Appeal No. 2001-2457
Application No. 09/168,979
cyclopentene (each 10-30 wt.%) at this suitable plate are
significantly higher than in the top product (page 5, ll. 1-3).
Kanne teaches that, by selecting the optimum plate for
discharge, “it is possible to minimize the concentration of the
higher-boiling C6 -components, which are significant in terms
of adjusting the cyclopentane to the desired specification.”
Page 5, ll. 6-9. Since it is uncontested that the boiling
points of cyclopentane (120.7 °F.) and neo-hexane (121.5 °F.)
are very similar and render separation difficult
(specification, page 1, ll. 14-20), we determine that the
examiner has not presented a sufficient factual basis to
support a prima facie case of obviousness for step (a) of claim
21 on appeal. On this record, the examiner has not presented
convincing evidence or reasoning to support the premise that
Kanne separates neo-hexane from cyclopentene by the initial
distillation step of the reference.
The examiner argues that because Kanne teaches the
separation of a cut containing C5 hydrocarbons, it naturally
encompasses the separation of all C6+ cuts including neo-hexane
by definition (Answer, page 6). We disagree. As discussed
above, the removal of neo-hexane from a cut including large
amounts of cyclopentane (as in Kanne) would have been difficult
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