Appeal No. 1996-2919
Application No. 08/139,861
The examiner relies upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Tenud 4,021,480 May 03, 1977
Sayo et al. (Sayo) 4,916,252 Apr. 10, 1990
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a process
for preparing a optically active carnitine ester in accordance
with formula (I). The process entails asymmetrically
hydrogenating the ester halide of formula (II) in the presence
of a ruthenium-optically active phosphine complex defined by
formulae (III), (IV), (VI) and (VII). The ruthenium-optically
active phosphine complex serves as a catalyst for the
reaction. The optically active carnitine ester is an
intermediate in the production of optically active carnitine,
which has medicinal uses.
The present application is a continuation of U.S.
Application No. 07/455,023, filed December 22, 1989. An
appeal was taken to this Board in the parent application and,
in a decision dated August 24, 1993, the Board affirmed the
examiner's rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over prior art that
is presently applied by the examiner. However, the present
claims on appeal are narrower in scope than those before the
Board in the parent application, and the present record
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