Appeal No. 2004-0842
Application No. 09/539,454
apparatus is provided with a clamping means, such as a
set of clips round the edge of the mould, adapted to
prevent the mould parts from separating as a result of
the expanding characteristics of the rising dough
during proving and baking.
Implicit in these teachings in Perkins is that the formers 8 of
the upper mould part 3 corresponding to the claimed lids are
positioned such that they contact the rising dough in the
concavities as required by claim 9.
Even were we to determine that Perkins does not teach
contact between the formers 8 and the rising dough portions, our
conclusion would not be altered. We determine that the
functional language used to define the position of the claimed
lid system does not distinguish the position of the claimed lid
system from that of Perkins’ upper mould part 3 since the
position of the claimed lid system is dependent on the
thicknesses or sizes of dough portions in the recesses of the
claimed pan, which thicknesses or sizes can be much greater than
those taught in Perkins. Claim 9, for example, embraces
employing dough portions having a thickness or size greater than
2 cm. This dough thickness or size requires that the position of
the claimed lid system be located at greater than 2 cm above the
recesses in the claimed pan, thus including the positions of the
formers and/or plate specifically disclosed at page 5, line 19 to
8
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