4
the aqueous acid generally contains from about 10 to 75 weight percent of organic acid.
See specification, page 5. We further find that the amount of acid disclosed in the
specification refers to the acid alone. In contrast, the amount of acid disclosed in Gladrow
‘818 is based on the total weight of the binding agent. See column 2, lines 22-23.
Accordingly, the weight percent of acid utilized by the appellant in the specification would
be smaller if based on the total weight of the binding agent.
Gladrow ‘818 discloses heating an aqueous solution of formic or acetic acid at a
o o
temperature of 80 to 160 F, corresponding to 26.6 to 71.1 C during the course of 10 to
48 hours. See column 5, lines 27-35. Although the specific examples do not utilize this or
any specific heating schedule or duration of heating, it is reasonable to conclude that the
person having ordinary skill in the art would have followed the heating temperature and
duration disclosed by Gladrow ‘818.
We further find that the ending pH is about 4 or less, in as much as it is well known
3
that formic has a pH of 2.3 at 0.1N and acetic acid has a pH of 2.9 at 0.1 N and we
calculate that 25 weight percent of formic and acetic acid substantially exceeds 0.1 N
solution of each acid.
Moreover, we find that the addition of 195 CC. of water, column 7, lines 16 and oven
drying at 210 F, column 7, lines 18-19, constitutes the requisite washing and drying steps
required by the claimed subject matter. The term “wash” in our view requires nothing more
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007