Ex Parte Ahmed et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Mar 25, 2015

12168521 (P.T.A.B. Mar. 25, 2015)

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.
12/168,521 07/07/2008 Khaleeq Ahmed SCH054 P302 7639
277 7590 03/26/2015
PRICE HENEVELD LLP
695 KENMOOR SE
P O BOX 2567
GRAND RAPIDS, MI 49501
EXAMINER
LEVIN, MIRIAM A
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
1613
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
03/26/2015 PAPER
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.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
__________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
__________

Ex parte KHALEEQ AHMED, DOUGLAS J. BASTEN,
SCOTT P. BRADY, ROBERT C. DOSTER,
LISA A. EVENSON, MEGANNE W. FINERTY,
DAN J. HNILICKA, JANELLE T. JANDRAIN, and
RICHARD L. SHARPEE
1

__________

Appeal 2012-009345
Application 12/168,521
Technology Center 1600
__________

Before JEFFREY N. FREDMAN, ULRIKE W. JENKS, and
ROBERT A. POLLOCK, Administrative Patent Judges.

POLLOCK, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Final Rejection
dated August 31, 2011. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We affirm.
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants’ invention relates to dietary supplement tablets comprised
entirely, or almost entirely, of Certified Organic ingredients. See Spec. 7–8.

1
Appellants identify the Real Party in Interest as Enzymatic Therapy, Inc.
App. Br. 2.
Appeal 2012-009345
Application 12/168,521

2

Independent claim 1 is illustrative and reads as follows:
1. An all-natural or substantially all-natural dietary
supplement in a tablet form, comprising:
at least 95 percent Certified Organic ingredients by
weight, the Certified Organic ingredients including at least
one Certified Organic dietary supplement, and at least a first
tablet excipient selected from naturally occurring substances,
the first tablet excipient being present in an amount effective
to act as a tablet binder, a tablet disintegrant, or both a tablet
binder and a tablet disintegrant.
The following grounds of rejection are before us for review:
I. The Examiner rejects claims 1 and 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
anticipated by Nakamichi,
2
as evidenced by Wikipedia entries for xylitol,
lactose, and mannitol.
II. The Examiner rejects claims 1 and 2 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
anticipated by D’Jang.
3

III. The Examiner rejects claims 1–24 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable in view of Palmer, as evidenced by MedicineNet,
4

Britannica,
5
and Yoshimi.
6

2
Nakamichi et al., US 5,837,285, issued November 17, 1988.
3
D’Jang, US 5,910,308, issued June 8, 1989.
4
MedicineNet.com (Dextrose definition, MedicineNet.Com [downloaded
Feb. 22, 2011] [Retrieved from internet URL:http://www.medterms.
com/scri.Qtimain/art.as.Q?articlekey=7040&.Qf=3&pa.ge= 1.]
5
Britannica (Britannica Online Encyclopedia, disaccharide [downloaded
Feb. 22, 2011] [Retrieved from internet