In re Swain

This is an appeal from the decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office affirming the action of the Primary Ex*1251aminer in rejecting claims 5, 6, 7, 8, and 10 in appellants’ application for a patent on coating compositions containing cellulose acetate and melamine-formaldehyde resins. Claims 5, 6, and 10 were rejected as lacking invention over the cited references and claims 7 and 8, drawn to a nonelected species, “as not readable on the elected species, since there is no allowable generic claim.”

Claim 5 is selected as illustrative of the subject matter. It reads—

5. A…