Appeal No. 2005-2120 Page 7
Application No. 09/964,120
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
a [at, sic] the time the invention was made to combine the
teachings of Moore and [Ota] and additionally utilize salt for
dehydrating the cartilage. One would have been motivated to do so
since [Ota] teaches the method of dehydrating ligaments with salt.
Therefore, one would have been motivated to further add salt to
Moore’s method of dehydration to provide for an additive effect of
further facilitating and hastening the dehydration process.
Moreover, it is prima facie obvious to combine two dehydrating
techniques taught by the prior art for the same purpose, i.e. drying
material containing protein and simultaneously retaining the activity
of the material, in order to form a third process for the very same
purpose.
Further, one would expect similar results of utilizing salt to
dehydrate Moore’s cartilage since [Ota] dehydrates ligaments,
which contains collagen albeit a different type of collagen then
[than, sic] the one instantly claimed. The application of salt in the
dehydration of Type I collagen versus Type II does not change the
primary function of salt as a dehydrating agent. Salt will
nonetheless act in a similar manner of removing water from the
material to be dehydrated.
Id.
Appellants argue again that there is no motivation to combine the
references to arrive at the claimed invention. We agree, and the rejection is
reversed.
In this rejection, Ota is cited to remedy Moore’s failure to teach combining
the Type II containing cartilage with at least 15% by weight of an ionizing salt.
Ota teaches a method for salting scallops, in which 7-15% of salt is added
to the thin-sliced scallop adductor muscles, which is then mixed with squid livers
that have been dehydrated also by the addition of 7-15% of salt. See Ota
translation, page 2. The reference teaches that “[s]ince the decomposing
activities of the proteins of squid livers can be utilized, a good flavor is produced
when the proteins of the scallops become decomposed.” Id. at 3. Thus, as Ota
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