Appeal No. 2006-3179 Page 6
Application No. 10/477,069
problem to be solved as a whole would have suggested to those of ordinary skill in the
art.” In re Kahn, 441 F.3d 977, 987-988, 78 USPQ2d 1329, 1336 (Fed. Cir. 2006).
We begin our analysis with the observation that the nature of the problem
addressed by Gupta, Ogawa, and the claimed subject matter are the same. Gupta
describes his “invention” as the modification of a lens body surface “to possess a
desired characteristic.” Gupta, page 3, lines 30-33. Similarly, Ogawa’s patent is
directed to processes for modifying substrate surfaces with active agents that confer
desirable surface properties. Ogawa, column 5, lines 46-52; column 6, lines 57-60.
Claim 1 is also a method of modifying surfaces, particularly by inactivating Bronstėd
bases on the surface of an intraocular lens body.
In addition to addressing the same general problem, both Gupta and Ogawa are
also engaging the same basic technology to solve it, i.e., the application of bifunctional
silane/perfluoroalkyl reagents to the substrate surface. The Gupta patent identifies two
chemical functionalities present in its surface modifying reagent which are used to
achieve the surface properties desired for an artificial optical lens: a reactive silane
group and a second functional group that acts to modify the lens’s surface properties.
Gupta, page 5. This structure is generically described in Gupta by the formula “R1-X-
R2,” where R1 is the silane group, R2 is the second functional group, and X is the joining
group. Id., page 5, lines 31-37. In particular, Gupta teaches that the combination of a
trialkyamino silane (R1) and perfluoroalkyl (R2) confer biological inertness and low glare
to the lens body, depending on the surface thickness. Id., page 6, Table 1. The
perfluoroalkyl group derivative is covalently joined to a silane group. The silane group
is used to attach the perfluoroalkyl to the lens surface because it is a “versatile” reagent
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