Appeal No. 95-5067
Application 08/064,575
The examiner applies the primary references (EP ‘114, GB
‘477, and/or Gash) to show that the condensation reaction of
alcohols with fluorinated olefins to form fluorinated ethers
is well known (answer, page 3). The examiner applies the
secondary references (Saunders and Kricheldorf ‘83 and ‘84) to
show that silyl ethers in the presence of fluoride ions
generate phenolate or alkoxide ions which react with halogen
derivatives to form ethers (answer, page 5). The examiner
then concludes that it would have been obvious to the artisan
to modify the synthesis of fluorovinyl ethers as disclosed by
the primary references by first “derivatizing” the alcohols to
trimethylsilyl ethers and using a catalyst such as cesium
fluoride or tetrabutylammonium fluoride as taught by the
secondary references “in order to employ more economical
reaction conditions of lower temperatures, the use of less
corrosive materials (no alkoxide salts) and to avoid the
separation from large quantities of inorganic salts.” (Id.).
The examiner bears the initial burden of presenting a
prima facie case of obviousness based on the disclosures of
the applied prior art references. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d
1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992). “When it
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