Appeal No. 1996-2253 Page 3
Application No. 08/199,907
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Pinnavaia et al. (Pinnavaia) 4,665,045 May
12, 1987
Claims 1-18 and 20-24 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
103 as being unpatentable over Pinnavaia.
We reverse the rejection as it applies to the process
claims 1, 3-17, and 20-23. However we find it necessary to
remand the application to the examiner for further examination
of product-by-process claims 2, 18, and 24, in light of the
legal standards discussed below, as the issues with regard to
these claims are not ripe for appeal.
OPINION
Claim 1 is directed to a process for preparing a pillared
phyllosilicate clay by preparing a first solution of chromium
salt, a base and water, diluting the first solution and then
adding a solid phyllosilicate clay. The appellant and
examiner agree that Pinnavaia does not teach two aspects of
the invention as recited in claim 1: (1) heating the first
chromium salt-base solution until a specified pH level is
reached and (2) dilution of a first solution after initial
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