Appeal No. 2000-1267 Page 5
Application No. 08/843274
line 3 et seq.). In furtherance of this goal, Inoue teaches that mixing should be done in a
housing wherein the temperature is controlled by a “coolant or temperature-controlled fluid”
(column 3, lines 29-35; see also column 8, lines 19-26). It is the examiner’s view that this
would have suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art that heating or cooling can be
applied to the precursors, and thus it would have been obvious to supplement the Fitts
method by adding the step of heating the precursors prior to mixing.
It is our opinion that there are two shortcomings in the examiner’s position. First,
the particular ingredients utilized in Inoue’s method of mixing dental filling generate heat
upon being mixed. Therefore, even though Inoue describes the temperature controlled
housing as being provided with “coolant or temperature-controlled fluid” (column 3, line 32,
emphasis added), it is our view that the artisan would have appreciated that this would not
include a temperature-controlled fluid that would add heat to the process, which already is
generating heat, for this would exacerbate the situation. Second, even if one were to
accept, arguendo, the examiner’s view that Inoue should be interpreted as suggesting that
heating as well as cooling could be added to the process, the point in the process at which
Inoue controls the temperature differs from that which is recited in the claim. As we
understand the process disclosed in Inoue, the temperature control is applied during the
mixing step (see column 6, line 65 to column 7, line 13 and column 7, line 55 to column 8,
line 50). However, claims 1 and 10 require that the heat be applied prior to the mixing
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