Appeal No. 2004-0971
Application No. 09/887,933
wherein said strong base is chemically reactive with
water.
The examiner relies upon the following reference as
evidence of unpatentability:
Hijiya et al. (Hijiya) 5,679,857 Oct. 21, 1997
Claims 12 through 22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being obvious over Hijiya.
OPINION
In the paragraph bridging pages 3 and 4 of the Brief,
appellants argue that there is no teaching or suggestion in
Hijiya of the racemization of a Schiff base of a primary
amide of an amino acid.1 Appellants argue that Hijiya
discloses racemization of a Schiff base of a secondary
amino acid amide. On page 4 of the Brief, appellants argue
that Hijiya does not provide a suggestion or motivation to
modify the secondary amino acid amides to arrive at the
primary amino acid amides used in the claimed invention.
On page 5 of the Brief, appellants also argue that there is
no indication of why a skilled artisan would expect that a
primary amide of an amino acid would function equivalently
in the teachings of Hijiya. See also pages 2-3 of the
Reply Brief.
1 The examiner agrees that Hijiya does not teach a primary amide
of an amino acid. Answer, page 3.
2
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