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Date of decision
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30 March 2004
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Case number
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T 0594/01
- 3.3.1
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Application number
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95907004.6
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Title of the application
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Process for the preparation of alkylene glycols
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Applicant name
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SHELL INTERNATIONALE RESEARCH MAATSCHAPPIJ B.V.
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Opponent name
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THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY
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Keywords
Main request, first to third auxiliary request: novelty (no) -
upper end of a range value overlapping the margin of uncertainty
inherently associated with a prior disclosed experimental value
Fourth and fifth auxiliary request: inventive step (no) obvious
solution
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Catchwords:
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An experimental value in quantitative analytical chemistry
cannot be dissociated from the margin of uncertainty attached to
the measurement. When a specific experimental value is disclosed
in an example of the prior art, seeking to distinguish the
claimed subject-matter therefrom only in terms of an upper limit
required to be "lower than" the experimental value must fail as
the claimed subject-matter is still not distinguishable from the
prior art within the margin of experimental error.
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