Appeal 2007-1853
Application 10/987,347
As evidence of unpatentability of the claimed subject matter, the
Examiner has relied upon the following reference:
Tanaka EP 0 432 438 A1 Jun. 19, 1991
The Examiner has finally rejected the claims on appeal under 35
U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over the disclosure of Tanaka.
The Appellants appeal from the Examiner’s decision rejecting the
claims on appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a).
ISSUE
Would Tanaka have suggested to a person having ordinary skill in the
art to cold press (without external heating) its mixture containing powdered
adsorbent and powdered resin within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103(a)?
PRINCIPLES OF LAW
1. CLAIM INTERPRETATION
During prosecution of the application, the Examiner “applies to the
verbiage of the claims the broadest reasonable meaning of the words in their
ordinary usage [consistent with the Specification] as they would be
understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.” In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048,
1054-56, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027-30 (Fed. Cir. 1997).
2. OBVIOUSNESS
Under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the factual inquiry into obviousness requires a
determination of: (1) the scope and content of the prior art; (2) the
differences between the claimed subject matter and the prior art; (3) the level
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