Appeal No. 2002-0984
Application 09/246,179
of the absorbance for species being measured in real time to the
absorbance for the same species at the outset of the reaction is
determined, subtracted from 100 and converted to a percentage. In
the sixth step, the "production" or "modification" reaction is
terminated when, apparently, the degree of conversion or
modification determined in the fifth step representing the
"desired degree of reaction or modification" has been achieved.
As we have demonstrated by our analysis above, the claimed
process is generic to production of either unidentified
"polymeric products" and/or "modification" of unidentified
"polymeric products." Appellants' sole disclosure in their
specification of any useful process is directed to the
"modification" alternative of claim 6. Specifically, at pages 7
through 9 of the specification, appellants disclose monitoring
the degree of hydrogenation of unidentified "nitrile rubbers" in
a solution of chlorobenzene using "the IR-ATR method." Thus, the
"nitrile rubbers" are "modified" by reducing the degree of
unsaturation in the polymers by hydrogenating 225 grams of them
in 1275 grams of chlorobenzene in an autoclave using
triphenylphosphine and a rhodium catalyst.
Thus, although the claims are not what we consider to be a
model of clarity, they possess adequate specificity and can be
read, after reading them in light of appellants’ specification as
they would be understood by the hypothetical person of ordinary
6
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007