Ex Parte Henricson

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Sep 30, 2004

09793652 (B.P.A.I. Sep. 30, 2004)

The opinion in support of the decision being entered today was not written
for publication and is not binding precedent of the Board.
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________
BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
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Ex parte KAJ O. HENRICSON
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Appeal No. 2004-2026
Application No. 09/793,652
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ON BRIEF
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Before PAK, OWENS, and WALTZ, Administrative Patent Judges.
PAK, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is a decision on an appeal from the examiner’s refusal to
allow claims 16 through 20, 22, 23, 25 and 28. Claim 29, the only
other claim pending in the above-identified application, has been
indicated to be allowable by the examiner. We have jurisdiction
pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §§ 6 and 134.

Appeal No. 2004-2026
Application No. 09/793,652
2
According to the appellant (Brief, page 3):
Claims 16-20[,] 22-23, 25 and 28 may be considered to be
grouped as standing or falling together for purposes of
this appeal.
Therefore, we select claim 16 from all of the appealed claims and
determine the propriety of the examiner’s rejection below based on
this claim alone consistent with 37 CFR § 1.192(c)(7)(2003). Claim
16 is reproduced below:
16. A method of treating cellulose pulp comprising the sequential
steps of:
(a) digesting comminuted cellulosic fibrous material to
produce cellulose pulp, and if necessary oxygen
delignifying the pulp, to produce a cellulose pulp with a
kappa number of less than 24;
(b) treating the digested pulp from step (a) in at least one
acid-treatment tower at a consistency of 6-25%, a pH of
between 2-5, and a temperature between 75-130
C, and in
order to prevent the strength properties of the pulp from
being deteriorated, at a retention time t in minutes in
the acid treatment of between 30-300 minutes, wherein the
treatment temperature T in degrees centigrade is
Tmin