Appeal No. 1999-0678
Application No. 08/462,691
that the presently claimed subject matter is limited to using
ozone as the only bleaching agent in bleaching cellulose pulp in
an aqueous suspension at a medium consistency of 5-25%. See
claim 18. In other words, the claims on appeal expressly
preclude any bleaching action by any and all agents (including
oxygen) except for ozone. The Lindholm declaration, which was
not considered in the previous Appeal, states (page 2, paragraph
2) that:
In 1989-1991 (and even today) one of ordinary skill in
the art of ozone bleaching would know that ozone bleaching
takes place at acidic conditions, typically a pH of about 2-
3.5. At the acidic conditions that ozone bleaching
typically takes place, oxygen is not a bleaching agent. It
is merely a carrier gas for ozone. Particularly at perhaps
the most common pH for ozone bleaching, about three, oxygen
does not act as a bleaching agent but rather only as a
carrier gas for ozone.
Thus, the record before us is substantially different from the
record that was before the previous merits panel.
Having interpreted the claims on appeal in the above manner,
we have carefully reviewed all of the evidence proffered by both
the examiner and appellants. This review leads us to conclude
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