Appeal No. 2006-2604 Page 4
Application No. 10/253,066
such a way as to encapsulate the acyclic carboxamide.” In claim 2, the acyclic
carboxamide is sequentially encapsulated with two encapsulating agents, to form a
twice-encapsulated acyclic carboxamide. In both methods, the encapsulated acyclic
carboxamide is then mixed with a chewing gum formulation.
Claim 11 depends from claim 2 and adds the limitation that “a high potency
sweetener . . . is mixed in combination with the acyclic carboxamide and the first
encapsulating agent.” Claim 18 adds a similar limitation to the method of claim 1.
2. Claims 1, 7, 17, 18, 24, and 25
Claims 1, 7, 17, 18, 24, and 25 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious
in view of Luo,1 Rowsell,2 and Song.3 The examiner cites Luo for its disclosure of
adding an encapsulated carboxamide to chewing gum, Rowsell for its disclosure of
acyclic carboxamides as cooling agents used in chewing gum, and Song for its
disclosure of encapsulating compounds by mixing them with a polymer and extruding
the mixture into fibers. See the Examiner’s Answer, page 3. The examiner concludes
that these disclosures would have made the method of claim 1 obvious to those of
ordinary skill in the art.
We agree with the examiner that the cited references support a prima facie case
of obviousness. Luo teaches cooling compositions, for use in chewing gum, that
contain menthol and certain substituted carboxamides. Page 1, lines 25-29. Luo also
teaches that the “carboxamide compounds may be added in several forms, such as in
1 Luo, WO 96/17524, published June 13, 1996.
2 Rowsell et al., U.S. Patent 4,153,679, issued May 8, 1979.
3 Song, U.S. Patent 4,978,537, issued December 18, 1990.
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