Appeal 2006-1219
Application 10/636,148
obviousness. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443,
1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992). Accordingly, we will not sustain the Examiner's
rejection on this record for the reasons set forth below.
Meitzner is directed to a polymeric bead and the method of preparing
it (col. 1, ll. 7-8; col. 6, ll. 9-12). Meitzner’s polymeric beads “are valuable
as absorbents for organic fluids. They are also valuable for the separation of
mixtures of organic fluids” (col. 1, ll. 10-12). Meitzner’s polymeric beads
are made via suspension polymerization where droplets of the monomer or
monomer mixture are suspended in a medium in which the monomer or
monomer mixture is substantially insoluble (col. 5, ll. 63-66) in substantially
anaerobic conditions (col. 6, ll. 2-31), allowing the monomer mixture to
polymerize to form polymeric beads (col. 6, ll. 9-11) and separating the
polymeric beads from the suspending medium (col. 6, ll. 11-12) by filtration
and a water wash (col. 16, ll. 3-6).
Meitzner’s monomer mixture can include a vinyl monomer, such as
styrene (col. 7, ll. 7), a crosslinker, such as divinylbenzene (DVB), in the
amount of 4-25 per cent by weight of monomers (col. 5, ll. 23-30), and a free
radical initiator, such as peroxide (Example I; col. 6, ll. 33-37). In addition,
Meitzner utilizes a precipitant to aid in separating the polymeric bead from
the monomer phase (col. 4, ll. 63-66) and to form microscopic channels
within the polymeric bead (col. 5, ll. 1-5). Meitzner discloses that his
process “produce[s] compolymer [sic, copolymer] beads with a diameter
ranging from about 0.35 to about 1.2 mm” (col. 10, ll. 6-8).
According to the Examiner, Meitzner “disclose[s] making cross-
linked polystyrene beads by copolymerizing styrene with divinylbenzene by
aqueous suspension polymerization in the virtual absence of oxygen . . . to
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