Appeal No. 2006-2575
Application No. 10/025,567
microorganisms, including E. coli. The Examiner concedes that Tokoro
does not disclose coating the antibody-containing composition onto feed
carrier materials as recited in claim 6 (Answer 17), nor does Tokoro disclose
using a feed carrier material having soybean hulls, rice hulls, corn,
cottonseed hulls, distilled dried grains, or beet pulp, as recited in claim 7
(id. at 18).
To meet these deficiencies, the Examiner cites Adalsteinsson as
disclosing that “hyperimmunized spray-dried egg powder can be mixed with
food animal feed rations or sprayed to coat directly onto carrier[s] such as
food pellets to maintain[] antibody titers sufficient to increase muscle
protein and reduce fat in subject animal[s].” (Id. at 19.) The Examiner cites
Betz as disclosing the desirability of using the ingredients recited in claim 7
in animal feed. (Id.)
Appellants argue that these claims require that “[t]he separated entire
contents of the harvested eggs are not dried before they are coated onto the
dry feed carrier material. This avoids the reduction of the effectiveness of
the IgY, IgM and IgA immunoglobulins caused by the process of drying the
entire contents of the harvested eggs.” (Br. 31.) Appellants further argue
that the Examiner has failed to show any clear and particular motivation for
combining Tokoro with the other references.
We do not find Appellants’ argument persuasive.
Claim 6 is representative of these claims. As discussed supra, we
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 which adhere to the digestive tract of a host
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