Appeal No. 2002-2029
Application No. 09/440,037
(b) processing said beverage under conditions
effective to produce the maturation of the ethanolic
beverage.
23. In a maturation process for producing an
aged ethanolic beverage, the improvement which
comprises
adding ethyl acetate prior to or during the
maturation process in a quantity sufficient to
accelerate the maturation.
The examiner does not rely on any prior art.
Claims 20 through 22 on appeal stand rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 101 as lacking utility. (Examiner’s answer mailed May
21, 2002, paper 19, pages 3-4.) In addition, appealed claims 20
through 22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶1, as failing
to comply with the enablement requirement of the statute. (Id.
at page 4.) Further, appealed claims 1 through 14 and 20
through 23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶2, as
indefinite. (Id. at pages 4-5.)
We reverse these rejections.
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶2
Because claim construction is a threshold issue in any
appeal in which claims are rejected under both the first and
second paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. § 112, we consider first the
rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶2.2 The examiner has taken the
2 See In re Angstadt, 537 F.2d 498, 501, 190 USPQ 214, 217
(CCPA 1976)(citing In re Moore, 439 F.2d 1232, 1235, 169 USPQ
236, 238 (CCPA 1971)).
4
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