Appeal No. 95-2633
Application 08/121,663
This appeal is from a decision of a primary examiner rejecting claims 1-5, 7-9, and 11-15. We
reverse the rejection of claims 1-4 and affirm the rejection of claims 5, 7-9 and 11-15.
The invention relates to a process for refining olive oil (claims 1-4), a refined olive oil made by the
process (claim 5) and parenteral and enteral formulations including the refined olive oil (claims 7-9 and 11-
15). See the Appendix to Appellant’s Appeal Brief (Appendix) found at
pp 13-16 of applicant’s brief.
In arguing the rejection, applicant does not argue the patentability of the dependent claims separate
from the independent claims from which they depend. Brief, p. 6. So we could decide this appeal on the
basis of independent claims 1, 14 and 15. However, claim 5 is a product-by-process and requires
treatment separate from the other claims dependent on claim 1. Accordingly we decide this appeal on the
basis of claims 1, 5, 14 and 15, which are reproduced below:
1 . A process for making a purified olive oil for use in enteral and parenteral
nutritional formulations, the method comprising:
providing an olive oil sample to be purified having a previously determined
oleic acid content;
neutralizing the oleic acid present in the oil by contacting the oil sample
with an amount of a saturated aqueous solution of alkaline carbonate equivalent to
two to ten times the weight of oleic acid present in the oil sample, allowing an
aqueous phase to separate and washing the oil with water until complete neutrality
to provide a neutralized oil sample; and
drying and decolouring the neutralized oil sample by contacting the
neutralized oil sample with bleaching earth under an inert atmosphere at a
temperature of between about 20°C to about 80°C to provide a purified oil
product having an acceptably low amount of peroxides, free acids and pigments
for enteral and parenteral nutritional administration.
5. A[n] olive oil, suitable for use as an enteral or parenteral foodstuff, wherein
the oil is obtained by the process defined in claim 1.
2
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