Appeal No. 1998-0370
Application No. 08/568,410
I concur entirely with the panel’s decision and supporting opinion. I make the
following finding to emphasize the breadth of at least appealed claims 1, 2 and 6. 9 It is
reasonable to take notice that tap water and dishwashing detergent, separately or in
combination, are compositions that have long been in common use “for cleaning produce”
in the home. In my view, plain tap water, as processed by municipal water treatment
systems, is a composition containing ingredients regarded as safe for human consumption,
even when incompletely removed from produce cleaned therewith, and thus falls within
claim 1. It is further known that commercially available dishwashing detergent is a
composition that is regarded as safe for human consumption when incompletely removed
from produce cleaned therewith, such as by rinsing with tap water, and thus falls within
claim 1 as well as within claims 2 and 6 where the commercially available dishwashing
detergent contains at least one detergent surfactant in the amount of about 0.5% to about
15% by weight. It is still further known that commercially available dishwashing detergent
is commonly used in combination with tap water, the resulting composition regarded as
safe for human consumption when incompletely removed from produce cleaned therewith,
and thus would fall within claims 1, 2 and 6. Accordingly, the examiner should consider
whether at least appealed claims 1, 2 and 6 comply with 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) because
compositions comprising tap water and dishwashing detergent, separately or in
combination, and methods of using the same to
clean produce were “in public use or on sale in this country” more than one year before the
effective filing date of the subject application.
9 The examiner should consider whether claim 6 as amended in the amendment of July 23, 1996
(Paper No. 21) complies with 35 U.S.C. § 112, second paragraph.
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