Appeal 2007-4234
Application 10/929,891
paragraph, and claims 1-9, 14-15 and 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). Claim
20, the only remaining claim, was indicated as allowable if rewritten in
independent form.2 We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We
AFFIRM-IN-PART and REVERSE-IN-PART.
The subject matter on appeal relates to a method of treating a
crystalline wax, e.g. paraffin, with a chemical composition comprising a
surfactant to reduce its surface tension in order to disperse it in a diluent.
Claims 1 and 4 are exemplary and read as follows:
1. A method of liquefying and dispersing
crystalline wax in a petrochemical mixture
comprising the steps of:
(a) chemically treating the crystalline wax
in the petrochemical product to reduce the surface
tension of the crystalline wax, converting it to an
amorphous form of wax; and
(b) dispersing the amorphous wax in a
diluent.
4. The method of Claim 1, wherein the
crystalline wax is contained in slop oil, and there is
further included in step "b" the step of:
using crude oil as the diluent.
(Br. at 6).
2 The Office Action mailed 3 April 2006 ("Final Rejection") at 4. In the
event of further prosecution, the Examiner should consider whether the
dependency of claim 20 on claim 4 provides proper antecedent basis for "the
surface active agent" recited in claim 20.
2
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