Appeal 2007-1366
Application 90/005,090
1 art in the field of the invention. Rouffet, 149 F.3d at 1357, 47 USPQ2d at
2 1457).
3 Combining Teachings
4 Tanaka expressly teaches that multifunctional siloxyanyl ester cross-
5 linking agents may be used in place of conventional cross-linking agents,
6 such as ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, generally employed in the
7 polymerization of vinyl monomers. Tanaka, 8:2-14. Tanaka also teaches
8 that polyfunctional siloxyanyl ester cross-linking agents are preferred
9 because the siloxane bonds in those molecules provide high oxygen
10 permeability to the copolymer. Tanaka, 8:35-39. Thus, one having ordinary
11 skill in the art would have recognized that the oxygen permeability of
12 Tanaka’s contact lens materials was due, in part, to the use of Tanaka’s
13 preferred cross-linking agents. The person having ordinary skill in the art
14 would have been aware of the need for contact lens materials to have high
15 oxygen permeability. This known need in the art gives a reason for a person
16 of ordinary skill in the art to use Tanaka’s preferred cross-linking agents.
17 Any need or problem known in the field of endeavor at the time of the
18 invention and addressed by the prior art can be a basis to combine teachings
19 of the references. KSR, 127 S.Ct. at 1741. The person having ordinary skill
20 in the contact lens art would have expected Tanaka’s multifunctional
21 siloxyanyl ester cross-linking agents to act as cross-linking agents for the
22 comonomers used by Gaylord due to the presence of the terminal
23 unsaturated carbons (=CH 2). The conventional cross-linking agents taught
24 by Gaylord and Tanaka, as well as Tanaka’s multifunctional siloxyanyl ester
25 cross-linking
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Last modified: September 9, 2013