Appeal No. 2006-0825
Application No. 10/253,333
etc., as an anti-stick material for foods such as dough and
cheese. Matz exemplifies the use of flour as an anti-sticking
agent for dough that is refrigerated. Matz is silent with
respect to the particle size of the anti-sticking flour. Reddy,
on the other hand, uses flour as an anti-caking (anti-sticking)
agent for chunked, diced and shredded cheese, and teaches that
flour having a particle size within the claimed range improves
the functionality of the anti-caking agent.
In our view, based on the Matz disclosure alone, it would
have been prima facie obvious for one of ordinary skill in the
art to use an edible powder such as flour as an anti-stick
material for frozen dough. While, as urged by appellants, there
is a physical distinction between the surfaces of frozen and
refrigerated dough, it is the presence of the flour particles on
the surface of the dough, be it refrigerated or frozen, which
interrupts contact between the dough surfaces. Accordingly, we
are persuaded that one of ordinary skill in the art would have
reasonably expected that the flour which serves as an anti-
sticking agent for a refrigerated dough would also perform the
same function for frozen dough. Furthermore, and not
insignificantly, appellants’ specification acknowledges that it
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