Appeal 2007-4234
Application 10/929,891
The Examiner has rejected claims 1-19 under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first
paragraph (not enabled for the full scope of the claimed invention), and
claims 1-9, 14-15 and 19 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) (Answer3 at 2-3).
The Examiner relies upon the following prior art4 of record:
Ohkura5 JP 09-296162A 18 November 1997
According to the Examiner, claims 1-9, 14-15 and 19 are anticipated by
Okhura (Answer at 3).
II. Findings of Fact (FF)
The following findings of fact are supported by a preponderance of
the evidence of record.
A. Appellant's Specification
[1] According to the specification, a large amount of heavy material
separates and precipitates from crude oil when it is pumped from the
ground and transported or stored (Specification at 5:8-10).
[2] The majority of the heavy material precipitate, in some cases up to
90%, is said to be high molecular weight paraffin waxes
(Specification at 5:10-12).
[3] The amount of wax present in crude oil is said to be an indicator of its
origin, e.g., Venezuela or Mexico (Specification at 5:13-14).
[4] Crude oil is said to contain a mixture of wax, oil, sand and water,
referred to as "slop oil," typically in the range of 2 to 5 percent, which
3 Examiner's Answer mailed 20 March 2007 ("Answer").
4 No references to et al. are made in this opinion.
5 This decision cites the English language translation of Ohkura made for the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in January 2007 by Schreiber
Translations, Inc.
3
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