Appeal No. 1997-2446
Application 08/223,351
Pat. App. & Int. 1992) and cases cited therein. We have carefully
considered appellants' arguments regarding the showing of unexpected
results in their specification. However, it is our view that
appellants have failed to meet their legal burden in the above
respects.
Specifically, appellants contend that the data in TABLE 2
indicates that by operating within the claimed requirements, polymers
having low molecular weights and low color are unexpectedly obtained
in comparison to the prior art. First of all, we point out that both
Hughes and Holy exemplify and describe processes wherein the same
copolymer products are produced having a weight average molecular
weight of 30,000 or less. Again, see the copolymers produced by
EXAMPLES 1, 7, 9, and 12 of Hughes and the disclosure of Holy at
column 1, lines 6 through 13. With respect to the alleged production
of a copolymer having an unexpectedly low color, i.e., a standard
number of less than 5, we point out that nothing in the appealed
claims requires the production of a copolymer product having a
color of any degree. Moreover, the specific examples exemplifying
the production of a copolymer product having this allegedly
unexpectedly low color are produced by running the process at a pH of
10
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