Appeal No. 1999-1669
Application No. 08/816,756
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Ott 3,997,319 Dec. 14, 1976
2
Onoprienko SU 865,169 Sep. 26, 1981
Claims 1 through 17 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Ott
and Onoprienko. We reverse.
BACKGROUND
According to the specification, “traditionally, substantially anhydrous liquid ammonia
has been injected below the soil surface, under pressure, for use by growing plants as a
source of nitrogen,” sometimes combined with “[p]lant activants and other fertilizers and
materials . . . to form augmented solutions for application to the soil . . . to further enhance
plant growth and increase crop yields.” Page 1. “[F]or example[,] metal ammonium
alkanoates and zinc ammonium acetate, are applied in conjunction with anhydrous
ammonia, often by injection under pressure.” Id., page 2. Further according to the
specification (pages 3 and 4):
One agricultural crop additive of the class of aqueous ammoniacal ionic
solutions of metal alkanoates described above is commercially available . .
. as a liquid containing approximately 15% by weight ammoniacal nitrogen
and approximately 17% by weight zinc . . . [It] is typically applied at a rate of
1 2
from / to / pint per acre . . . Application of alkanoates at these low rates is3 3
generally understood to require application of the alkanoate in conjunction
with a liquid carrier, such as anhydrous ammonia or a nitrogen fertilizer
2Throughout prosecution of this application, the examiner has relied on an English
language abstract of the Soviet patent, despite appellants’ submission of an English
translation of the entire document with the Information Disclosure Statement of March 7,
1997. Appellants have resubmitted the translation as Appendix B of the Brief.
3
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