Appeal 2007-2060
Application 09/945,318
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The subject matter on appeal is directed to a package including
frangible “food products in a vacuum or an environment having less than
about 1 ppm hexanal therein” (Specification 1, ll. 6-10). Further details of
the appealed subject matter are recited in representative claims 11
reproduced below:
1. A package comprising:
a bag formed of a material comprising a laminate, a co-extrusion of at
least two materials or a combination thereof, the bag having an exterior
portion, an interior portion, an oxygen barrier and a moisture barrier,
wherein the bag becomes sufficiently rigid when vacuum-sealed to reduce
breakage of an item contained therein, the item comprising a frangible
puffed cereal-based material having a crush resistance or resistance to
compression no less than about 7.0 PSIA, wherein the item is held in the
interior portion of the bag, the interior portion of the bag having less than
about 1 ppm hexanal therein, wherein vacuum-sealing allows the package to
be filled with approximately 20 to 60% more cereal-based material.
As evidence of unpatentability of the claimed subject matter, the
Examiner has relied upon the following references:
McCrosson US 1,458,585 Jun. 12, 1923
Ray US 2,370,419 Feb. 27, 1945
Thompson ‘438 US 2,478,438 Aug. 09, 1949
Thompson ‘990 US 3,246,990 Apr. 19, 1966
1 The Appellants have not supplied any substantive arguments for the
separate patentability of any specific claims in the context of Rejection (1)
discussed below. See the Second Substitute Appeal Brief dated September
6, 2006 (Br.) and the Reply Brief dated January 22, 2007 (Reply Br.) in their
entirety. Therefore, for purposes of Rejection (1) infra, we focus our
discussion on independent claim 1alone pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §
41.37(c)(1)(vii).
2
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