Appeal 2007-4234
Application 10/929,891
[29] Preferably, the dispersant is used to treat crude oil or fuel oil that has
run off into the ocean, e.g., as a result of an oil spill from a tanker
(Ohkura at 5, ¶ 2; 7, ¶ 7; and, 18, ¶ 39).
[30] According to the Examiner, the translation of Ohkura used "the
awkward construction 'run off oil' in substitution for authoritative
'slop oil'" as used by the Japanese Patent Office (Answer at 4).
[31] Indeed, the abstract of Ohkura, copyrighted by the Japanese Patent
Office in 1997 and made of record in the Office Action mailed 18
October 2005, reads, in relevant part:
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain the
subject low-toxic treating agent which contains a
specific polyoxyethylenesorbitol fatty acid ester, a
nonionic surfactant and a solvent, can effectively
disperse the slop oil even when it is highly viscous
and is readily producible in a large scale and
suitable for dispersion of the oil slopped or spilled
out on the sea. [Emphasis added.]
[32] The Examiner found that Ohkura
teaches the same method steps, treating the
crystalline wax and dispersing it in a diluent,
performed using components meeting every
compositional requirement of the instant claims.
The explicit teaching that the prior art effectively
disperses slop oil, a mixture containing crystalline
wax, as exemplified in claim 4, implicitly teaches
lowering of the surface tension (to permit
dispersion at sea) and the conversion to the
amorphous form necessary for crystalline wax to
be dispersed. . . . [Answer at 4.]
[33] According to the Examiner, "[t]he instant specification clearly
indicates the art-recognized composition of slop oil as including
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