Appeal No. 2002-2283
Application No. 08/882,513
to include all halides because the term “displaceable” then would
be meaningless.
We conclude that fluorides are not encompassed by the phrase
“displaceable halides” in independent Claims 1, 20, and 32.
Applicant’s specification supports our claim interpretation. The
specification indicates that “X2 is halogen, such as chlorine and
bromine” (Spec., p. 6, l. 3). All exemplary I,a-dihaloalkanes and
I,a-dihaloalkenes are displaceable chlorides and/or bromides
(Spec., p. 6, l. 10-20; pp. 11-22, Examples 1-12). Moreover,
appellants cite evidence of record in support of their position
that fluorine is much less reactive (displaceable) than other
halogens (AB 6; Application Paper No. 15). On this basis,
appellants argued that “one skilled in the art recognizes that a
terminal fluorine substituent does not act as a leaving group,
while terminal bromine and chlorine substituents do.” Id. The
examiner has not contested appellants’ evidence. On balance, we
find that the record supports appellants’ contention that persons
of ordinary skill in this art would have understood the term
“displaceable halides” to exclude fluorides.
The examiner does not maintain that applicant’s original
specification lacks a written description of the subject matter
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