Appeal No. 2002-2215
Application No. 08/952,475
protein). (Example 2.) According to Bonkowski, the ratio of
brine to muscle meat may be as high as about 1.5. (Column 11,
lines 42-57.)
Bonkowski does not teach the use of vegetable oil as in the
invention recited in appealed claim 11. To account for this
difference, the examiner relied on the teachings of Helmer, which
teaches the incorporation of 3-30% by weight of vegetable oil
(e.g., soybean oil) into sausage compositions for the purpose of
increasing sausage emulsion stability. (Column 1, lines 10-28;
column 2, lines 4-16; examples.)
Given these teachings in the prior art, we share the
examiner’s view that the subject matter of appealed claim 11
would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103. Specifically, it
is our judgment that one of ordinary skill in the art would have
been led to include an optimum amount of vegetable oil into the
frankfurter emulsion of Bonkowski, with the reasonable
expectation of increasing the stability of the emulsion.
The appellants argue that “Bonkowski shows utilization of
soy protein in meat products and reduction of their cholesterol
contents, but does not disclose any cholesterol-level suppression
property in vivo.” (Appeal brief, page 5.) As admitted by the
appellants, however, Bonkowski expressly teaches that fat and
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