Appeal No. 2006-2575
Application No. 10/025,567
Because the body of claim 1 recites a structurally complete composition, we
do not interpret the preamble’s intended use recitation as placing any
limitations on the claimed composition. See Rowe v. Dror, 112 F.3d 473,
478, 42 USPQ2d 1550, 1553 (Fed. Cir. 1997) (“[w]here a patentee defines a
structurally complete invention in the claim body and uses the preamble only
to state a purpose or intended use for the invention, the preamble is not a
claim limitation.”).
Thus, overall, we interpret claim 1 as encompassing a composition
comprising the dried non-shell components of chicken eggs which contain
IgY, IgA, and IgM antibodies to microorganisms that cause the host to waste
dietary protein.
Claim 5 is similar to claim 1 but requires that the composition contain
antibodies to the bacterial species E. coli or a member of the bacterial genera
Listeria, Salmonella or Campylobacter. Therefore, overall, we interpret
claim 5 as encompassing a composition comprising the dried non-shell
components of bird eggs which contain IgY, IgA, and IgM antibodies to
E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella or Campylobacter.
Claim 6 is similar to claim 1 but contains the additional requirement
that the composition is prepared by coating the antibody-containing non-
shell portion of the eggs onto a dry feed carrier material. We therefore
interpret claim 6 as encompassing a composition comprising the dried non-
shell components of chicken eggs which contain IgY, IgA, and IgM
antibodies to microorganisms that adhere to the digestive tract of a host
animal, the antibody-containing egg composition having been coated on to a
dry feed carrier material.
7
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013