Appeal 2007-0511
Application 10/699,508
1 measuring the deposits formed by the sample under high-temperature thin-
2 film oxidation conditions. Final Office Action mailed November 4, 2005 at
3 8-9; Answer at 7.
4 The Examiner concludes (Final Office Action mailed November 4,
5 2005 at 9; Answer at 7):
6 Based upon the combination of Kolosov et al and either
7 O’Rear or Gatto, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary
8 skill in the art at the time of the instant invention to screen the
9 lubricant/additive compositions in the combinatorial array
10 taught by Kolosov et al for oxidation stability since Kolosov et
11 al teach that the plurality of samples in the array are screened
12 for various material characteristics, and both O’Rear and Gatto
13 teach that it is common to screen lubricating oil compositions
14 for their oxidation stability by either determining the time
15 required for a lubricant sample to consume a predetermined
16 amount of oxygen or by measuring the amount of deposits
17 formed by a lubricant sample exposed to oxidation reaction
18 conditions.
19 a. Step of measuring oxidation stability
20 Claim 1 recites a high throughput method for screening lubricating oil
21 compositions, under program control, comprising the step of “measuring
22 the oxidation stability of each sample to provide oxidation stability data for
23 each sample.”
24 The Appellants argue that O’Rear and Gatto do not disclose or
25 suggest the invention of claim 1. Appeal Brief at 10-11, 12. Specifically,
26 the Appellants argue that neither O’Rear nor Gatto discloses, motivates, or
27 suggests an automatic high throughput method operated under program
28 control, i.e., one that automatically screens lubricating oil compositions for
29 oxidation stability. Appeal Brief at 14.
16
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