Appeal No. 2006-1311
Application No. 10/101,177
Appellants' claimed invention is directed to a process for
preparing an electrode/membrane assembly for a polymer
electrolyte fuel cell. The process entails, inter alia, forming
a layer of fluororesin and carbon black on a porous carbon
substrate, coating the carbon-containing layer with a liquid
containing a catalyst and a fluorocarbon polymer having sulfonic
acid groups, and impregnating with a solution containing a
solvent-soluble fluorine-containing polymer having substantially
no ion exchange groups to prepare a gas diffusion electrode.
The step of impregnating with a solution containing a solvent-
soluble fluorine-containing polymer having no ion exchange
groups enhances the water repellency of the gas diffusion layer.
Appealed claims 7-11, 13, and 17-20 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over the admitted prior
art found at pages 1-6 of the present specification, including
the translation of JP '897, in view of Yoshitake (U.S. Patent
No. 6,528,200 is the equivalent English translation). Claims 12
and 14-16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over the admitted prior art in view of Yoshitake
and Moriga.
Appellants do not set forth an argument that is reasonably
specific to any particular claim on appeal. Also, appellants do
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