← all examsApril 2000 · Morning Session
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICEREGISTRATION EXAMINATIONAPRIL 2000MORNING SESSION
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The claimed invention in a patent application is directed to an explosive composition "comprising 60-90% solid ammonium nitrate, and 10-40% water-in-oil in which sufficient aeration is entrapped to enhance sensitivity to a substantial degree." The application discloses that the explosive requires both fuel (the ammonium nitrate), and oxygen to "sensitize the composition." A prior art reference, published more than two years before the effective filing date of the application, discloses explosive compositions containing water-in-oil emulsions having identical ingredients to those claimed, in ranges overlapping with the claimed composition. The only element of the claim not recited in the reference is "sufficient aeration entrapped to enhance sensitivity to a substantial degree." The reference does not recognize that sufficient aeration sensitizes the fuel to a substantial degree. However, in fact, "sufficient aeration" is necessarily an inherent element in the prior art blasting composition within the overlapping ranges inasmuch as the blasting composition explodes. The prior art reference: