Appeal No. 2007-0111
Reexamination 90/006,297
1 solvent with an metal alkyl compound dissolved in an
2 inert solvent, in the absence of air, (b) introducing at least
3 one of the unsaturated hydrocarbons to be polymerized
4 into the reaction product of the heavy metal and metal
5 alkyl compounds in the inert solvent, and (c) heating the
6 mass at a temperature between room temperature and
7 120ºC and at a pressure between ordinary atmospheric
8 pressure and 100 atmospheres, to effect polymerization
9 of said unsaturated hydrocarbon. [Emphasis added.]
10
11 89. The ‘097 application disclosed the incorporation of “[s]mall amounts”
12 of ethylene into the copolymer and thus indicated that ethylene is one
13 of the “other olefinic monomers copolymerizable” with the CH2 =
14 CHR unsaturated hydrocarbon monomer. (Pages 12 and 32.)
15 90. Regarding the term “small amounts,” the specification enlightened
16 one skilled in the relevant art as follows (pages 1-2):
17 This invention relates to a process for polymerizing
18 unsaturated hydrocarbons of the formula
19 CH2 = CHR
20 in which R is a saturated aliphatic, an alicyclic or an
21 aromatic radical, alone, in mixture with one another, or in
22 mixture with small amounts, up to about 5%, of a
23 monomer polymerizable therewith.
24 Uniquely, the initial polymerization products obtained by
25 the present method are mixtures of linear, head-to-tail
26 amorphous and crystalline polymers having no branches
27 longer than R. The polymers can be separated from the
28 polymerizate by fractional dissolution. The crystalline
29 polymers may comprise as high as 30% or even up to
30 55% of the mixture and have high molecular weights and
31 fiber forming properties. The amorphous polymers may
32 also have relatively high molecular weights and may
33 exhibit rubberlike properties. [Emphasis added.]
29
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