Appeal No. 98-3225 4
Application No. 08/204,162
The examiner finds that the specification is not clear with respect to the claimed
limitation permitting the hydroxyl number of polypropylene oxide to be no greater than
100. See Answer, page 4. The language, in dispute, on page 2 of the specification
provides that, “[t]he polyether polyols are characterized by a hydroxyl number # 100
and are produced on the basis of 75% ethylene oxide in the presence of a starter.
Common polyether polyols are based for example on 15 to 20% ethylene oxide.
Mixtures of these two types of polyether polyol are incompatible with one another.”
We find little ambiguity in the language particularly when read in conjunction with
the description of the two polyols described in the specification on page 4, lines 7-13.
The relevant specification states that, “Desmophen 3900 is a polyether polyol based on
propylene oxide with a proportion of approximately 18% ethylene oxide, a molecular
weight of 4800 and a hydroxyl number of 35; Arcol 2580 is a polyether polyol based
on ethylene oxide with a proportion of approximately 70% ethylene oxide, a starter for
example TMP (= trimethylol propane), a molecular weight of 4000 and a hydroxyl
number of 42.” On reading the two paragraphs together, it is our view that the term
“polyether polyols” refers to both the polyethylene oxide and the polypropylene oxide
polymers described on page 2 of the specification. The common polyether polyol based
on 15 to 20% ethylene oxide is directed to a propylene oxide polyether having
approximately 15 to 20% ethylene oxide as exemplified by Desmophen. The ethylene
oxide polyol is similarly described and exemplified by Arcol 2580.
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