Appeal No. 1997-0042
Application No. 07/992,177
ordinary skill in the art to choose R as methyl since Sasaki
1
teaches this selection at column 3, line 50 (Id.). The
examiner also concludes that it would have been obvious to one
of ordinary skill in the art that the ethylene oxide group
“may be next to the hydroxyl [hydrogen] group” because Sasaki
teaches that the 2-4 carbon alkylene group is either random or
block copolymerized (Answer, sentence bridging pages 3-4).
Appellants argue that the claimed compositions are not
sufficiently similar to those specifically disclosed by Sasaki
to render the claimed subject matter prima facie obvious
(Brief, page 10).
Sasaki discloses base oils for refrigerator oil
compositions where R of the specified polyoxyalkylene glycol
1
monoethers formula may be an alkyl group having 1-18 carbon
atoms (column 3, lines 40-48). Sasaki specifically lists
eighteen alkyl groups included in R (including methyl), with
1
eight groups listed as preferred (also including methyl, see
column 3, lines 50-55). Of the eight values listed for R ,1 2
Sasaki teaches that four values are preferred (including
1As discussed infra, Sasaki also discloses a monomethyl
ether base oil in Example 15, Table 1, columns 9-10.
3
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