Appeal No. 2000-0026
Application No. 08/942,054
claim 1. As appreciated by the examiner, Briggs does not
disclose adhesive compositions comprising an organic solvent.
To remedy this deficiency, the examiner relies upon Patel who
discloses thermoplastic pipe adhesives comprising a resin and
one or more solvents. It is the examiner's position that it
would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art
to employ the adhesive of Briggs in combination with a solvent
of the type disclosed by Patel (page 4 of Answer, second full
paragraph). The examiner explains that the use of a solvent,
which is appreciated in the art to function as processing and
application aids, would have readily suggested itself to one
of ordinary skill in the art for use in conjunction with the
pasty adhesives of Briggs (sentence bridging pages 5 and 6 of
Answer).
We certainly agree with the examiner that, in general, it
was well-known in the art to employ a solvent as a processing
aid or thinner in adhesive compositions. Accordingly, there
is a strong temptation to conclude, at least at first blush,
that it would have been a matter of prima facie obviousness
for one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate a solvent
in any adhesive composition. However, in the present case, we
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