Appeal No. 2006-1660
Application No. 10/609,087
polymer, we fully concur with the examiner that it is reasonable
to conclude that the process of Senga, which uses the same
components, also has the same contamination levels. The
obviousness of such low levels of contaminants is further
supported by the examiner's citation of Koyama, who evidences
the use of corrosion-resistant stainless steel alloys for
reaction vessels. Appellants have not advanced any compelling
rationale, let alone objective evidence, which demonstrates that
processes fairly taught by Senga would have contamination levels
for the polymer product outside the claimed ranges. Also,
appellants' argument that Senga does not incorporate the
corrosive sodium hydroxide in the polymerization process lends
further support to the reasonable conclusion regarding the
contaminant level in Senga's polymer product. If it is
appellants' position that their failure to isolate the amino-
alkanoate from the solution which contains sodium hydroxide
presents a contamination problem for the polymer product, we
find that it would have been a matter of obviousness for one of
ordinary skill in the art to perform a cost/benefit analysis
pertaining to isolating the aminoalkanoate from the caustic
solution.
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