, 648
(Fed. Cir. 1985).
Appellant argues that Whistler’s granular starch is
hydrolyzed and crosslinked (brief, page 6). Whistler teaches
that granule firmness and structural integrity in a water
dispersion can be obtained by controlling the degree of starch
hydrolysis (col. 2, lines 23-25). Greater structural
integrity can be obtained, Whistler teaches, by treating the
microporous granules with a bifunctional starch-reactive
crosslinking agent
(col. 2, lines 27-43). Whistler teaches that the granules
become more resistant to mechanical damage and to swelling and
dissolution as the degree of crosslinking increases (col. 2,
lines 43-45). Whistler does not, however, teach that any such
hydrolysis or crosslinking is needed for the granules to
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