Appeal No. 2001-0645
Application No. 09/055,472
filler material comprising a mixture of water and a cellulose
gelling agent. The examiner concedes that Perry does not
disclose a glucomannan gel filler material. The examiner turns
to McGinley to account for this deficiency.
McGinley pertains to a composition comprising a dry, water-
dispersible, particles of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC)
coprocessed with a glucomannan. The composition is useful as a
bulking agent and as a fat replacement, especially in water-based
formulations used as foods (column 2, lines 20-22), and creates a
texture and taste similar to that associated with fats (column 3,
lines 10-13; column 7, lines 4-5; column 7, lines 52-54). Food
products where McGinley’s formulation have been found to be
useful include smooth-style peanut butter (column 5, line 57),
oil-free salad dressing (column 6, line 16), and low fat, low
total solids non-sugar sweetened frozen desserts (column 6, lines
39-40). McGinley discloses that an alkali may be added to the
MCC/glucomannan mixture to produce a gel (column 2, lines 14-17;
column 8, lines 45-47).
According to the examiner, it would have been obvious to
have provided the implant device of Perry with an admixture of
glucomannan and cellulose as taught by McGinley “in order to
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