Appeal No. 2005-0808 Page 3
Application No. 09/863,439
an off taste to said natural extract” (claim 1).
Kang describes an additive “which improves the [metallic] aftertaste of artificial
sweeteners in flavored products such as diet beverages, personal hygiene products
(such as toothpaste) and foods” (Kang, column 2, lines 56-59), comprising “an effective
amount of at least one . . . of polygodial, oleanolic acid, and ursolic acid” (column 3,
lines 23-28). According to Kang, “[t]he amount required to improve the aftertaste . . .
depends upon the type and amount of sweetener” and is “[g]enerally . . . between about
0.1 ppm and 1000 ppm with respect to the artificial sweetener” (column 4, lines 20-24).
The compound or compounds “may be added [to the artificial sweetener] as a purified
product, as a crude extract . . . or as a mixture of the two” (id., lines 12-15).
Experiments 1 through 4 demonstrate the results of adding polygodial, oleanolic acid, or
ursolic acid to artificially sweetened diet beverages.
Snyckers describes extraction and purification of oleanolic acid from grape husks
for use in “the prevention or reduction of stress induced gastro-intestinal ulcerations”
(Snyckers, column 3, lines 42-44). Mishurova describes extraction and purification of
ursolic acid from Nereta transcaucasica for use in “the pharmaceutical industry”
(Mishurova, page 2 of the English language translation).
The examiner concedes that Kang “does not specifically teach adding the
oleanolic acid and ursolic acid composition to a food that contains a glyceride[;]”
“oleanolic acid and ursolic acid hav[ing] the same characteristics claimed by applicant[;]”
or “adding the ingredients in the amounts claimed by applicant” (Answer, pages 3 and
4). Nevertheless, the examiner argues that the claimed invention “would have been
obvious at the time of applicant’s invention” because “[Kang] teach[es] that the acids
can be added to any product that is artificially flavored including food and beverages[;]”
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