Appeal No. 1995-2920
Application 07/999,172
response to appellants’ arguments). Our consideration of the issues is further complicated
by the examiner’s lack of specificity in identifying the portions of the references relied upon
(for example, Horn discusses at least 12 diploid Pelargonium peltatum cultivars, but the
examiner does not point to any one in particular in any rejection).
Jacobsen ‘605 and Jacobsen ‘602 disclose P. peltatum plants with red and pink
petals, respectively. Both plants display androecium and gynoecium (male and female
reproductive organs), but the references make no mention of fruit or pollen.
Gugino discloses red-petaled P. peltatum plants; the plants display androecium and
gynoecium, but the reference indicates that no pollen was apparent, and that the ovaries
appeared to be non-functional.
Horn teaches that one of the main reasons for the slow progress in breeding ivy-
leafed geraniums is “the sterility of many cultivars . . . possibly caused by their hybrid
origin.” See page 28. Of 52 cultivars, many of which were “sterile, self or cross
incompatible,” only the Ville de Paris family appears to be diploid, male sterile and
capable of setting seed. It does not, however, produce a viable F generation upon
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crossing with a pollen parent as the seed deteriorates before ripening. Indeed, according
to Horn, most of the common P. peltatum cultivars known at the time arose asexually as
somatic mutants of the Ville de Paris family. See pages 23 and 26, and Tables 2 and 3.
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