Appeal No. 2006-2369 Page 9
Application No. 10/169,618
glucose subunits) would have a D.E. of about 50. The claimed D.E. value of 1 to 47
therefore encompasses starch hydrolysates that are nominally hydrolyzed
(D.E. = 1), as well as hydrolysates composed of molecules only slightly larger than a
disaccharide (D.E. = 47).
Therefore, we agree with the examiner that the disclosure in Sony ‘649,
paragraph [0007], of the suitability of hydrolysates wherein “starch . . . will be
mentioned” as the polysaccharide, and wherein suitable hydrolysates contain
“trisaccharide [or] . . . tetrasaccharide,” with hydrolysates of “seven or more molecules
condensed” being “especially . . . suitable” (emphasis added), suggests the use of a
starch hydrolysate having a D.E. of 1 to 47. This is especially true given Appellants’
concession that starch hydrolysates “are well known in the art” (specification, page 4),
and that starch hydrolysates within the claimed range were commercially available in
the prior art (specification, page 8). Sony ‘649’s preference for hydrolysates would have
led the skilled artisan to use commercially available starch hydrolysate products as the
polysaccharide portion of Sony ‘649’s urethane derivatives. Thus, in our view, Sony
‘649 suggests the use of a starch hydrolysate having the claimed D.E. as the
carbohydrate moiety in the polysaccharide urethane derivatives disclosed in that
reference.
The evidence of record also supports the examiner’s assertion that Sony ‘649
and ‘775 taken together suggest that a linear or branched alkyl-containing isocyanate
would have been suitable in the production of polysaccharide urethane derivatives.
Sony ‘649 at paragraph [0009] teaches that four isocyanate compounds -- phenyl
isocyanate, m-tolyl isocyanate, p-tolyl isocyanate and cyclohexyl isocyanate -- can be
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013