Appeal No. 2003-1775
Application No. 09/845,925 Page 5
(unnumbered pages of illustrated devices preceding the Table of
Contents page of Kaiser). As essentially found by the examiner
(answer, page 5), Kaiser teaches or suggests the formation of
marginal areas spaced inwardly from a compressed sealed
edge/perimeter of the crustless sandwich, which marginal areas
include spaced crimped regions. See, e.g., pages 7, 11, 115 and
the cover page of Kaiser. As explained at page 11 of Kaiser, the
sandwich filling is arranged “in the center of the bread leaving
a 1/4 inch margin of bread around the edge for a secure seal.”3
Consequently, we agree with the examiner‘s prima facie
obviousness conclusion and assertion (answer, page 5) that:
[i]t would have been obvious to one [ordinarily]
skilled in the art to keep the filled material away
from the outside margin area so that effective[]
sealing can take place[] between the two slices of
bread because if the filling is [too] close[] to the
outside edge, the filling will leak out and the edge
will not be properly sealed.
3 Thus, the examiner may have understated the relevant
teachings of Kaiser in asserting that “[t]he book is silent about
the compressed sealed outer margins being free of the filling”
(answer, page 5). However, we find that understatement/error
harmless in so far as the examiner’s obviousness position is
concerned in that the expressly described 1/4 inch sealing margin
of Kaiser coupled with the other submitted portions of the
excerpts from Kaiser’s book makes plain that a compressed bread
to bread seal without filling is fairly related by Kaiser.
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007