Appeal No. 2000-0782
Application No. 08/549,322
interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art, the claimed
process includes the liquid phase reaction of hydrogen fluoride
with vinyl chloride with the product 1-chloro-1-fluoro-ethane, 1,1-
difluoroethane, or mixtures thereof, remaining in the reaction
zone, acting as a solvent (see the Answer, page 5, last paragraph).
Appellants argue that the claimed word “introduced” is a
feature of claim 1 that was not considered or recognized by the
examiner in the claim interpretation discussed on page 5 of the
Answer (Reply Brief, pages 5-6). However, this argument is not
persuasive since the word “introduced [into an organic solvent]” is
used in the specification as inclusive of both “external” and
internal solvents, i.e., those where the solvent may consist,
partly or totally, of products formed in the process. See the
specification, page 2, ll. 35-39; page 3, ll. 4-7 and 14-17; and
page 6, ll. 12-25. Accordingly, construing the claim as broadly as
reasonably possible in light of the specification, the word
“introduced” encompasses adding the vinyl chloride and hydrogen
fluoride reactants to either an external or internal solvent
consisting of at least one saturated halogen-containing
hydrocarbon.
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