Appeal No. 95-3976
Application 08/164,733
We do not find appellants’ arguments persuasive. Forming a poly(styrene/isoprene) block
copolymer where styrene would be at the outer end of the polymeric arm is within the scope of Eckert’s
anticipatory disclosure. Eckert describes the star polymers as having a dense center or nucleus of a
polyalkylene coupling agent and a number of polymeric arms represented by the formula A)B)X)(B)A)n
where n is the number of arms, X is the polyalkenyl coupling agent nucleus, A can be styrene block and
B can be the isoprene block (col. 3, lines 43-45 and 52; col. 6, lines 23-38). While the sequence of
Example 13 may be opposite to that claimed, Example 12 discloses the sequence as claimed herein.
Eckert discloses recovering the star polymer in “solid form” (col. 8, lines 23-24) which can then be blended
with the oil (col. 8, lines 34-36). Appellants have not defined in the specification the meaning of the phrase
“solid crumb,” but the ordinary meaning of the phrase would be a small solid fragment which would be
encompassed by Eckert’s “solid form.” Moreover, appellants state in their brief that “[a] solid polymer3
can be either a solid mass ... or a solid crumb which is much easier to handle than a solid mass” and that
the star polymers included in Eckert’s claim 33 could be recovered as a solid “crumb” (brief: p.5). We 4
consider this as an admission that recovery of a solid mass within the scope of Eckert would inherently
include recovery as a solid “crumb.”
3The American Heritage Dictionary, 2nd Edition, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Mass., p. 345 (1982)
defines “crumb” as being “[a] small fragment or scrap.”
4Claim 33 in Eckert is directed to a composition wherein the hydrogenated conjugated diene block (e.g.
isoprene) is attached to the polyalkenyl nucleus and the molecular weight of the monoalkenyl aromatic block (e.g.
styrene) is between 4,000 and 5,000.
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