Appeal No. 2001-2434
Application No. 08/761,467
appellants acknowledge that their alkyl oligoglucoside falls
within the genus disclosed by Wolf (reply brief, page 12).
The appellants argue that Wolf states that natural
fat-derived alcohols are preferred, and that one of ordinary
skill in the art would not have been motivated to select the
non-preferred oxoalcohols (reply brief, page 7). This argument
is not well taken because the reference is not limited to its
preferred embodiments. See In re Kohler, 475 F.2d 651, 653, 177
USPQ 399, 400 (CCPA 1973); In re Mills, 470 F.2d 649, 651, 176
USPQ 196, 198 (CCPA 1972); In re Bozek, 416 F.2d 1385, 1390, 163
USPQ 545, 549 (CCPA 1969).
The appellants argue that Wolf teaches away from a degree of
polymerization of 1.4 to 2.0 because he teaches that alkyl
monoglycosides have more detergent power than alkyl
polyglycosides (brief, pages 9-10). Consequently, the appellants
argue, Wolf would have led one of ordinary skill in the art to
produce alkyl monoglycosides (reply brief, page 7). After
disclosing that alkyl monoglycosides have more detergent power
than alkyl polyglycosides, however, Wolf teaches that the degree
of polymerization preferably is 1.1 to 1.5 (col. 3, lines 1-5).
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