Appeal No. 2004-0149
Application No. 09/803,612
that WO ‘628 and WO ‘787 both are directed to laundry bleaching
compositions having “remarkable dye transfer inhibition properties”
which would have suggested use with fabrics bearing fadeable dyes
to one of ordinary skill in this art (Answer, page 3). We agree.
Appellants argue that an “essential element” of the claims is
the presence of a fabric with a fadeable dye and none of the
references disclose any dye fading problem nor this essential
element. This argument is not well taken since both references
disclose that dye transfer is “a well-known problem in the art” (WO
‘628, page 2, ll. 10-16; WO ‘787, page 2, ll. 10-16).
Additionally, both references teach that the metal complex
bleaching catalyst provides “efficient dye-transfer inhibiting
properties in the presence of H2O2.” WO ‘787, page 3, ll. 5-6;
page 4, ll. 33-35; see also WO ‘628, page 2, ll. 32-37; and page 4,
ll. 30-31. Accordingly, we agree with the examiner that this
teaching would have reasonably suggested using the bleach system of
WO ‘628 or WO ‘787 with all laundry, including fabrics with
fadeable dyes, to one of ordinary skill in this art.
2(...continued)
definition referred to by the examiner on page 4 of the Answer at
page 57, ll. 5-17, of the specification. We deem this citation
error harmless since appellants have not challenged the
examiner’s interpretation of “substantially devoid.”
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