Appeal No. 2005-2667
Application 08/943,125
functionalities and water” (‘223 reference, page 2, ll. 10-17, and page 6, ll. 9-11; ‘304 reference,
col. 1, ll. 45-53, and col. 3, ll. 37-40). We find that Arroyo describes superabsorbent materials
generally, including those based on polyacrylic acid and polyacrylonitrile, and discloses that
“[t]he preferred superabsorbent material is AridallTM 1125F Superabsorbent Polymer available
from the Chemdal Corporation,” and that “Aridall polymers are crosslinked acrylic polymers”
(col. 5, l. 35, to col. 7, l. 1).
Appellant discloses in the written description in the specification that “[t]he
superabsorbent polymer employed according to the invention, absorbs from about 25 to greater
than 100 times its weight in water and comprises a polymer of acrylic acid, an acrylic ester,
acrylonitrile or acrylamide, including co-polymers thereof or starch graft copolymers thereof or
mixtures thereof, where the mixtures contain from 2 to about 3 or 4 superabsorbent polymers”
(page 21, ll. 1-7). Appellant further discloses that the superabsorbent polymers include those
listed in certain United States Patents as well as certain commercially available polymers (pages
21-23). Included among the latter is “AridallTM which are sodium or potassium polyacrylates
that may be lightly cross-linked” (page 22, ll. 17-18).
Appellant argues in the brief that the “swelling value” disclosed in Geursen references
includes “the relative water absorbency of the yarn or the yarn coated with the superabsorbent
polymer composition,” and provides a supporting explanation based on the disclosure in
Example I, including Table A, of the references for the contention that the same would not have
disclosed “superabsorbent polymers that can absorb greater than about 100 times their weight in
water” (brief, pages 6-10 and 12; see reply brief, page 6). The composition includes “Mirox
W 45985” which is a superabsorbent polymer that “is a terpolymer of acrylamide, carboxyl
groups- and sulpho groups-containing polymers” (‘223 reference, pages 15-17; ‘304 reference,
cols. 8-9).
In response to appellant’s arguments in the brief, the examiner points to the disclosure in
the Geursen references that “[d]epending on the nature of the substrate and the quantity and
nature of the superabsorbent material applied thereto, the swelling values ranges from 50 to 700
or higher, more particularly from 100 to 700 or higher” (‘223 reference, page 2, ll. 10-17, and
page 6, ll. 9-11; ‘304 reference, col. 7, ll. 2-6) (answer, page 6).
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