Appeal No. 1997-0158
Application No. 08/026,581
containing palladium to a cis-olefin covered by the claimed
formula. See Brief in its entirety, together with Gryaznov,
column 5, examples 1-3. Appellants, however, argue that it
would not have been obvious to employ formic acid in lieu of
or in addition to hydrogen employed in the process of
Gryaznov. See Brief in its entirety.
The dispositive issue is, therefore, whether it would
have been obvious to use formic acid in the hydrogenation
process of Gryaznov. We answer this question in the
affirmative.
As is apparent from page 6 of the Brief, appellants were
aware of the examiner’s finding that “formic acid is known to
be a source of hydrogen.” Appellants, however, have not
disputed this finding. In fact, at pages 1 and 2 of the
specification, appellants acknowledge that formic acid, like
hydrogen, is known to be used for providing a reducing
(hydrogen) atmosphere in reaction processes. Note also that
the examiner refers to column 3, lines 6-11, of Nozaki, which
states that:
The formic acid is utilized as a source of
hydrogen for the process. It is present in the
reaction mixture as an acid or as a salt of a
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