Appeal No. 1996-3306
Application No. 08/145,380
(a) contacting an organic peroxide with at least one post consumer ethylene
polymer resin that has a density from about 0.95 to 0.97 grams per cubic centimeter and a
melt index from about 0.3 to about 1 gram per ten minutes; and thereafter
(b) blending the composition formed in (a) with at least one virgin ethylene
polymer resin that has a density from about 0.93 to 0.945 grams per cubic centimeter and
a melt index from about 0.01 to about 0.16 grams per ten minutes;
to form said multicomponent ethylene polymer composition.
The references relied upon by the examiner are:
Mack et al. (Mack) 4,603,173 Jul. 29, 1986
Anzini 5,073,598 Dec. 17, 1991
The rejections presented for our review are
Claims 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Anzini either
alone or in view of Mack.
Claims 13-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Anzini in
view of Mack.
The examiner has failed to establish a prima facie case of obviousness. After
careful review of the examiner's position and the evidence in support of that position, we
conclude that the examiner has impermissibly used appellants' specification as a blueprint
to reach the claimed invention from the prior art disclosure.
The claimed invention is a method with two steps. In the first step, at least one post-
consumer polyethylene, with a density from about 0.95 to 0.97 grams per cubic centimeter
and a melt index from about 0.3 to about 1 gram per ten minutes, is contacted with an
organic peroxide. In the second step, the result of the first step is blended with at least one
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