Appeal No. 2004-0800
Application No. 08/362,547
obviousness under § 103 a reference must be considered in its
entirety, including its non-preferred embodiments. Here,
although Volkert prefers that the blowing agents are used in
conjunction with water, the reference expressly teaches that
cyclopentane or mixtures of cyclopentane and/or cyclohexane can
be used alone or in combination with other alkanes. Accordingly,
we find that it would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill
in the art, based on the Volkert disclosure, to formulate rigid
polyurethane foams by utilizing one or more C1 to C6 hydrocarbons
as the sole blowing agents, as presently claimed.
As for separately argued claims 3 and 6, which recite
pentane and hexane, respectively, as the blowing agents, we agree
with the examiner that it would have been obvious for one of
ordinary skill in the art to formulate a rigid polyurethane foam
by reacting the components disclosed by Volkert, and presently
claimed, wherein the blowing agent is pentane or hexane or
mixtures thereof. While Volkert teaches that saturated
hydrocarbons, such as pentane, "possess thermal conductivities
which are too high to generate PU rigid foams having the required
insulating properties" (column 2, lines 33-35), it would have
been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to employ
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