Appeal No. 1997-3537
Application No. 08/395,867
hydrolyzing enzyme, i.e., a protease (claims 1 and 7-9). All claims require 0.025 to 100
milligrams of protease per liter of infant milk formula.
OPINION
Thibault and Martinez both describe hypoallergenic milk products containing
partially hydrolyzed whey proteins prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis using a mixture of
chymotrypsin/trypsin. Thibault uses an enzyme mixture having a chymotrypsin/trypsin
activity ratio between 1.5 and 3.0 under defined conditions until the alpha-lactalbumin is
totally eliminated, followed by separation of the enzymes and residual unhydrolyzed
proteins (c. 2, ll. 36-50; c. 3, ll. 46-53), principally serum albumin and immunoglobulins (c.
7, ll. 23-26). Martinez uses an enzyme mixture having a trypsin/chymotrypsin activity ratio
of 1.3 to 18 (i.e., a chymotrypsin/trypsin activity of about 0.8 to about 5.6) to result in a 4 to
10% degree of hydrolysis (c. 2, ll. 11-18; c. 3, ll. 16-21) and discloses packaging infant
formula hydrolysate in any type of conventional container, e.g., glass, plastic, coated metal
cans, etc. (c. 6, ll. 24-26). Optionally, Martinez preheats the protein solution prior to
hydrolysis to insure denaturation of whey protein fractions, e.g., BSA and immunoglobulin
(c. 3, ll. 25-28).
Karjalainen has been discussed above. The examiner found that "Karjalainen
teaches that ABBOS is the BSA peptide responsible for triggering diabetes because anti-
- 5 -
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007