Appeal No. 1997-1537
Application No. 08/290,116
imaging element of the type here claimed specifically. Absent
from this prior art is the requisite suggestion or motivation
for combining the applied reference teachings, based upon a
reasonable expectation of success, in such a manner as to
result in the appellants’ claimed subject matter. In re
O’Farrell, 853 F.2d 894, 903-904, 7 USPQ2d 1673, 1680-1681
(Fed. Cir. 1988).
The applied prior art is particularly deficient with
respect to the here claimed feature of a paper spacer
containing less than 20 ppm by weight of formaldehyde and
having a pH of less than 9. We recognize that this prior art
broadly teaches that formaldehyde and pH may have a
detrimental effect on photographic materials generally. For
example, Asano teaches that formaldehyde vapors given off by
formalin adhesives contained in plywood furniture cause
photographic materials to form a fog. However, none of the
references adduced by the examiner contains any teaching or
suggestion that paper spacers may contain formaldehyde and pH
levels which might cause the development of conditions
detrimental to photographic materials of any kind much less
imaging elements of the type under consideration. It follows
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