Appeal No. 96-2297
Application 08/117,446
NEW GROUND OF REJECTION
Under the authority of 37 CFR § 1.196(b), this panel of
the board introduces the following new ground of rejection.
Claims 1 through 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over Hirsch.
The steps of appellant's method of packaging red meat
products, as set forth in claim 1, is responded to by the
teaching of Hirsch (Figures 1 and 2) with the exception of the
recitation of paragraph f. of the claim specifying a "re-
covering of the bloomed meat product on the tray".
At this point, we note that an obviousness question
cannot be approached on the basis that artisans having
ordinary skill would have known only what they read in
references, because such artisans must be presumed to know
something about the art apart from what the references
disclose. See In re Jacoby, 309 F.2d 513, 516, 135 USPQ 317,
319 (CCPA 1962). Further, a conclusion of obviousness may be
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