Appeal No. 1997-0158
Application No. 08/026,581
base. When the salt is used, it is thought that
dissociation of the formic acid-base salt
provides a suitable amount of formic acid
necessary to provide the required hydrogen.
Given the above facts, we agree with the examiner that
there is a sufficient suggestion to employ formic acid as a
source of hydrogen in the hydrogenation process of Gryaznov.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable
expectation that formic acid (hydrogen providing means), like
hydrogen, would successfully provide a reducing (hydrogen)
atmosphere useful for forming the hydrogenated cis-olefin
described in Gryaznov. See In re Vaeck, 947 F.2d 488, 493, 20
USPQ2d 1438, 1442 (Fed. Cir. 1991); In re O’Farrell, 853 F.2d
894, 902, 7 USPQ2d 1673, 1680 (Fed. Cir. 1988).
Appellants appear to argue that Nozaki is nonanalogous
art and thus, cannot be properly combined with Gryaznov. The
test of whether a reference is from an analogous art is first,
whether it is within the field of the inventor’s endeavor, and
second, if it is not, whether it is reasonably pertinent to
the particular problem with which the inventor was involved.
See In re Wood, 599 F.2d 1032, 1036, 202 USPQ 171, 174 (CCPA
1979). In the present case, we find Nozaki to be within the
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007