Appeal No. 1997-1875 Application No. 08/451,378 acid derivatives. These compounds are said to enhance the properties of fluids such as enhancing the wear and friction characteristics of lubricants. The appealed subject matter is adequately illustrated by independent claim 1, a copy of which taken from the appellants' brief is appended to this decision. The references relied upon by the examiner in the rejections before us are: Miles 3,784,588 Jan. 8, 1974 Umemoto et al. (Umemoto) EPA-465,156 A2 Jan. 8, 1992 Miles GB-1,287,331 Aug. 31, 1972 All of the claims on appeal stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a) or (b) as being anticipated by or in the alternative under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being obvious over the British reference to Miles, the U.S. patent to Miles or the European reference to Umemoto.1 For the reasons set forth below, we will sustain the examiner's § 103 rejection but not the § 102 rejection. 1The appealed claims will stand or fall together; see page 4 of the brief. Accordingly, in our disposition of this appeal, we will focus upon representative independent claim 1 with which the other appealed claims will stand or fall. 2Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007