Appeal No. 1998-3272
Application 08/461,393
appeal. A copy of this claim as it is presented in the appendix to appellants’ brief, is appended to
this decision.2 Claims 17 and 18 are also illustrative:
17. A metallocene which is selected from the group consisting of (arylalklidene)
(9-fluorenyl)(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride and (diarylmethylene)(9-fluorenyl)
(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride in which aryl represents an aryl group having 6-10
carbon atoms.
18. The metallocene as claimed in claim 17, wherein the metallocene is which is
(Methyl(phenyl)methylene)(9-fluorenyl)(cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride or
(diphenylmethylene)(9-fluorenyl) (cyclopentadienyl)zirconium dichloride.
The appealed claims, as represented by claim 23, are drawn to metallocene compounds
defined by the structural formula (I) wherein formula members “R3 and R4 are different and
denote a mono- or polynuclear hydrocarbon radical which can form a sandwich structure with
central atom M1,” wherein formula member M1 can be, inter alia, zirconium. The nuclear
hydrocarbon radicals R3 and R4 are bridged through one atom or a two atom chain as set forth for
formula member R5, which atoms can be a substituted metal or a substituted carbon, wherein the
substituents are formula members, R6, R7, and R8. The metal atom M1 can be bonded to formula
members R3 and R4 which can be hydrogen, halogen or a hydrocarbon groups. The claimed
metallocenes encompassed by claim 17 are illustrated to a small extent by the two subgeneric
groups of metallocenes in Markush claim 17 which have “arylalklidene” and “diarylmethylene”
radicals bridging the polynuclear “9-fluorenyl” and the mononuclear “cyclopentadienyl” radicals,
and zirconium chloride. Representative species of each of these subgeneric groups contain a
“methyl(phenyl)methylene” and a “diphenylmethylene” bridge, respectively, are encompassed by
claim 18, and are structurally depicted in specification Examples 1 and 2, respectively (pages 12
and 13). The claimed metallocene compounds are disclosed to be useful as the transition metal
1 This application is a continuation of application 08/325,558 (‘558 application), now abandoned,
which is a continuation of application 07/759,093 (‘093 application), now abandoned. The ‘093
application was the subject of Appeal No. 93-2450, decided December 2, 1994 (Paper No. 29).
2 We note that the sole difference between claim 23 as it appears in the appendix to the brief and
as it appears in the amendment of August 18, 1997 (Paper “22/G”), entered by the examiner as
stated in the advisory action of August 26, 1997 (Paper No. 23), is in the formality required by 37
CFR § 1.121(b) (1984) (see also 37 CFR § 1.121(a)(2)(ii) (1997)), in that in said amendment, the
claim contains the notation “(Once Amended) while in the appendix to the brief, the claim
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