Appeal No. 2000-0307
Application No. 08/859,430
sustain the examiner's rejections for essentially those reasons
expressed in the Answer, and we add the following primarily for
emphasis.
Appellants do not dispute the examiner's factual
determination that both Pitts and Hohjo disclose a negative
electrode plate for a lead storage battery comprising a negative
electrode active material and graphite. The principal, if not
sole, argument advanced by appellants with respect to both
rejections is that the graphite material of Pitts and Hohjo is
not in powder form, as required by the appealed claims.
Appellants maintain that the graphite of Pitts is in fibrous
form, having dimensions of length and diameter, and, therefore,
is not a powder. As for Hohjo, appellants contend that since the
graphite of the reference is in whisker form, it does not qualify
as a powder.
We are not persuaded by appellants' arguments inasmuch as we
concur with the examiner that the fibers of Pitts and the
whiskers of Hohjo can be properly considered powders due to their
micron-sized dimensions. Appellants have not established on this
record that graphite material, having dimensions less than 30 µm,
would not be classified as powders by one of ordinary skill in
the art.
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