Appeal No. 1998-0870
Application No. 08/325,015
consists of” specifically defined anywhere in the original
disclosure. Moreover, at page 3, lines 19 and 20 of the
specification, appellants state: “In addition to polypyrrole
particles, the coating in accordance with the invention
comprises particles of antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO or
Sb:SnO )” (Emphasis added.) At best, the specification is
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equivocal, and does not shed any light, regarding the meaning
of “predominately consists of.” Therefore, we give the phrase
“predominately consists of” its broadest ordinary meaning. In
so doing, we determine that the phrase “predominately consists
of” opens the coating to unspecified ingredients, as long as
the specified homogeneous mixture is present for the most part
(i.e., greater than 50%).
Turning to the rejection, the examiner’s position is
stated as follows:
“It would have been obvious to one of ordinary
skill in the art at the time of the invention to
use conductive polymers such as polypyrrole
instead of carbon black as suggested by Wessling
and De Boer in the apparatus of Kinoshita
because both are conductive and because De Boer
teaches that use of latex produces an antistatic
1182, 1186, 48 USPQ2d 1001, 1004 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d
1181, 1184, 26 USPQ2d 1057, 1059 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
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