Sabyasachi Mukharji, J. - (1.) This is an appeal under Section 16 of the Patents Act, 1970. This appeal is out of an order passed on 7th Jan. 1977 under Section 88 (3) of the Patents Act, 1970. In order to appreciate the contentions urged in this appeal, it is necessary to refer to certain facts. Patent No. 77950 was granted to the appellant Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. in respect of an invention of a catalyst which, if used, in the steam reforming of hydrocarbons achieved results which were not, according to the appellant, possible before the invention. The said invention, as the patent certificate stated, related to the catalyst suitable for use in hydrocarbons steam reforming process. In respect of the said patent, the appellant had claimed: 1. A catalyst composition for use in steam reforming of hydrocarbons in the form of discrete particles comprising between 3.0% and 80% by weight of nickel calculated as nickel oxide and from 97% to 20% by weight of refractory oxide material calculated as oxide on the sum of the weights of these components in the composition after calcination at 900 C, and a potassium compound present as modified in an amount calculated as potassium oxide of at least 0.5% of the sum of the weights of the other materials, calculated as aforesaid, or equivalent weight of other alkali or alkaline earth metals."
(2.) Claims 2 to 16 related to claims for catalysts comprised of different contents of nickel and other materials, which need not be set out in detail for the present purpose, claims 17 and 18 were as follows:-- "17. Catalyst for steam reforming of hydrocarbons substantially as described with reference to Examples 1, 2 and (ii). 18. Catalyst as claimed in any Claims 1 to 12 in which the modifier is an alkali metal or alkaline earth and metal compound which is readily soluble in water and is applied to the nickel and refractory oxide material catalyst components by impregnation."
(3.) The said patent contained several examples indicatory of the operations of the catalyst. Claims 19 to 24 according to the appellant dealt with the methods of producing the catalyst as indicated in Claims 1 to 19 above. These were as follows:-- "19. Method of preparing e steam reforming catalyst according to any of Claims 1 to 18 which comprise precipitating a nickel compound which readily yields the oxide on heating by mixing an aqueous solution of a nickel compound with the solution of a carbon or bicarbonate, adjusting the PH of the mother liquor to slightly alkaline, mixing with the said precipitate refractory oxide materials, preferably as an aqueous suspension filtering of mixture optionally diluted with more water, washing the filter substantially free from alkali, drying ingiting at about 400 C, tailing the product, mixing it with about one third of its weight of aluminous cement, pelleting and crushing the pellets to small grains, mixing the grains with upto 5% by the weight of graphite, pelleting, heating in a moist atmosphere upto 200 C, soaking, in water to set the cement drying, immersing in an aqueous solution of an alkali metal hydroxide and drying. 20. Process as claimed in Claim 19 in which the modifier is an alkaline earth metal compound which is substantially insoluble or only slightly soluble in water and is applied to the catalyst composition being mixed with a wet mud or filter cake of the nickel and refractory, oxide material components. 21. Process as claimed in Claim 19 in which subsequently to the step of milling the product the procedure is as follows: the milled product is mixed with about one third of its weight of aluminous cement and then with an amount of water, somewhat less than the amount of the aluminous cement, the mixture is pelleted, the pellets are sprayed with water and allowed, to harden, the hardened pellets are treated with aqueous alkali, and are thereafter dried. 22. Process for the production of a steam reforming catalyst substantially as described in Example 1. 23. Process for the production of ft steam reforming catalyst substantially as described in Example 2. 24. Process for the production of a steam reforming catalyst substantially as described in Example 4 (ii).";