Appeal No. 96-3019
Application No. 08/386,136
met thier burden of showing unexpected results. In re Klosak,
455 F.2d 1077, 1080, 173 USPQ 14, 16 (CCPA 1972). It is not
sufficient to assert that the results obtained are unusual or
unexpected. The burden of showing unexpected results rests on
they who assert them.
Appellants argue that a direct comparison of a t-butyl
ester with t-butyl carbonate shows that shrinkage in the case
of t-butyl ester is markedly less. See Brief, page 5. This
argument is not persuasive because appellants have not
presented a comparison with the closest prior art. See In re
Baxter Travenol Labs., 952 F.2d 388, 392, 21 USPQ2d 1281, 1285
(Fed. Cir. 1991); In re De Blauwe, 736 F.2d 699, 705, 222 USPQ
191, 196 (Fed. Cir. 1984). Appellants rely on the Conference
Report of Leuschner to disclose that t-butyl carbonate groups
and t-butyl ester groups are not equivalent. They further
rely on Chatterjee, submitted with the Reply Brief, in support
of their position. See Reply Brief, page 2. However, we
agree with the examiner and find that the polymers exemplified
by Leuschner and Chatterjee directed to t-butoxy carbonyl
imide are not within the scope of the prior art references and
hence do not represent the closest prior art. See Answer,
8
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