Appeal No. 1996-4135 Page 6
Application No. 08/346,325
copolymers that are necessarily so structurally similar that a
skilled artisan would have expected substantially similar
properties so as to render the use of the positional isomeric
reactant obvious. Indeed, as noted by appellant (brief, page
6), the use of the claimed 4-allyl phenol would be expected to
result in a more linear copolymer structure than the bent
structural configuration that would be associated with the
copolymer obtained by using 2-allyl phenol.
With regard to the examiner's reliance on Davis to furnish
the requisite suggestion for the examiner's proposed
modification of Okamoto, we note that Davis teaches that 2-
allyl phenol and 4-allyl phenol are two of several alternatives
for forming a chain stopper by reaction with a hydride
polydiorganosiloxane (column 1, line 38 through column 2, line
10, and column 5, lines 3-9). We do not consider the above-
noted teachings of Davis sufficient to suggest that 4-allyl
phenol would have been an obvious substitute for 2-allyl phenol
as a reactant in the process of Okamoto so as to form 4-allyl
phenolic links between the polysiloxane and polycarbonate
segments of a copolymer as herein claimed. We note that the
evidentiary record furnished by the examiner does not suggest
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