Appeal No. 1998-0370
Application No. 08/568,410
composition suitable for cleaning produce containing only ingredients that will not harm
humans.
Upon careful review of the entire record including the respective positions advanced
by Appellants and the Examiner, we find that the Examiner has carried his burden of
establishing a prima facie case of obviousness and that this prima facie case has not been
effectively rebutted by Appellants. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d
1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992); In re Piasecki, 745 F.2d 1468,
1471-72, 223 USPQ 785, 787-88 (Fed. Cir. 1984). Accordingly, we will sustain the
Examiner's rejection.
Claims 1 and 3-10 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
the combination of Kitamura, 21 CFR § 173.315 and the admitted prior art. (Examiner’s
answer, page 4). We affirm the rejection stated in the Examiner’s Answer and add the
following.
The washing of fruits and vegetables prior to consumption is well known. The
purpose of washing fruits and vegetable is to remove dirt and other surface contaminates.
Claim 1 is drawn to compositions containing only ingredients which are GRAS, that is, are
not harmful to humans. A review of the art cited throughout the present record exhibits the
use of compositions to clean or wash fruits and vegetables are known to those of ordinary
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