Appeal No. 2003-1795
Application No. 09/821,702
monohydroxylated polydiene polymers would have been
prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art.
See In re Vaeck, 947 F.2d 488, 493, 20 USPQ2d 1438, 1442
(Fed. Cir. 1991); In re O'Farrell, 853 F.2d 894, 902, 7
USPQ2d 1673, 1680 (Fed. Cir. 1988).
Appellants argue . . . that there is no motivation
to combine the references (brief, pages 4-5). This
argument is not persuasive because Richards’ teaching
that terminal functionalization minimizes the number of
free chain ends in the product and is the primary
contributor to a favorable polymer network structure
(col. 5, lines 20-23) would have led one of ordinary
skill in the art to functionalize the ends of the
Erickson ‘464 polymers, including those which have only
one end to be functionalized, so that the polymers have
fewer chain ends in the product and have a better
polymer network structure. The reason for using an
amino resin to crosslink the epoxidized
monohydroxylated polydiene polymer is set forth above.
For the above reasons, we conclude that the applied prior
art references would have rendered the presently claimed subject
matter obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art within the
meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103. Accordingly, we affirm the
examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1 through 15 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103.
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