Appeal No. 2006-0201 Page 3
Application No. 10/125,272
(b) mechanically processing the mixture obtained in (a), simultaneously
with or subsequently to the mixing, to obtain enzyme-containing
granules;
(c) drying the granules; and
(d) coating the granules obtained in (c) with polyethylene glycol,
wherein the polyethylene glycol has a molecular weight ranging
from 6,000 to 20,000 Dalton, the granules obtained in (d) having 1)
a dissolution time shorter that granules coated with oil or fat, and 2)
a pelleting stability greater than uncoated granules.
The preamble of claim 1 states that the claimed process is for preparing granules
“suitable for use in animal feed.” “[A] claim preamble has the import that the claim as a
whole suggests for it. In other words, when the claim drafter chooses to use both the
preamble and the body to define the subject matter of the claimed invention, the
invention so defined, and not some other, is the one the patent protects.” Bell
Commc’ns Research Inc. v. Vitalink Commc’ns Corp., 55 F.3d 615, 620, 34 USPQ2d
1816, 1820 (Fed. Cir. 1995). We interpret the preamble of claim 1 to limit the potential
components of the granules to those that are compatible with feeding the resulting
granules to an animal. The claim however, is not limited to a method of making
granules that are only suitable for use in animal feed.
The method of claim 1 comprises mixing water, a solid carrier, a feed enzyme,
and “at least one additive.” The specification states that “[t]he solid carrier to be used to
prepare the granulate . . . is a powder which can be compacted into a granule[,] . . .
preferably ha[ving] an average particle size ranging between 5 and 20 µm.” Page 5,
lines 1-4. “Feed enzymes include: phosphatases . . . ; carbohydrases . . .; [and]
proteases . . . ,” among others. Specification, page 8, lines 1-9. Suitable additives
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