Appeal 2007-0504
Application 10/700,078
does not possess the characteristic relied on. In re Best, 562 F.2d 1252,
1255, 195 USPQ 430, 433 (CCPA 1977). It is elementary that the mere
recitation of a newly discovered function or property, inherently possessed
by things in the prior art, does not cause a claim drawn to those things to
distinguish over the prior art. Id.; see also In re Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 708,
15 USPQ2d 1655, 1657 (Fed. Cir. 1990).
Friel discloses a blend of emulsion polymers useful as a film forming
binder component in an aqueous coating composition (Friel, col. 1, ll. 7-9).
Friel further discloses that “hardness” of the coating is an important physical
characteristic of the coating and that the “hardness” is a function of the Tg
(i.e., glass transition temperature) of the polymeric binder (Friel, col. 1, ll.
40-43). Friel manipulates the Tg of the polymer by controlling the amount
of “hard” and “soft” emulsion polymer added to form the polymer blend of
the aqueous coating composition (Friel, col. 2, ll. 60-67). The “hard” and
“soft” polymers are formed by a polymerization reaction in which, for
example, a monomer emulsion of butyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate
(i.e., “monoethylenically unsaturated non-ionic (meth)acrylic monomer” as
claimed), methacrylic acid (i.e., “monoethylenically unsaturated acid
monomer” as claimed), styrene, anionic surfactant, and an adhesion
promoter are reacted with ammonium persulfate (i.e., the “thermal initiator”
as claimed) and neutralized using sodium carbonate (i.e., the “neutralizer” as
claimed) (Friel, col. 6, ll. 35-58; col. 7, Table 1; col. 8, ll. 30-49). The
emulsion polymer produced by the polymerization process is then mixed
with pigment and other compounds to form an aqueous paint formulation
(Friel, col. 9, Table 2).
5
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013