Appeal No. 2001-0168
Application No. 09/170,790
identical or substantially identical, or are produced by
identical or substantially identical processes. In re Best,
562 F.2d 1252, 1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977).
In arguing that Moureaux's structure could not exhibit
hydrogen bonding, appellants rely, in particular, on the
embodiment shown in Figure 1 of Moureaux wherein the ethylene-
vinyl alcohol copolymer is not depicted as being present at the
surface of the membrane layer. See supra, page 5. The examiner
concludes that "[t]he ethylene-vinyl alcohol is not limited to a
location within the polyurethane but is uniformly distributed
throughout the membrane, including the surface" (Examiner's
Answer, page 6).
We find that Moureaux discloses at least one film of a
graft polymer, formed by the reaction of thermoplastic
polyurethane with a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl alcohol (as
described in connection with FIG. 1, see Moureaux, column 6,
lines 11-12), which is arranged between two layers 3 of a
thermoplastic polyurethane. See id., lines 10-16. The layer
containing the co-polymer may be made by mixing the thermoplastic
polyurethane and the co-polymer. See id., claim 2.
Specifically, Moureaux teaches that these materials may be mixed
for a few minutes at a temperature between 150 /C and 250 /C
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