Appeal No. 2002-2146
Application No. 09/428,261
limitation, respectively. We note that the term “consisting of”
closes the claim language to only the recited components or
ingredients. See Vehicular Techs. v. Titan Wheel Int’l, Inc.,
212 F.3d 1377, 1383, 54 USPQ2d 1841, 1845 (Fed. Cir. 2000). With
respect to these claims, the examiner finds that Mehansho
discloses a beverage containing calcium carbonate, citric acid
and malic acid, teaching that the sugars used as premix
stabilizers are “optional,” although “preferred” (Answer, pages
4-5; see col. 12, ll. 34-37; col. 13, ll. 8-9 and 29-30). From
these findings, the examiner concludes that it would have been
obvious to exclude the sugar stabilizers of Mehansho (Answer,
page 5). We agree.
Appellant argues that the examiner has not shown that the
cited art teaches or suggests the claimed limitation that at
least 75% of the supplement’s soluble calcium ions are kept in
solution for at least about 2 days (Brief, page 3). This
argument is not persuasive since, as discussed by the examiner
(Answer, pages 3-5), Mehansho teaches the same calcium supplement
composition as recited in the claims and thus it would have been
reasonably expected that the calcium ions would have been kept in
solution to the same extent as the claimed supplement. See In re
Spada, 911 F.2d 705, 708, 15 USPQ2d 1655, 1657 (Fed. Cir.
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