Appeal No. 2005-0138
Application No. 09/618,044
We reverse this rejection essentially for the reasons stated in the
Brief, Reply Brief, and those reasons set forth below.
OPINION
The examiner finds that Fukuhara discloses a process for the
liquid-phase hydrogenation of acetone in a reactor to produce
isopropanol (Answer, page 4). The examiner finds that two
differences between the claimed subject matter and the process of
Fukuhara are that the reference is silent about the amount of water
contained in the acetone reactant and the use of multiple
hydrogenation stages (id.). The examiner applies Hiles for the
teaching to employ multi-stage hydrogenation reactions to produce a
greater conversion of the unsaturated reactant (id.).
From these findings, the examiner concludes that it would have
been obvious to incorporate additional hydrogenation stages as
taught by Hiles into the process of Fukuhara to optimize the total
conversion of the isopropanol product (Answer, page 5). The
examiner also concludes that, even though Fukuhara is silent
regarding the water content of the acetone reactant, “there is no
reason for the skilled artisan to believe that the Fukuhara et al.
process does not utilize acetone having a water content of less
than or equal to 1.0% by weight” considering the high conversions
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