Appeal No. 1997-2960
Application 08/368,897
second heating period of additional food contents of the
container. Claim 4 is illustrative and reads as follows:
4. A process for microwave heating a pre-packaged, frozen
entree, the pre-packaged frozen entree exhibiting improved
taste or appearance characteristics after heating, the process
comprising:
providing the pre-packaged frozen entree in a container,
the frozen entree having at least two food components, each
food component being discretely and loosely frozen;
heating the food components with microwave radiation for
a first selected time interval;
removing one of the food components from the container;
and heating the food components that remain in the container
with microwave radiation for a second selected time interval,
wherein each of the food components is heated to a selected
degree so that each of the food components does not experience
a decrease in taste or appearance characteristics that would
result from over-heating.1
THE REFERENCES
Bliley 2,768,086 Oct. 23, 1956
Mattson et al. (Mattson) 5,077,066 Dec. 31, 1991
1By “discretely” appellant means that “the food
components are not frozen intermixed in the container but are
frozen as individual units”, and by “loosely” appellant means
that “the food components are not packaged in separate bags or
pouches and are generally unconfined except for the walls and
divider of the container” (specification, page 3, lines 22-
26).
2
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