Appeal No. 96-2810
Application 08/017,086
We so find.
According to appellants’ process Claim 7, glazed sanitary
ceramic articles are produced by (a) spraying the unglazed
ceramic article with an aqueous glaze comprising 40 to 60% by
weight of ceramic raw materials selected from feldspars,
clays, kaolin, quartz, metal oxides, and frits, and a
hydrophobically modified hydroxyethylcellulose; (b) drying the
article; and
(c) firing the dry article. Norris produces his glazed
sanitary ceramic articles (Norris, col. 3, l. 51-55) by (a)
spraying the unglazed ceramic article with an aqueous glaze
comprising a stable aqueous dispersion of 20 to 70% of one or
more inorganic ceramic pigments and up to about 1.5% of a
thickening agent; and (b) firing the sprayed article (Norris,
col. 3, l. 8-43; see also Norris’s Claim 26). Norris’s
inorganic ceramic pigments include frit, china clay, feldspar,
silica and kaolin (Norris, col. 5,
l. 7-9). Norris’s thickening agent may be xanthan gum or a
modified cellulose ether gum such as hydroxy cellulose, methyl
cellulose, hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose, etc. (Norris, col.
7, l. 22-31). The examiner finds (Examiner’s Answer, p. 5):
Once fired, any differences in the glaze based upon the
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