Appeal No. 2000-1091 7
Application No. 08/874,167
Based upon the above findings and analysis, we conclude that the teaching by Pool
of AC in conjunction with DC necessarily results in some amount of Joule heating as
required by the claimed subject matter, particularly as the claims do not require any given
amount of joule heating. Furthermore, inasmuch as Pool discloses some increase in the
temperature of the soil and recognizes that different conditions can be utilized dependent
upon the specific circumstances, we conclude that it would have been obvious to the
person having ordinary skill in the art to have adjusted the voltage and current of the AC as
disclosed by Carrigan particularly as Pool teaches the combination of AC and DC and
variation in voltage. Stated otherwise, although Pool does not disclose the specific
conditions utilized when the invention is performed with a direct current with an alternating
current superimposed thereon, we conclude that it would have been obvious for the person
having ordinary skill in the art to have combined the specific teachings of Carrigan directed
to the utilization of alternating current and the resulting joule heating effects in the
teachings of Pool.
As to the specific limitation of claims 15 which requires “partial desaturation of the
formation using electro-osmosis,” Pool discloses that one of the processes ongoing is
electro-osmosis which is the movement of ground water and positive ions from the anode
to the cathode owing to a different ion potential. See column 12, lines 35-37 and column
7, lines 45-49. This movement of water and ions necessarily results in desaturation of the
formation as required by the claimed subject matter.
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