Appeal No. 2005-0766
Application No. 09/877,277
prior art temperature ranges as revealed by comparing the
temperature ranges cited by the appellant in his aforequoted
argument in the paragraph bridging pages 9 and 10 of the brief.
As for the upper zone temperature range, we point out that both
Podrebarac (see lines 12-26 in column 6) and Gildert (see lines
24-39 in column 6), like the appellant (see lines 11-22 on
specification page 12), teach that the upper zone of their
distillation column reactors contain a lower boiling fraction
which is subjected to lower temperatures in order to provide for
greater selectivity. In the processes of the applied references,
the lower boiling point fraction treated in the upper zone of the
first distillation column reactor results in a light naphtha
overhead product just as in the appellant’s claimed and disclosed
process. See lines 9-35 in column 7 of Podrebarac and the
paragraph bridging columns 6 and 7 of Gildert in comparison with
the paragraph bridging pages 13 and 14 of the subject
specification.
The above discussed circumstances reflect that the upper
zones in the first distillation column reactors of Podrebarac and
Gildert involve temperature ranges which overlap the disclosed
temperature range for the upper zone of the appellant’s claimed
first distillation column reactor. This supports the examiner’s
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