Appeal No. 2006-1389 Page 3
Application No. 09/912,471
purposes of this appeal, we will treat claims 82-93 and 96-124 as standing or falling with
representative claim 81. 37 CFR § 41.37(c)(1)(vii).
Claim 81 reads as follows:
81. A method for producing a soy protein material comprising,
forming an aqueous slurry of a soy protein material
treating the slurry with an enzyme preparation containing an acid
phosphatase enzyme at a temperature, a pH, and for a time period effective for
said enzyme preparation to degrade ribonucleic acids in the soy protein material;
and
washing the soy protein material to remove degraded ribonucleic acids.
Anticipation
Claims 81-93 and 96-124 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated
by Simell.1 Simell describes a method for producing phytate-free or low phytate soy
protein isolates or concentrates using one or more phytate-degrading enzymes. See
e.g., Simell, pages 5-6, and Examples 1-5. Simell teaches that “[p]hytate-degrading
enzymes include phytase and acid phosphatases” (id., page 6, line 19), and that
“Finase[®] enzymes” are “[p]articularly preferred for [this] purpose[ ]” (id., line 26). It is
undisputed on this record that Finase® is a commercially available enzyme preparation
containing both phytase and acid phosphatase (Appeal Brief, page 10).
Simell does not discuss the presence of ribonucleic acids in soy protein
materials. Nevertheless, as discussed above, the present specification teaches that
undesirable impurities in vegetable protein materials “include phytic acid, phytates,
ribonucleic acids, ash, and minerals bound to phytic acid, phytates, or ribonucleic acids”
(Specification, page 1).
1 Simell et al., European Patent Application, Publication No. 0 380 343, published August 1, 1990
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