Appeal No. 2001-0168
Application No. 09/170,790
urethane in the first layer. Appeal Brief, page 3. Appellants
also separately argue the patentability of claims 10, 22, 31 and
41 which are directed to barrier membranes that include 50-97
weight percent of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer and 3-15
weight percent of thermoplastic urethane in the first layer.4
Appellants assert that all of these claims define over
Moureaux which "teaches that the polyurethane is at least 80
weight percent of the graft copolymer layer." Appeal Brief,
page 11. According to appellants, the examiner has
misinterpreted Moureaux as disclosing two distinct layers one of
which contains a minority of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer and
another of which contains a majority, i.e., 50-95% of ethylene-
vinyl alcohol copolymer. See Reply Brief, Paper No. 12, received
May 23, 2000, page 1. We agree.
Claims 2-4, 14-16, 24-26, and 33-35 require that the barrier
membranes include 50 weight percent or less thermoplastic
urethane in the first layer. Each of claims 10, 22, 31 and 41
specify that the first layer of the claimed membrane includes "50
wt.% to about 97 wt% of at least one ethylene and vinyl alcohol"
4
4 We note that the presence of "3.0 wt.% of one or more
aromatic urethanes" as recited in these claims is merely optional
since it is preceded by the language "up to."
99
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