Appeal No. 2006-2810 Page 14
Application No. 10/618,111
Along these same lines, Smith mentions experiments using fillers such as
alumina and silica, but does not present any data to substantiate his conclusion that
these fillers were deleterious to the LCT epoxy resin structure. Thus, these results are
also not persuasive.
In ¶7 of the Smith Declaration, it was stated:
By mixing the alumoxanes of Cook ‘183 with the LCT of Smith ‘984 one would
expect to get, and would in all likelihood end up with, a ruined LCT resin that has
disrupted crystalline domains and phase separation with the added alumoxanes.
This statement, as pointed out by the examiner, is confusing. Answer, pages 15-
16. If “in all likelihood” Cook in view of Smith would “end up with, ruined LCT resin,” then
what is Appellant doing differently to avoid this result, and how is this reflected in the
claims? Although this issue was raised in the Answer, we do not find it adequately
addressed in the Brief or Reply brief.
Appellant also contends that the examiner acquiesced to their position:
In any event, perplexingly enough, the Examiner actually agrees with the
assertion that “mixing of particles likely would have disrupted the crystalline
structure of the LCT-resin,” but he goes one to state that “this appears to be moot
in light of the combined teachings.” (Page 9 of advisory action, middle
paragraph.) So the Examiner is stating that obtaining a ruined resin is sufficient
prior art, due to the structural similarities that he demonstrated, to overcome the
crystalline resin of applicant’s invention.
Brief, page 6.
Cook’s method does not involve only mixing of “particles” with epoxy resins, but
also requires the chemical bonding of the alumoxane material with the epoxy polymer.
Whether unbound particles would disrupt the crystalline structure was considered
“moot” by the examiner, because Cook’s method used a different approach. Thus, we
4 Appellant did not point to this disclosure in the Brief.
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