Appeal No. 95-4830
Application 07/899,361
-COO- or -OCO-, A can be, inter alia, tetralin or 1,2,3,4-
tetrahydrophenanthrene, q can be either zero or 1, and R can 2
be, inter alia, an alkyl group having 1 to 15 carbon atoms,
wherein one or more CH groups are replaced by a group from a
2
list including -CHhalogen-, -O-CO- and -CO-O- (col. 1, line 6
- col. 3, line 38). In our view, such a Hopf compound is
sufficiently similar to that of Suzuki that one of ordinary
skill in the art would have expected Hopf’s -O-CO- and -CO-O-
terminal esters to be interchangeable not only in Hopf’s
compound, but also in that of Suzuki. Thus, one of ordinary
skill in the art would have been motivated to use either of
these terminal esters in the Suzuki liquid crystal compound
and would have had a reasonable expectation of success in
doing so. Accordingly, use of a terminal alkanoyloxy group
instead of a terminal alkoxycarbonyl group in Suzuki’s
compound would have been prima facie obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art in view of Hopf. 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,
-6-6
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