Appeal No. 1998-0482
Application No. 08/404,908
metals and metal ions into the bleached pulp by adjusting pH
to an alkaline condition.
This position is concisely characterized by the examiner
in the paragraph bridging pages 4 and 5 of the answer as
follows:
The instant process teaches adjusting the pH to
alkaline to insure adsorption of the ions. When
read in view of the specification the only disclosed
condition is an alkaline pH. The peroxide stage of
PETER ET AL use NaOH to adjust the pH to alkaline.
Thus the conditions of PETER ET AL are identical to
the claimed “under conditions whereby the metals and
metal ions are adsorbed into the bleached pulp.”
We do not share the examiner’s position primarily because
no basis exists for assuming that the combination of Peter’s
acid filtrate liquid with his final bleached alkaline pulp at
vacuum filter 33 would form a mixture having an alkaline pH to
thereby effect adsorption of the metal and metal ions from the
liquid into the bleached pulp as claimed by the appellants.
To the contrary, we perceive the evidence of record before us
as reflecting that the aforenoted mixture would have an acid
pH rather than an alkaline pH. This is because Peter
expressly teaches that his acid filtrate is used for de-ashing
of pulp at vacuum filter 33 (e.g., see lines 30-43 in column 4
as well as lines 24-25 and lines 34-37 in column 5). As
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