Appeal No. 1997-2446
Application 08/223,351
temperature from 80° to 150°C and preferably from 90° to 120°C, and
the pH of the Hughes reaction solution is maintained in the range of
from 3 to 7. See column 5, lines 15 through 18, and column 5, lines
33 and 34, respectively. Contrary to appellants' arguments that
Hughes teaches away from operating at a pH of 3 or less, a claimed
invention is rendered prima facie obvious by the teachings of a prior
art reference, such as Hughes, that discloses a range that touches
the range recited in the claim. See In re Malagari,
499 F.2d 1297, 1303, 182 USPQ 549, 553 (CCPA 1974). Also, see In re
Geisler, 116 F.3d 1465, 1469, 43 USPQ2d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
Accordingly, the examiner correctly found that the herein
claimed process is essentially disclosed by Hughes with
the exception of the requirement of appellants' process claims
relating to the addition to the reaction mixture of "at least one
water soluble chain transfer agent selected from alkali metal salts
of sulfites" (appealed claim 1) which claimed phrase is inclusive of
"alkali metal salts of metabisulfites and bisulfites" (appealed claim
4).
With respect to this claimed deficiency in the Hughes
disclosure, the examiner contends that the use of alkali metal
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007