Ex parte RAO - Page 2




            Appeal No: 1997-1820                                                                         
            Application No: 08/313,941                                                                   
            support as a catalyst.  The catalyst is characterized as                                     
            containing less than about 200 ppm of phosphorous and less                                   
            than about 200 ppm sulfur.  According to applicant, catalysts                                
            low in both phosphorus and sulfur have improved catalytic                                    
            properties (Paper 1 (08/313,941 ('941) specification) at 13-                                 
            14).                                                                                         
                  The catalysts are prepared by washing the carbon support                               
            with an acid which is said to remove phosphorus and sulfur so                                
            that the carbon has less than 200 ppm of each.  Other                                        
            inorganic constituents of the carbon such as potassium,                                      
            sodium, and iron are also said to be removed by the acid wash                                
            so that the carbon has less than 100 ppm of these constituents                               
            (Paper 1 at 6-7).                                                                            
                        Claim 1 is illustrative of the claimed process:                                  
                        1. A process for the catalytic hydrogenolysis                                    
                  of a cyclic or acyclic compound having the formula                                     
                  C H F X  wherein n is an integer from 1 to 6,  m is ann m p q                                             [2]                               
                  integer from 0 to 12, p is an integer from 1 to 13,                                    
                  q is an integer from 1 to 13 and each X is                                             
                  independently selected from Cl and Br, provided that                                   


                 2     In the claims attached to Appellant's brief (APPENDIX I), claim 1                
            reads that "n is an integer from 1 to 5."  The "5" appears to be a                           
            typographical error and should instead be "6" (see original claim 1 (Paper 1                 
            at 15).                                                                                      
                                                  -2-                                                    





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