Appeal No. 2006-3179 Page 4
Application No. 10/477,069
from a perfluoroalkyl group, an alkyl group (CH2)xCH3 where x=2 to 12, a siloxyl group,
cyclohexyl, a UV absorber or a cytotoxic polypeptide, the chemical group being bonded
to the surface of the lens body by a sillyl ester.” Id., page 4, lines 24-27. “A typical
reagent for the surface modifying step comprises a molecule incorporating a reactive
silane group and a group whose presence is desired on the acrylic surface. Hence, the
typical reagent may have a formula R1-X-R2, where R1 is a silane group, R2 is a group
whose presence is desired on the surface, and X is a joining group, which may or may
not be needed.” Id., page 5, lines 31-34. Examples are shown in Table 1, which
includes a silane/perfluoroalkyl combination.
Ogawa teaches a method of covalently bonding an alkoxysilane surface active
agent to a substrate surface to improve its surface properties. Ogawa, column 1, lines
10-18. The process “allows practical reaction rates and does not generate hydrochloric
acid.” Id., column 2, lines 6-9. The surface active agents disclosed in the Ogawa
patent include silane surface active agents that contain fluoroalkyl groups (the same
generic structure described in Gupta). Id., column 5, lines 46-55. Specific examples
are described by Gupta which fall within the claimed fluoroalkyl silane general formula.
Id., column 9, line 59; column 11, lines 36, 37, and 47-50. The method is described as
“applicable for various uses and materials,” including 19 different classes of specifically
mentioned articles of manufacture and materials. Id., columns 7-9.
The Examiner states that it would have been obvious to the person of ordinary
skill in the art to have utilized Ogawa’s silane surface reagent in Gupta’s process to coat
intraocular lens for the benefit of achieving a practical reaction rate. Answer, page 6.
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