Appeal No. 1997-0151
Application 08/169,542
milk (answer, page 4). Such a use of inert gas, the examiner
argues, indirectly controls browning reactions. See id. The
examiner, however, provides no evidence that the term “baked
good” in appellant’s sole independent claim encompasses milk.
Also, the examiner has not established that any control of a
browning reaction of milk caused by the inert gas would
increase the rate of the browning reaction as required by
appellant’s independent claim.
Segall discloses a method for preserving foodstuffs such
as fruits, vegetables, meats, fish and the like by placing
them in a chamber which is pressurized with an inert gas which
can be a noble gas such as neon or argon, and cooling the
chamber to about -20EC (col. 1, lines 59-65; col. 2, lines 14-
50).
The examiner argues that Segall treats foods with noble
gases to control color changes in the foods and that,
therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art to manipulate the parameters of the process,
including pressure, by changing the gas pressure to cause an
increase in browning (answer, pages 4-5). The preservation of
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