Appeal 2007-1180
Application 10/405,742
Appellants claim a composition comprising an extruded pet food
discrete particle having dimensional stability with less than 15 wt. %
carbohydrate. Appellants also claim a method of preparing the
aforementioned pet food which comprises extruding the pet food at
increased shear.
Representative claims 1 and 6 read as follows:
1. A composition comprising an extruded pet food discrete particle
having dimensional stability, the said pet food having zero to less than about
15 wt.% carbohydrate.
6. A method of preparing the pet food of Claim 1 comprising
extruding the pet food at increased shear.
The references set forth below are relied upon by the Examiner as
evidence of obviousness:
Kearns US 4,981,711 Jan. 1, 1991
Wenger US 5,783,240 Jul. 21, 1998
Hodgkins US 6,203,825 B1 Mar. 20, 2001
Jewell US 6,410,063 B1 Jun. 25, 2002
All of the appealed claims are rejected under 35 USC § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over Hodgkins and Jewell in view of Wenger and
Kearns.
It is the Examiner's basic position that it would have been obvious for
one with ordinary skill in this art to use the fish food-making, high-shear
extrusion processes of Wenger and Kearns for preparing the low-
carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat pet food of Hodgkins and Jewell
(Answer 5). Appellants argue that Hodgkins and Jewell are directed to
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Last modified: September 9, 2013