Appeal No. 2001-0936
Application No. 08/952,208
III. The rejection of claims 1, 3-6 and 10-16 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Ritz.
(A) Claims 1, 3-6, and 10-12
The examiner has found that Ritz discloses the synthesis of
caprolactam from aqueous 6-aminocapronitrile. The examiner has
further found that the reference is silent on the purification of
6-aminocapronitrile starting material, and teaches the use of
heterogeneous catalysts in the preparation of caprolactam. The
examiner thus concludes that one of ordinary skill in the art
would use 6-aminocapronitrile without purification to make
caprolactam. (Examiner’s Answer, page 5, lines 9-17). The
examiner finally states the 6-aminocapronitrile inherently
contains THA-1 (Final Rejection, page 3, lines 4-5) (formed when
stored at room temperature).
The appellants admit that Ritz discloses the reaction of 6-
aminocapronitrile with water in the liquid phase in the presence
of a heterogeneous catalyst (Appeal Brief, page 6, lines 4-8).
The appellants, however, urge in their Brief on Appeal that the
6-aminocapronitrile is pure. It is said to be routine expedient
in the chemical art (and self evident under circumstances as
present in the field of caprolactam and polycaprolactam
manufacture) that each of the intermediate products are
introduced into their reactions as pure materials. Otherwise,
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