Appeal No. 2006-0449
Application 10/232,644
marinating solution” into the claim terms “marinade” and “marination.” Appellant does not
provide in the written description a specific definition for this term in this respect, as he
acknowledges, and indeed, admits that “sake and seasonings [of Katayama] could be considered
a marinade.” In this respect, we notice that there is no express definition of the term “marinade”
limiting the ingredients thereof with respect to any “meat,” “fresh meat, or “animal product” in
cookbooks and other sources of culinary information, and indeed, the ingredients are selected
based on the imparted flavor(s) desired by the chef and the consumer. We note that appellant
has not relied on any such references in support of his position. See In re Ahlert, 424 F.2d 1088,
1091-92, 165 USPQ 418, 420-21 (CCPA 1970) (notice may be taken “of facts beyond the record
which, while not generally notorious, are capable of such instant and unquestionable
demonstration as to defy dispute”). We further determine that common dictionary definitions do
not aid appellant’s position. We have been unable to located the edition of the American
Heritage Dictionary containing the definition cited by appellant. Indeed, the definition of
“marinade” we find in this line of authority is essentially “[a] liquid mixture, usually of vinegar
or wine and oil with various species and herbs, in which meat, fowl, fish or vegetables are
soaked before cooking.”1 We are of the opinion that this dictionary definition does not make
clear that marinades with vinegar would be commonly considered mutually exclusive from those
with wine and oil, or require that any marinade must be so acidic that it melts the “meat” if it
contains vinegar or other organic acid.
Thus, on this record, we interpret the claim term “marinade” to encompass any manner of
“marinade” that would be used by any person on a particular “meat” that has been otherwise
prepared for cooking in any manner, and inclusive of the sake containing marinades that
appellant admits to be disclosed by Katayama.
Further in this respect, we determine that the term “marination” is used in the written
1 The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language 1070 (4th ed., Boston, Houghton
Mifflin Company. 2000); see also The American Heritage Dictionary, Second College Edition
766 (Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1982).
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