Appeal No. 2006-1161
Application No. 10/322,254
desirably have an ion-exchange capacity as large as possible. From this
standpoint, said fluorinated vinyl ether compound may preferably have
a molecular weight as small as possible. Accordingly, it is preferred
that the value of p may be 0 or 1, most preferably 0. [Col. 11, line 50-
col. 12, line 17.]
Examples 2 and 4 of Kimoto are relied upon by the Examiner to show that
Kimoto obtains both a monoaddition and a biaddition product and further that the product
is separated from remaining starting materials. Final Office Action at 4; Answer at 6-7.
In Example 2, FSO2(CF2)2COF was reacted with a slight excess HFPO. Col. 29,
lines 30-39. The reaction mixture separated into two layers, and the lower layer
was distilled to yield a fraction boiling at 45˚C, i.e., the monoaddition product
FSO2(CF2)3OC(CF3)FCOF. Id., lines 39-58. The yield was 225 g (0.57 mol, or 57%
based on the limiting reactant FSO2(CF2)2COF2). Example 4 used a greater molar excess
of HFPO and yielded more of the biaddition product than the monoaddition product. Col.
30, lines 38-56. Thus, these two examples considered together support Kimoto’s
statements regarding the impact of changing the proportion of HFPO to FSO2(CF2)nCOF.
See col. 11, lines 50-66.
Lewis (the dictionary reference) is relied upon to show what one of ordinary skill
in the art would have known at the time the invention was made, i.e., that recycling is
useful to obtain “a more efficient conversion of unreacted components or to reuse
auxiliary materials that remain unchanged during processing.” Lewis at 995. See also
Answer at 4-5.
2 Appellant’s calculation yielded 52%. Brief at 8. The difference in these calculations does not impact our
analysis.
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007