Appeal No. 1997-4336
Application No. 08/279,317
solvent. (Column 5, lines 8-11.) Additionally, we observe
that Fenton does not indicate what relative amounts should be
used when a compound such as butane, one of the “hydrocarbon
spin liquid” species recited in appealed claim 20, is selected
as the mutual solvent and a compound such as isopropanol, a
polar solvent, is selected as the precipitating solvent.
While it is true that Fenton discloses the use of a
substantial amount of isopropanol in Example 1, the
hydrocarbon solvent used in the example is not a “hydrocarbon
spin liquid” within the scope of appealed claim 20. Given
Fenton’s teachings, it is our view that one of ordinary skill
in the art would have selected relative amounts for butane and
isopropanol that would result in precipitation, not solution.
Unlike Fenton, the invention recited in appealed claim 20
requires the addition of greater than 10 weight percent of the
co-solvent such that the co-solvent acts as a true
co-solvent and not a precipitating agent.
Since Fenton teaches that the combination of (i) the
solution containing the polyolefin and (ii) the precipitating
solvent (e.g., alcohols) results in a mixture which is not a
solution, it follows that Fenton’s mixture does not meet each
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007