Appeal No. 1996-2930
Application 08/301,784
Water can exist in the form of a liquid, solid or vapor.3
“Solution” has been defined as “a spontaneously forming
homogeneous mixture of two or more substances, retaining its
constitution in subdivision to molecular volumes, displaying
no settling, and having various possible proportions of the
constituents, which may be solids, liquids, gases, or
intercombinations”, and “the act by which a gas, liquid, or4
solid is dispersed homogeneously in a gas, liquid, or solid
without chemical change.” Thus, “water” and “solution” need5
not be in liquid form.
Appellants’ specification states that the hydrothermal
treatment is in water or an aqueous alkali solution at a
temperature of 350EC or above and a pressure of 200 kg/cm or2
below (page 4, lines 1-3) and provides examples within these
ranges (pages 7-10). The examiner has not explained why, in
3See The Condensed Chemical Dictionary 923 (Van Nostrand
Reinhold, 9th ed. 1977).
4See Webster’s II New Riverside Dictionary 1107
(Riverside 1984).
5See The Random House College Dictionary 1252 (Random
House 1973).
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007