Appeal No. 96-2708
Application 08/335,432
Appellants direct their arguments primarily to the Perry reference, alleging that
Perry does not provide for the inclusion of an “acidic additive” as required by claim 3.
Perry employs a neutralizing agent which, according to appellants, is not truly acidic. We
disagree. Appellants do not define the expression “acid additive “ in their specification;
rather they provide a list of representative compounds which they identify as “acid in
nature” (page 11). In particular, appellants identify “fatty acids” as exemplary of an “acid
additive.” See page 11, line 21. Perry describes, in example 4, the use of castor oil fatty
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acid, a C unsaturated fatty acid, also known as ricinoleic acid. Perry’s fatty acid
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compound satisfies appellants’ acid additive requirement. Additionally, Perry teaches that
his “neutralizing agents” include not only materials that are neutral at ordinary temperature,
but also materials that are strongly acidic which only dissolve slowly in the reaction
medium, as well as materials which slowly react with one of the components to form a
strong acid. (see column 2, lines 66-75). In our view, Perry’s neutralizing agents are not
excluded from nor inconsistent with the appellants’ expression “acid additive”.
Appellants direct our attention to examples 2, 4, 6, and 8 in their specification as
evidence of nonobviousness. In these examples, appellants attempt to show that the
2 See the Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Ninth Edition (1977) page 171 and 755.
(copy attached)
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