Appeal No. 1998-3182
Application No. 08/459,526
fall together with claim 1. (See page 5 of principal brief,
paragraph 3).
We have thoroughly reviewed each of appellants' arguments
for patentability, as well as the literature references cited in
support thereof. However, we are in complete agreement with the
examiner that the claimed subject matter is unpatentable over the
cited patent to Tsutsui. Accordingly, we will sustain the
examiner's rejection for essentially those reasons expressed in
the answer.
There is no dispute that Tsutsui, like appellants, discloses
a catalyst system effective in the preparation of polyolefins
comprising the supported components of alumoxane, bridged and
unbridged metallocenes. It is appellants’ contention that there
is no disclosure or teaching in Tsutsui that the catalyst system
is effective in preparing polyolefins having at least a bimodal
molecular weight distribution, as presently claimed. The
examiner, on the other hand, counters (1) since a substantially
similar catalyst system is used by both Tsutsui and appellants,
“the examiner has a reasonable basis to suspect that the polymers
of Tsutsui inherently possess such a property” (sentence bridging
pages 3 and 4 of answer), and (2) Tsutsui discloses an
intermediate catalyst system that is the same as appellants’
3
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