Appeal No. 2004-0137
Application 10/073,321
Based on my experiments conducted in conjunction
with the making of the present invention, no azeotropic
mixture of trichloroethylene and benzotrifluoride
exists. In other words, our experiments did not reveal
the formation of any azeotrope of trichloroethylene and
benzotriflouride [sic], and this absence of any
azeotrope makes it all the more surprising that certain
mixtures of trichloroethylene and benzotrifluoride,
i.e. mixtures in the range of 25:75 to 75:25, evaporate
faster than either component by itself. [page 3]
* * *
If the ratio of the two components
[trichloroethylene and benzotrifluoride] is outside the
range of 20:80 to 80:20, the behavior of the two
compounds is consistent with what would have been
expected, i.e. the mixture evaporates slower than
either component. [pages 3-4]
* * *
It is known that an azeotropic mixture will
evaporate faster than each of the components
independently. It is also known that mixtures of
components which do not form an azeotrope evaporate
more slowly than either component individually. It is
therefore highly surprising that mixtures of
trichloroethylene and benzotrifluoride, even though
they do not form an azeotrope, nevertheless evaporate
more quickly than either component by itself. [page 4]
The examiner argues that the evidence of unexpected results
is not commensurate in scope with the claims because 1) the
claims require a stabilizer, and it is unclear whether the
trichloroethylene and benzotrifluoride in a mixture of
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