Appeal No. 2000-0320 Page 12
Application No. 08/480,082
preferred ionically crosslinked capsule materials are alginic
acid, pectinic acid, chitosan and their salts.
After the scope and content of the prior art are
determined, the differences between the prior art and the
claims at issue are to be ascertained. Graham v. John Deere
Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17-18, 148 USPQ 459, 467 (1966).
The examiner ascertained (final rejection, p. 7) that the
only difference is that Viegas does not disclose chitosan as
the film forming polymer. With regard to this difference, the
examiner then determined that as chitosan and cellulose are
equivalent biopolymers in the art of matrixed gel polymers
useful in the medical art, it would have been obvious to one2
of ordinary skill in the art to utilized [sic, utilize]
chitosan as the film forming polymer in the Viegas composition
and method.
2This finding was apparently based upon the combined
teachings of Thompson and Viegas.
Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007