Appeal No. 95-2830
Application No. 07/967,617
meaning that the claim terms are intended to have, the claims are examined with that meaning, in order
to achieve a complete exploration of the applicant’s invention and its relation to the prior art.”).
When the term “fiber reactive group” is given its broadest reasonable interpretation in light of
the disclosure at page 4 of appellants’ specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in
this art, this term includes those fiber-reactive groups “intended” by appellants and thus includes
“aromatic ones” which are “formed by combination thereof through a suitable bridging group.” 3
Accordingly, since it is clear from the teachings of Yokogawa that the “bridging group” “-W-N(R )-Z”
2
is indeed “suitable” to link the “fiber reactive group” “Z” to the chromophoric moiety of the compounds
disclosed therein, appealed claims 1, 2 and 5 through 9 are clearly prima facie anticipated by and
prima facie obvious over this reference under §§ 102(e) and 103.
CHARLES F. WARREN ) BOARD OF PATENT
Administrative Patent Judge ) APPEALS AND
) INTERFERENCES
Thomas P. Pavelko, Esq.
3 The pertinent full text at page 4 of appellants’ specification reads as follows:
In the present invention, the fiber-reactive group represented by Z is intended to
mean those which can react under dyeing or printing conditions with [an] –OH, -NH- or
–NH group in the fibers to form a covalent bond.
2
More specifically, the fiber reactive group includes aromatic ones having at least one
fiber reactive substituent on a 5- or 6-membered aromatic heterocyclic ring or a poly-
condensed aromatic system, aliphatic ones and those formed by combination thereof
through a suitable bridging group. The heterocyclic ring includes, for example,
monoazines, diazines and triazines . . . . [Emphasis supplied.]
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