Appeal No. 2002-1097
Application 09/382,613
polycarbonates of Tanaka as with the polyoxyalkylene polyols of
McDaniel. See In re Lee, 277 F.3d 1338, 1343-44, 61 USPQ2d 1430,
1434 (Fed. Cir. 2002)(“This factual question of motivation is
material to patentability, and could not be resolved on sub-
jective belief and unknown authority.”).
The examiner has failed to support the contention that
the alumina of McDaniel is “very similar” to the inorganic
adsorbents disclosed by Tanaka (Answer, page 5). Actually,
Tanaka discloses “inorganic ion exchangers” (not adsorbents) as
useful in the purification process (col. 33, ll. 42-45). The
examiner has not established, on this record, that the alumina of
McDaniel would have been considered an “inorganic ion exchanger”
within the disclosure of Tanaka. Furthermore, the examiner has
not established that the alumina of McDaniel is “very similar” to
any of the inorganic ion exchangers specifically disclosed by
Tanaka (col. 33, ll. 51-62), e.g., zirconium compounds or zeolite
(an aluminosilicate tetrahedral framework with ion-exchangeable
large cations)(see the Answer, page 5).1
1See McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed., p. 2188
(1994). Similarly, the definition of clay states that it is composed primarily of silica, alumina and
water, often with iron, alkalies and alkaline earths (id., p. 383) while dolomite is calcium
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