10734005 (B.P.A.I. Mar. 22, 2012)

Ex Parte Reeves et al

Board of Patent Appeals and InterferencesMar 22, 2012

10734005 (B.P.A.I. Mar. 22, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 10/734,005 12/10/2003 William G. Reeves 17,988 9405 23556 7590 03/22/2012 KIMBERLY-CLARK WORLDWIDE, INC. Tara Pohlkotte 2300 Winchester Rd. NEENAH, WI 54956 EXAMINER LIGHTFOOT, ELENA TSOY ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 1715 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 03/22/2012 PAPER Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ________________ BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES ________________ Ex parte WILLIAM G. REEVES and SHANNON K. MELIUS ________________ Appeal 2010-011419 Application 10/734,005 Technology Center 1700 ________________ Before BRADLEY R. GARRIS, TERRY J. OWENS, and PETER F. KRATZ, Administrative Patent Judges. OWENS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s rejection of claims 12, 14, 15, and 23, which are all of the pending claims. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). The Invention The Appellants claim a method for preparing a superabsorbent- containing composite. Claim 12 is illustrative: Appeal 2010-011419 Application 10/734,005 2 12. A method of preparing a surface crosslinked superabsorbent- containing composite, the method comprising: (a) introducing particles of coating material into a flowing gas stream wherein the particles of coating material are cellulosic materials and the cellulosic materials are solid particles, porous particles, or an agglomeration of particles and wherein the cellulosic particles of coating material are granules, pulverulents, powders, or spheres; (b) introducing at least one particle of at least one superabsorbent material into the flowing gas stream, the flowing gas stream moving the superabsorbent material and the coating material through a zone where an association agent and a crosslinking reagent are applied to the superabsorbent material and the coating material wherein the association agent is selected from the group consisting of water, volatile organic solvent, aqueous solution of film-forming material, synthetic adhesive and mixtures thereof and wherein the crosslinking reagent is selected from the group consisting of ethyleneglycol diglycidyl ether, aluminum acetate, aluminum sulfate, glycerol, ethylene carbonate, quaternary amine, glycidyl compound, alkylene carbonates, silyl esters, tetramethoxy silane, and mixtures thereof; and (c) maintaining the superabsorbent material and the coating material in the flowing gas stream until the superabsorbent material is covered with at least a first layer of the coating material. The References Hansen 5,807,364 Sep. 15, 1998 Reeves 6,387,495 B1 May 14, 2002 The Rejection Claims 12, 14, 15, and 23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Reeves in view of Hansen. OPINION We reverse the rejection. We need to address only the sole independent claim, i.e., claim 12. That claim requires an association agent “selected from the group consisting of water, volatile organic solvent, aqueous solution of film-forming material, synthetic adhesive and mixtures Appeal 2010-011419 Application 10/734,005 3 thereof” and a crosslinking agent “selected from the group consisting of ethyleneglycol diglycidyl ether, aluminum acetate, aluminum sulfate, glycerol, ethylene carbonate, quaternary amine, glycidyl compound, alkylene carbonates, silyl esters, tetramethoxy silane, and mixtures thereof”. Reeves discloses a composite comprising superabsorbent material, which can be in the form of particles, having in intimate association therewith a coating material which can be cellulosic particles (col. 6, ll. 48- 61; col. 7, ll. 55-59). An association agent which facilitates adherence via mechanical and/or chemical bonding between superabsorbent particles and coating particles and/or between coating particles and other coating particles can be applied to either the superabsorbent material or the coating material (col. 8, ll. 37-58). The disclosed association agents, which can be used in admixture, include water and synthetic adhesives such as polyvinyl alcohol (col. 9, ll. 12-18). Hansen discloses that suitable binders between superabsorbent particles and cellulosic fibers include “a cationic salt and an anionic species, such as protonated primary, secondary or tertiary amines or deprotonated quaternary ammonium salts” (col. 5, ll. 47-58). The Examiner relies upon Reeves’ water as corresponding to the Appellants’ association agent and relies upon Reeves’ polyvinyl alcohol, which is a polyhydric alcohol, as being a crosslinking agent.1 The Examiner argues that Hansen’s protonated tertiary amine is a quaternary amine and that “it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the 1 The Appellants’ term “crosslinking” includes “physical entanglement” and the Appellants’ disclosed crosslinking agents include polyhydric alcohols (Spec. 7:34-37; 8:9-11). Appeal 2010-011419 Application 10/734,005 4 time the invention was made to have used protonated tertiary amines in Reeves et al[.] instead of polyvinyl alcohol with the expectation of providing the desired chemically bonded superabsorbent particles and cellulose fibers of sufficient strength to withstand the usual handling, as taught by Hansen [col. 5, ll. 1-8], since Reeves et al[.] does not limit chemically bonded agents to particular compounds” (Ans. 5-6). The Appellants argue that “it appears that the Examiner is alleging that a protonated tertiary amine is the same as [a] quaternary amine. However, the Examiner is incorrect” (Br. 5) and that “a deprotonated quaternary ammonium salt is also not a quaternary amine” (Brief: 5 n.1). The Examiner responds (Ans. 9-10) that it is a common knowledge that protonated tertiary amine is permanently charged quaternary amine because: proton is H± (i.e. a charged hydrogen atom), and tertiary amine is a non- charged molecule, such that adding charged hydrogen atom to non-charged molecule of tertiary amine will result in charged quaternary amine. In other words, a protonated tertiary amine is charged quaternary amine for the following reason: H+ (proton) + NR3 (tertiary amine) = R3NH+. Note that deprotonated quaternary ammonium salt is also charged quaternary amine: H+A- (anion of an organic acid) + NR3(tertiary amine) = R3NH+A- (deprotonated quaternary ammonium salt). Quaternary ammonium salts are compounds of the form R4N+X- in which four organic groups are covalently bonded to nitrogen, and the positive charge of this ion is balanced by some negative ion.2 A tertiary 2 See ROBERT THORNTON MORRISON & ROBERT NEILSON BOYD, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY 732, 740, 752-53 (Allyn and Bacon 3d ed. 1973). Appeal 2010-011419 Application 10/734,005 5 amine can be converted to a quaternary ammonium salt by the following reaction:3 R3N + RX → R4N+X- 3º amine Quaternary ammonium salt In the compound R3NH+ relied upon by the Examiner as corresponding to the Appellants’ quaternary amine, the nitrogen atom is bonded to three, not four, organic groups. Hence, the compound does not appear to be a quaternary amine. The Appellants have challenged the Examiner’s finding that the compound is a quaternary amine, and the Examiner has not responded with evidence supporting the Examiner’s finding. The Examiner, therefore, has not provided a factual basis which is sufficient for supporting an affirmance of the Examiner’s rejection. See In re Warner, 379 F.2d 1011, 1017 (CCPA 1967) (“A rejection based on section 103 clearly must rest on a factual basis”). DECISION/ORDER The rejection of claims 12, 14, 15, and 23 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Reeves in view of Hansen is reversed. It is ordered that the Examiner’s decision is reversed. REVERSED sld 3 Id. at 740. See also KIRK-OTHMER, 19 ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY 526 (John Wiley & Sons 3d ed. 1982).