Appeal No. 2001-1140
Application No. 08/867,771
37 CFR § 1.197(b) provides as follows:
Appellant may file a single request for rehearing within two months from
the date of the original decision, unless the original decision is so modified
by the decision on rehearing as to become, in effect, a new decision, and the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences so states. The request for
rehearing must state with particularity the points believed to have been
misapprehended or overlooked in rendering the decision and also state all
other grounds upon which rehearing is sought. See § 1.136(b) for
extensions of time for seeking rehearing in a patent application and
§ 1.550(c) for extensions of time for seeking rehearing in a reexamination
proceeding.
We have reconsidered our decision of March 05, 2003 in light of Appellants’ comments
in the request for rehearing, and we find no error therein. We, therefore, decline to make
any changes in our prior decision for the reasons which follow.
Appellants assert that we misinterpreted claim 34. Specifically, Appellants state:
claim 34 requires two features namely (1) that the heated mass is extruded on a
continuous basis and (2) that the blowing agent is injected into this mass in a
selectively controlled manner in dependence on the degree of forming [sic,
foaming] of the extrudate to bring the extrudate to a desired foam state.
As noted by applicants in their brief at page 9, as set forth in the
description at page 8, line 17 to page 9, line 2, one of the advantages of the
claimed method is at [sic, that] the injection of the blowing agent and [sic,
can] be accomplished “on the fly” in dependence on a visual detection of the
product during extrusion. If the amount of foaming is not sufficient, the
amount of blowing agent which is injected can be increased and if there is
excessive foaming, the amount of blowing agent can be reduced.
While the Lacourse discloses that the amount of water may [be] added
to bring the moisture level of the starch being extruded to 21% or less, there is
no teaching that the water can be added “on the fly”. Further, there is
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