Appeal No. 2003-1754
Application No. 09/821,137 Page 7
would have been obviously used to cut through the slices of
bread. Kaiser (page 2) teaches that the cut, crimp and seal
operations can be performed simultaneously via pressing and
twisting of the device. Kaiser (page 11) instructs that the
Tartmaster is used to cut, crimp and seal at a location inside
the bread crust. As is readily apparent from an inspection of
the construction of the Tartmaster, the device would be readily
pressed by positioning a user’s hand or fingers above the outside
cutting edge of the device.
The examiner has determined one of ordinary skill in the art
would have recognized that the plunger of the device would be
depressed simultaneously with or after pressing the outside edge
as an option to activate the crimping and sealing element of the
device to seal the perimeter of the crustless sandwich that is
formed after the cutting.3 The examiner has also reasonably
determined that the crustless sandwich making method conveyed by
3 As is readily apparent from an inspection of the
construction of the Tartmaster, there are only a few ways to use
the device. One of ordinary skill in the art would have
recognized that pressing on the outside edge would have been an
option that yields greater cutting force if the particular bread
slices selected are difficult to cut. In such a case, pushing
the plunger simultaneously with or after the cutting to seal and
crimp the perimeter would have been readily recognized options by
one of ordinary skill in the art seeking to optimize the cutting
and sealing operations.
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