Appeal No. 95-4033
Application 07/669,125
polytetrafluoroethylene and a curable polysiloxane composition comprising a vinyl-containing
polydiorganosiloxane, an organohydrogen-polysiloxane crosslinking agent, a hydrosilation catalyst (a
precious metal containing catalyst), and an adhesion promoter such as the maleate or fumarate functional
silanes disclosed by Smith (col. 4, line 5 to col. 5, line 1). The examiner concludes that “[i]t would have
been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to replace a self-
curable silicon [sic, silicone] composition of Smith <698 by self-bonding compositions of Mitchell <407,
since it was known in the art that a composition containing vinyl-containing polydiorganosiloxanes[,]
hydrogen-containing polysiloxanes, and a catalytic amount of a hydrosilation catalyst are self-bonding
compositions and have improved adhesive properties” (answer: p. 5).
On this record, the examiner has not provided cogent reasons as to why it would have been
obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to arrive at the claimed laminate from the combined teachings of
Smith and Mitchell. The examiner has not provided any analysis and rationale to explain how a person
having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated by the combined teachings of the prior art to
substitute Mitchell’s vinyl-containing diorganosiloxane polymer composition for Smith’s silanol-terminated
diorganopolysiloxane polymer composition. Mitchell does not disclose that his vinyl-containing
diorganosiloxane polymer composition is a self-bonding adhesive, let alone that the composition can be
used without polytetrafluoroethylene as an adhesive to bond layers of plastic, metal and/or glass without
the use of a primer. The examiner relies on the “improved adhesive properties” of the Mitchell composition
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