Appeal No. 2000-1111
Application 08/881,969
of fact and conclusions of law must be made in accordance with the Administrative
Procedures Act, 5 U.S.C. §706 (A), (E) (1994). See Zurko v. Dickinson, 527 U.S. 150,
158, 119 S. Ct. 1816, 1821, 50 USPQ2d 1930, 1934 (1999). Under the Act, the agency
making the findings and conclusions must set forth its findings and explain its
application of the law to the facts. See In re Lee, 277 F.3d 1338, 1342,61 USPQ2d
1430, 1432-33 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Findings of fact relied upon in making the obviousness
rejection must be supported by substantial evidence within the record. In re Gartside,
203 F.3d 1305, 1315, 53 USPQ2d 1769, 1775 (Fed. Cir. 2000).
We find that Adams relates to a catalytic reaction and distillation container for
use as packing material in a distillation column reactor (Adams, column 2, lines 27-51).
We further find, contrary to the Examiner’s statement otherwise1, that Adams
specifically suggests a saddle-shaped packing (Adams, column 4, lines 47-50).
Although not noted by the Examiner, we also find that Adams further discloses:
- openings in the walls which may be covered by a porous material (Column 3,
lines 30-45);
- a catalyst component is present within the interior of the structure (Column 2,
lines 31-32); and
- an inner wall and an outer wall of a hollow cylinder (Column 3, lines 18-29).
1 Examiner’s Answer, page 4, lines 6-7.
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