Appeal No. 2004-2118 Page 10
Application 09/329,502
by employing a molecular sieve having such a lesser average pore
size in the alkylation zone based on such a provision having been
conventional in alkylation/transalkylation processes as admitted
by appellants at page 3, lines 9-14 of the specification.
Appellants argue (brief, page 10), in effect, that the
admission in the specification is an admission with respect to
zeolite-Y, not high porosity zeolite-Y. That argument is not
persuasive. One of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the
invention would have reasonably determined upon routine
experimentation that the admitted conventional use of a lower
average pore size for the alkylation zone sieve would have been
applicable whether the transalkylation zone catalyst was a “high
porosity” zeolite-Y or a zeolite-Y. This is so for substantially
the same reasons that type of porosity difference in catalysts is
used when the transalkylation catalyst is a zeolite-Y catalyst.
We note that both zeolite-y and “high porosity” zeolite-Y
catalysts are encompassed by West and appellants have not
articulated a compelling rationale as to why use of a “high
porosity” zeolite-Y in the transalkylation zone as taught by West
would lead one of ordinary skill in the art away from following
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