Appeal No. 2002-0195
Application No. 09/174,977
teaches that the water required for the oxygen-absorbing reaction
may be gathered from the “water retained in the package by the
deliquescent substance” (col. 3, ll. 57-62), where the deliquescent
substance is defined by Nakamura as a substance in the composition
that “serves to adsorb water naturally existing in the interior
atmosphere of [the] package” (col. 4, ll. 1-3). Accordingly, we
determine that Nakamura teaches the same mode of operation as
recited in the functional language of the claims on appeal.
Appellants present several arguments concerning the
deliquescent component of the composition of Nakamura, i.e., that
calcium chloride is used as a hydrate and thus would supply water
to the composition prematurely (Brief, page 9), that the examiner
has no basis for stating that the Nakamura package should be kept
“dry” (Brief, page 10), and that the deliquescent component of
Nakamura was not used for the same purpose as appellants’ “dry
water-attracting means” (Brief, pages 11-13).
These arguments are not persuasive. Appellants have not
presented any convincing evidence or reasoning to support their
allegation that the two waters of hydration attached to the calcium
chloride would “supply” water to prematurely activate the
composition. See In re Scarborough, 500 F.2d 560, 566, 182 USPQ
298, 302 (CCPA 1974)(Generally held that attorney argument is
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