Appeal No. 2007-0111
Reexamination 90/006,297
1 inert solvent, and (c) heating the mass at a temperature between room
2 temperature and 120ºC and at a pressure between ordinary
3 atmospheric pressure and 100 atmospheres, to effect polymerization
4 of said unsaturated hydrocarbon. [Emphasis added.]
5
6 The specification of 03/514,097 disclosed the incorporation of “[s]mall
7 amounts” of ethylene into the copolymer and thus indicated that ethylene is one of
8 the “other olefinic monomers copolymerizable” with the CH2 = CHR unsaturated
9 hydrocarbon monomer. (Pages 12 and 32.) Regarding the term “small amounts,”
10 the specification enlightened one skilled in the relevant art as follows (pages 1-2):
11 This invention relates to a process for polymerizing unsaturated
12 hydrocarbons of the formula
13 CH2 = CHR
14 in which R is a saturated aliphatic, an alicyclic or an aromatic radical,
15 alone, in mixture with one another, or in mixture with small amounts,
16 up to about 5%, of a monomer polymerizable therewith.
17 Uniquely, the initial polymerization products obtained by the present
18 method are mixtures of linear, head-to-tail amorphous and crystalline
19 polymers having no branches longer than R. The polymers can be
20 separated from the polymerizate by fractional dissolution. The
21 crystalline polymers may comprise as high as 30% or even up to 55%
22 of the mixture and have high molecular weights and fiber forming
23 properties. The amorphous polymers may also have relatively high
24 molecular weights and may exhibit rubberlike properties. [Emphasis
25 added.]
26
27 In addition, the specification stated (page 6):
28 It has been found, also, that even when ethylene is polymerized
29 with the aid of the special promoters obtained by reaction of the heavy
30 metal and metal alkyl compounds, in the ratios proposed for
31 promoting ethylene polymerization, the presence of any substantial
62
Page: Previous 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013