Appeal No. 1997-2446
Application 08/223,351
Because we agree with the examiner's ultimate legal
conclusion that the claimed subject matter defined by appealed claim
1 would have been obvious within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103 in
view of the combined teachings of the relied upon prior art refer-
ences, we will sustain the rejection of appealed
claim 1. Since the dependent claims stand or fall with appealed
claim 1, we necessarily sustain the rejection of all other claims on
appeal.
As evidence of the obviousness of the herein claimed
process, the examiner relies upon the combined teachings of
Hughes, Holy and SE. Similar to appellants' claimed process which is
directed to producing a relatively low weight average molecular
weight (less than 30,000) water soluble copolymer product containing
relatively low levels (from about 3 to 50 weight percent) of
monoethylenically unsaturated dicarboxylic acid units and relatively
high levels (from about 50 to 97 weight percent) of monoethylenically
unsaturated monocarboxylic acid units, Hughes discloses a process
with an identical object, i.e., the production of a low molecular
weight water soluble copolymer product containing relatively low
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