Appeal No. 1996-3277
Application No. 08/143,373
dispersion of Rawlings et al. so that the deposited iris
simulating pattern would remain in a desired position on the
mold (ie [sic, i.e.], not run)" (page 4 of Answer). However,
as pointed out by appellants' counsel at oral hearing, a
thixotropic agent is not a viscosity controlling agent. A
thixotropic agent enables colloidal gels to liquify when
agitated and to return to the gel-like state when at rest.
Hence, even if it were true that it would have been obvious
for one of ordinary skill in the art to employ a viscosity
controlling agent into the dispersion, it does not necessarily
follow that it also would have been obvious to utilize the
presently claimed thixotropic agent. Also, while the examiner
notes that the present specification "indicates that
thixotropic agents are conventional in the art" (page 4 of
Answer), appellants' specification only acknowledges that
thixotropic agents, per se, were known. Appellants do not
concede that the use of a thixotropic agent in a dispersion of
the type claimed was known in the art at the time of filing
the present application.
Accordingly, since the examiner has not established the
prima facie obviousness of utilizing a thixotropic agent in
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