Appeal 2006-2735
Application 10/758,552
zirconium dioxide (Answer 4). The Examiner cites the Silver reference for
describing improved catalyst compositions comprising cerium oxide and
zirconium oxide support material (Answer 5). Silver, like Igarashi, discloses
catalyst compositions useful in water gas shift reactions and in the
production of hydrogen. Silver discloses that metals such as platinum and
rhenium are suitable for being supported on the described catalyst support
material (Silver, col., 6, ll. 20-31).
Appellants argue that neither Igarashi, nor Silver taken alone or in
combination teach or suggest all the limitations of the claimed invention.
Specifically, Appellants argue that Igarashi provides a closed recitation of
possible metal oxide supports for use in the catalysts which exclude ceria
(Br. 3). Appellants further argue that the Silver reference does not suggest
that combinations of metals could be used on the described support material
(Br. 4).
Appellants’ arguments are not persuasive. The Examiner did not rely
on the Igarashi reference for describing the catalyst support material. The
Silver reference has been relied upon for the disclosure of the catalyst
support material. The Igarashi reference is evidence that persons of ordinary
skill in the art would have recognized that a catalyst could comprise
mixtures of platinum and rhenium on the same support material. The Silver
reference is evidence that a person of ordinary skill in the art would have
reasonably expected that catalysts comprising platinum and rhenium would
have been suitable for support on an oxide material comprising cerium and
zirconium (see Silver, col. 6, ll. 20-31). Further, the idea of using mixtures
of the metal catalysts on the support material described in the Silver
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