Appeal No. 2001-2093
Application No. 09/054,134
is alkylated with ethylene oxide to form the quaternary
ammonium. (Column 1, lines 41 to column 2, line 66.)
In contrast to the subject matter of appealed claim 5, the
alkylation reaction described in Example 6 of DE ’715 is carried
out at 30°C instead of “70 to 75°C” as recited in appealed claim
5. In addition, DE ’715 is silent on the pH condition for the
alkylation reaction described in Example 6.
Nevertheless, DE ’715 teaches that the alkylation reaction
is carried out at temperatures below 150°C, preferably below
100°C. (Page 5.) Furthermore, Günter would have fairly
suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art that pH is a
result-effective variable in the quaternization of tertiary
amines, regardless of whether the tertiary amines are molecules
or macromolecules. Hence, we share the examiner’s view that one
of ordinary skill in the art would have found it prima facie
obvious to modify the process described in Example 6 of DE ’715
to include optimum temperatures and pH conditions, thus arriving
at a process encompassed by appealed claim 5. In re Boesch, 617
F.2d 272, 276, 205 USPQ 215, 219 (CCPA 1980)(“[D]iscovery of an
optimum value of a result effective variable in a known process
is ordinarily within the skill of the art.”); In re Aller, 220
F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ 233, 235 (CCPA 1955)(“[W]here the
general conditions of a claim are disclosed in the prior art, it
5
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