Appeal No. 2004-2241
Application No. 10/059,577
been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to modify the
non-porous barrier of O'Dowd.
As for the § 103 rejection over Koch in view of O'Dowd, the
examiner errs in stating that "Koch teaches a method of producing
aqueous solution of iodine from iodine transferred across a
porous membrane that is permeable to vapors but impermeable to
water or solids (Fig. 2, col 3 lines 7-55)" (page 5 of Answer,
penultimate paragraph). As emphasized by appellants, Koch,
unlike O'Dowd, is not directed to transferring free iodine across
a membrane into a solution. Rather, Koch discloses a multi-layer
filter comprising medication, such as iodine, for inhibiting the
transfer of bacteria through the filter. Our review of Koch at
column 3, lines 7-55, cited by the examiner, finds no teaching of
producing an aqueous solution of iodine from iodine that is
transferred across a porous membrane. In relevant part, Koch
discloses that "[m]acrofilter layer 10 can be impregnated with
any aqueous or powdered bacteria-destroying material, for example
antibiotics . . . iodine . . ." (column 3, lines 24-29). Any
transfer of iodine from the filter into an aqueous solution would
be unintentional. Accordingly, we concur with appellants that
Koch and O'Dowd are not properly combinable.
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