Appeal No. 1997-2257
Application No. 08/144,026
make a disc with relief on its faces (Fig. 4), the disc then
being puffed (Fig. 5). Ikoma discloses extruding through dies
of various designs protinaceous material, e.g., meat or fish,
the extruded pieces being compressed into a bundle.
The examiner notes that Reesman states that adjustments
in shaping and spacing of the flow control elements is
variable and will give rise to differences in relief
characteristics on the faces of the dough masses (discs)(col.
3, lines 16 to 20); also, Ikoma states that the die orifices
may be arranged to obtain products with "rose-like, lateral-
striped or wavelike cross section" (col. 2, line 63 to col. 3,
line 2), and the size, cross-sectional shape and number of the
orifices "may be selected in accordance with the kind of
target product" (col. 4, lines
1 to 9). The examiner then finds that (answer, pages 6 to 7):
It would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art [to] produce the
pretzel chip[ ] of Walsh using an extrusion2
die with a design of one’s choosing as
disclosed by Reesman et al. and Ikoma et
2On page 8 of the answer the examiner acknowledges that
Walsh does not disclose a pretzel chip, but notes that
appellants disclose on page 1 of their specification that
there is a pretzel chip on the market ("Mr. Phipps-brand").
3
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