Appeal No. 1998-0093
Application No. 08/459,301
food warming oven or cabinet for heating food, typically at
least partly precooked food, from a chilled or frozen
condition to a serving temperature, e.g., approximately 70EC"
(p. 1, ll. 6-12).
The examiner contends that "[i]t would have been obvious
to one of ordinary skill in the art to adapt the insulated
panels of Moffat et al to the food warmer of Huie et al to
more efficiently warm food placed in the device" (Answer at 5)
and that such a modification "would have been an obvious
alternative where display of the contents was not necessary
and merely efficient warming was desired (Answer at 7). While
we agree that it would have been obvious to insulate Huie's
cabinet walls with laminated insulating material in order to
increase the oven's electrical efficiency, we are not
persuaded of the obviousness of also replacing Huie's
transparent doors with nontransparent, laminated, insulating
and sealing doors, as proposed by the examiner. This
modification, as appellant correctly observes, appears to be
improperly based on knowledge of appellant's own specification
and the requirements of claim 1. Accordingly, we are
- 6 -
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007