GIVAUDAN SA

Patent Trials and Appeals BoardNov 2, 2021

2021000111 (P.T.A.B. Nov. 2, 2021)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 15/754,915 02/23/2018 Susanna Magdalena VORSTER 102790-436 4694 27389 7590 11/02/2021 PARFOMAK, ANDREW N. NORRIS MCLAUGHLIN, PA 7 Times Square, 21st Floor NEW YORK, NY 10036-6524 EXAMINER LEBLANC, KATHERINE DEGUIRE ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 1791 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 11/02/2021 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): anparfomak@norris-law.com jkelly@norris-law.com nmanfredi@norris-law.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte SUSANNA MAGDALENA VORSTER, YIXIAO GONG, HENRI ROUKENS, and FRANS WITTEVEEN Appeal 2021-000111 Application 15/754,915 Technology Center 1700 Before TERRY J. OWENS, CATHERINE Q. TIMM, and JENNIFER R. GUPTA, Administrative Patent Judges. OWENS, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), the Appellant1 appeals from the Examiner’s decision to reject claims 17 and 19–28. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. 1 “Appellant” refers to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. The Appellant identifies the real party in interest as Givaudan SA (Appeal Br. 2). Appeal 2021-000111 Application 15/754,915 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The claims are directed to a method for seasoning a snack food. Claim 17, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 17. A method of seasoning a snack food, comprising the steps of: i) applying topically to an uncooked snack food dough, a first partial seasoning composition comprising a solid seasoning component in the form of a plurality of granules, wherein said granules contain a mixture of seasoning ingredients; a carrier for the seasoning ingredients; and, optionally, at least one adjuvant component; ii) cooking the coated snack food dough in an oven or fryer; and iii) applying topically to the cooked snack food, a second partial seasoning composition. REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner is: Name Reference Date Norquist US 2007/0042098 A1 Feb. 22, 2007 Givaudan-Roure (as translated) WO 97/16078 A1 May 9, 1997 REJECTION Claims 17 and 19–28 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Givaudan-Roure in view of Norquist. OPINION We need address only the sole independent claim, i.e., claim 17. That claim requires coating an uncooked snack food dough by topically applying to the dough a first partial seasoning composition comprising a solid seasoning component in the form of a plurality of granules containing a Appeal 2021-000111 Application 15/754,915 3 mixture of seasoning ingredients, and cooking the coated snack food dough in an oven or fryer. Givaudan-Roure discloses “a process for producing spherical or substantially spherical, virtually dust-free, free-flowing, mechanically stable aroma and fragrance granules having a narrow particle size distribution” (p. 1). “The focus is on foodstuffs, luxury foods and beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetic products, hygiene products, eg. Oral hygiene products, diapers, soaps, detergents, household products, etc.” (id.). The exemplified products in which the granules can be used include tea powder, herbal mixtures, chewing gum, frozen ready-made products, soft and hard candies, biscuits, ice cream, ice cream coating, chocolate bars, beverage powders, soup and sauce bags, denture cleansing tablets, toothpastes, perfumed cosmetics, hygiene products, pharmaceuticals, soaps, detergents and household products (p. 6). Norquist discloses: During processing of refrigerated dough, the addition of garlic during mixing of the dough ingredients can result in a generally sticky dough that is difficult to handle. During storage of a refrigerated dough product that includes garlic mixed into the dough, the refrigerated dough product can also experience a loss in Baked Specific Volume (BSV) over time as well as the development of off-flavors and “gray” dough. Although not wishing to be bound by theory, it is generally believed that these negative effects are caused by chemical reactions within the refrigerated dough wherein compounds present in the garlic begin to breakdown the gluten structure of the refrigerated dough. [(¶ 4)] . . . By topically applying the garlic flavorant, the garlic is generally prevented from diffusing into the refrigerated dough such that the effect of chemical reactions between the garlic and Appeal 2021-000111 Application 15/754,915 4 the gluten structure is minimized if not eliminated. By topically applying the garlic flavorant, the refrigerated dough product is conveniently ready for baking at time of use without requiring an end user to separately add garlic flavor. [(¶ 7)] . . . The refrigerated raw dough product can comprise either a developed dough product such as, for example, bread, bagel, croissant or roll dough products or an undeveloped dough product such as, for example, a biscuit dough product. [(¶ 8)] . . . Application of the garlic flavorant can include application of garlic flavorant in either a solid or liquid form and can further comprise providing the garlic flavorant in combination with a carrier such as, for example, soybean oil. [(¶ 10)] . . . In addition to adding garlic flavorant, other commonly used flavorants can be added to the raw dough . . . . [(¶ 47)] The Examiner finds that “Givaudan-Roure teaches that the seasoning composition can be applied on a starch based snack foods [sic] such as a biscuit(cracker)(p.6, 3rd full paragraph)” (Final 3), “Norquist teaches a process of applying granular garlic flavoring on an uncooked dough and then baking the dough in an oven(paragraph 8)” (Final 3), and “as taught in Norquist, it is well known to topically apply seasoning mixtures on starch based products” (Ans. 6). The Examiner concludes that “[i]t would have been obvious to apply the granulated seasoning of Givaudan-Roure topically on uncooked dough then baking the dough in an oven as taught in Norquist since this is a known method of applying a flavor composition on a dough based snack food” (Final 3). Setting forth a prima facie case of obviousness requires establishing that the applied prior art would have provided one of ordinary skill in the art Appeal 2021-000111 Application 15/754,915 5 with an apparent reason to modify the prior art to arrive at the claimed invention. See KSR Int’l Co. v. Teleflex Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007). The Examiner does not establish that Norquist broadly discloses applying granulated seasoning mixtures topically to uncooked dough and then baking the dough in an oven. Norquist applies garlic to uncooked dough topically because mixing garlic with dough makes the dough sticky, reduces its baked specific volume, causes development of off-flavors, and turns the dough gray (¶ 4). Norquist discloses that other flavorants can be added to the dough (¶ 47), but the Examiner does not establish that Norquist would have provided one of ordinary skill in the art with an apparent reason to apply them topically. Thus, the Examiner does not establish that the applied prior art would have rendered prima facie obvious, to one of ordinary skill in the art, applying Givaudan-Roure’s granular seasoning mixture (pp. 2–3) to uncooked dough. Consequently, on this record we are constrained to reverse the Examiner’s rejection. CONCLUSION The Examiner’s rejection is reversed. DECISION SUMMARY In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 17, 19–28 103 Givaudan-Roure, Norquist 17, 19–28 REVERSED