Appeal No: 1997-1820
Application No: 08/313,941
Apparently, it is the examiner's position that one
skilled in the art wishing to manufacture a carbon catalyst
would be motivated to select one of the commercially available
carbons having low concentrations of sulfur and phosphorus
since Richardson teaches that certain sulfur and phosphorus
ions are toxic in catalysts.
The examiner's position is well taken with respect to
sulfur. From Richardson one skilled in the art would have
known that it is advisable to avoid sulfur in general when
producing a catalyst. Since one skilled in the art would also
have known that low sulfur content carbons were commercially
available (Hassler), it would have been obvious to one skilled
in the art to select (or screen for) one of the commercially
available carbons having a low sulfur content. While
Richardson teaches that sulfide, and not sulfate, ions are
toxic in catalysts, one skilled in the art would be motivated
to select an available carbon having a low sulfur content
generally to avoid any possibility of toxic levels of sulfide
ions.
The same would be true for phosphorus since Richardson
teaches that certain phosphorus ions are toxic to catalysts
except that the examiner has not provided any teaching that a
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