Appeal No. 96-2898
Application No. 08/340,998
Appellants’ additive composition, as noted above, is said to
address both prior art problems in that it simultaneously
effects a reduction of wax haze and an alleged unexpected
synergistic reduction of pour point in lubricating oils.
As evidence of obviousness of the claimed subject matter
on appeal, the examiner relies on Gee and Bridger. Gee
discloses that esterified styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers
are useful as pour point depressants and fluidity improvers
for liquid hydrocarbon mineral oil compositions. See column
1, lines 31-41; column 1, line 63 to column 2, line 10; and
examples 1-5 of Gee. Gee also teaches that such oil
compositions “may contain other additive materials intended to
enhance the value of such compositions in certain well-defined
and specific aspects”. See column 6, lines 63-66 of the
reference.
The examiner relies on Bridger for the disclosure that
certain esterified maleic anhydride-olefin copolymers act to
reduce low temperature micro-crystalline wax formation in
mineral oils. See Bridger generally at column 1, line 66 to
column 3, line 44.
The examiner’s factual finding (answer,
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