Appeal No. 2005-1180
Application No. 09/791,298
Claims 50-55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over the
combination of Peiker and JP '628A. Claim 50 is directed to a self-heating meal assembly
comprising a carton comprising (1) a first compartment having an aperture in a first top wall,
(2) a second compartment having a hole in a second top wall for holding a beverage container
and (3) a heating container from a self-heating meal assembly disposed through and held by the
aperture in the first top wall.
Appellants argue that the references relied upon do not disclose the following limitation
recited in claim 50 (Brief, p. 14):
[A] heating container from a self-heating meal assembly and containing a hot
meal which had been heated in a first compartment and the heating container
disposed through and held by an aperture in a first top wall of a first opening to
the first compartment.
Structurally, claim 50 requires a "heating container" which contains a hot meal and is
disposed through and held by an aperture in a first top wall of a first compartment in the carton.
Peiker discloses a meal carton having an aperture in a first top wall of a first compartment for
holding a cup-shaped container. See Figure 1. Peiker does not disclose that a hot meal is
contained in the cup-shaped container. Nevertheless, the examiner relies on JP '628A for its
teaching of heating a pre-packaged meal in a cup-shaped container. See Answer, p. 5.
JP '628A discloses (p. 8):5
5 We rely upon and cite from a full English translation of this document, of record as
PTO 05-153.
8
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