Appeal No. 2004-1939
Application 10/120,497
(a) blending some or all gasoline component streams from an oil refinery and keeping
the blend substantially free of oxygenates and with a sulfur content of less than 10 ppm, and
(b) controlling the blending of the streams such that the blended unleaded gasoline is in
compliance with the California Phase 3 Predictive Model.
26. A blended gasoline composition prepared by the method of Claim 1.
44. A gasoline composite which is substantially free of oxygenates, is in compliance
with the California Predictive Phase 3 Model, and has an octane number of at least 90(R+M)/2,
and a sulfur content of less than 10 ppmw.
The references relied on by the examiner are:
Jessup et al. (Jessup) 5,288,393 Feb. 22, 1994
Kaneko et al. (Kaneko) 5,401,280 Mar. 28, 1995
13 California Code of Regulations § 2262 et seq. (Phase 3 reformulated gasoline standards).2
The examiner has advanced the following grounds of rejection on appeal:
claims 1 through 14, 18 through 32, and 36 through 44 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)
as being unpatentable over Jessup in view of Kaneko and the Phase 3 reformulated gasoline
standards (answer, pages 3-5); and
claims 1 through 14, 18 through 32, and 36 through 44 stand rejected as specified in the answer
(pages 8) as unpatentable over certain claims in certain United States Patents, and provisional
rejected as specified in the answer (pages 5-9) as unpatentable over certain claims in certain
applications under the judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting, the
involved patents and applications also appearing in a listing in the brief (page, page 4).3
Appellants state that the appealed claims “stand or fall together” (brief, page 4). Thus,
we decide this appeal based on appealed claim 44 with respect to the ground of rejection under
§ 103(a), and on no particular claim with respect to the other grounds of rejection based on
obviousness double patenting in view of appellants’ position (see brief, page 9). 37 CFR
§ 1.192(c)(7) (2003).
2 We do not find in the official file of this application a copy of 13 CCR §2262. The California
Reformulated Gasoline Phase 2 and Phase 3 Standards, in effect as of the filing date of this
application. We note that specification Table 1 tabulates the “Properties and Specifications for
Phase 2 Reformulated gasoline” and that specification Table 2 tabulates the “Properties and
Specifications for Phase 3 Reformulated gasoline” and the specification further explains the
regulations (page 6, l. 1, to page 12, l. 15). There being no dispute in this respect, we consider
the information in specification Table 2 as the Phase 3 reformulated gasoline standards.
3 Application 09/603,585 (answer, page 7) is shown in the electronic records of the USPTO to
now be abandoned, and accordingly, the ground of rejection based thereon is moot.
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