Appeal No. 1997-3614
Application No. 08/433,272
claims 1 through 28 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over the applied
prior art.
OTHER ISSUE
According to appellants at pages 1 and 2 of the
specification, the claimed vinyl purification process was
known except for using alumina as an inert support for a Lewis
Acid catalyst, such as ferric chloride. Appellants also
acknowledge at page 2 of the specification that it was known
that ferric chloride, a known contaminant to a purified vinyl
chloride stream, has a tendency to be carried over into the
treated (purified vinyl chloride) stream. There appears to be
some recognition in the art of a need to affix ferric chloride
to a carrier or a support material to prevent it from
contaminating the treated stream. The prior art, namely
McFadden, relied upon by the examiner refers to U.S. Patent
3,125,609 at column 1, lines 19-25. According to McFadden,
this U.S. Patent recognizes using “cupric chloride [Lewis Acid
catalyst] supported on an inert substrate such as alumina,” in
a vinyl chloride purification process. In other words, the
U.S. Patent in question teaches, or would have suggested,
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