Appeal No. 1997-3339
Application 08/306,610
Representative claim 5 is reproduced below:
5. Milled carbon fibers produced from mesophase pitch,
said fibers consisting essentially of fibers wherein each
fiber has a cylindrical configuration, a length of about 1 mm
or less, and a cut surface, and wherein the plane of the cut
and the axis of the fiber intersect or cross at an angle of
65E to 90E.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner are:
Hino et al. (Hino) 4,822,587 Apr. 18, 1989
Hirai et al. (Hirai) 5,227,238 Jul. 13, 1993
Arai et al. (Arai) 5,370,856 Dec. 6, 1994
(filed Nov. 16, 1992)
The appealed claims stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103
as unpatentable over Arai combined with Hirai and Hino.
We cannot sustain the stated rejection.
As evident from appealed claim 5, reproduced above, the
subject matter on appeal is directed to milled carbon fibers
produced from mesophase pitch. According to appellants’
specification at page 6, lines 15 through 18, the terminology
“milled carbon fiber” means a carbon fiber which is shorter
than the carbon fiber of about 1 to 25 mm generally known as
“chopped strands.” Thus, appellants’ claimed “milled
carbon fibers” have a length of “about 1 mm or less.”
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007