In re Davis

103 F.2d 922, 26 C.C.P.A. 1249, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 674, 1939 CCPA LEXIS 169
CourtCourt of Customs and Patent Appeals
DecidedMay 29, 1939
DocketNo. 4122
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 103 F.2d 922 (In re Davis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Customs and Patent Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re Davis, 103 F.2d 922, 26 C.C.P.A. 1249, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 674, 1939 CCPA LEXIS 169 (ccpa 1939).

Opinion

Hatfield, Judge,

delivered the opinion of the court:

This is an appeal from the decision of the Board of Appeals of the United States Patent Office affirming the decision of the Primary Examiner rejecting claims 8 to 11, inclusive, in appellant’s application for a patent for an alleged invention relating to a method of deodorizing cream.

Claims 8 and 11 are illustrative of the appealed claims. They read:

8. The method of deodorizing cream which comprises preheating cream to flash pasteurizing temperature, mixing with steam which is under twenty-five to fifty pounds pressure and permitting the steam and volatile gases to escape in an open chamber.
11. The method of deodorizing cream which comprises preheating the cream to flash pasteurizing temperatures, mixing the cream with steam having a temperature between 212° Fahrenheit and 300° Fahrenheit, releasing the mixture [1250]*1250of cream and steam in an open chamber, adding additional steam to said chamber, drawing off the steam and volatile gases and conveying the cream from said chamber for cooling.

The references are:

Grindrod, 1,714,597, May 28, 1929'.
Grindrod, 1,819,023, August 18, 1931.
Murray, 2,003,454, June 4, 1935.

The Board of Appeals allowed claims Nos. 2, 4, 6, and 7 in appellant’s application, because, it is stated in its decision, they define a method of treating cream with superheated steam; whereas, the reference patent to Murray taught that cream would be injured when subjected to high temperatures unless saturated steam was used.

Of the allowed claims, claim 4 is illustrative. It reads:

4. The method of deodorizing cream which comprises heating the cream to flash pasteurizing temperature, mixing the preheated cream with steam having a temperature substantially above the boiling point, conveying the mixture under pressure to an open chamber, drawing off steam and volatile gases from said chamber and thereafter cooling said cream.

In its decision, the Board of Appeals stated:

The Murray patent indicates that cream, or similar bodies which are injured at high temperature, must be treated with saturated steam rather than with superheated steam. We do not feel that this patent fairly anticipates the claims above set forth [allowed claims/' 2, 4, 6, and 7] as they involve a procedure in direct conflict with the Murray teachings.
The patents to Grindrod show processes for sterilizing foods, milk products in particular, whi'ch involve the use of steam at comparatively high temperatures but in accordance with these patents, the steam used i& either saturated, though at high temperature and pressure, or the material treated is in a diluted state. We do not feel that these patents suggest the feasibility of using superheated steam [called for in the allowed claims] for the treatment of cream.
Claims 8-11 inclusive only call for the use of high-pressure steam, not for superheated steam. As pointed out by the examiner, Murray teaches the use of saturated steam under high pressure. In our opinion his teachings are sufficiently comprehensive to include the procedure set forth in claims 8-11. [Italics ours.]

Counsel for appellant states in his brief that the two reference patents to Grindrod were included in the record solely because they were mentioned in the decisions of the Primary Examiner and the Board of Appeals; that they need not be considered by the court in connection with the appealed claims; and that the patent to Murray is the only reference that need be considered.

The Primary Examiner rejected claims 8, 9, and 10 on the patent to Murray in view of the disclosure in the Grindrod patent, No. 1.714.597. Appealed claim 11 was rejected by the examiner on the patent to Murray and the disclosure in the Grindrod patent, No, 1.714.597, in view of the Grindrod patent No. 1,819,023.

[1251]*1251In Ms decision, the examiner stated, inter alia:

Claims 8 to 11 only call for high pressure steam, and do not recite whether this steam is saturated or superheated. Murray teaches the use of “saturated steam under high pressure” * * * in all cases, so that claims 8 to 11 clearly fall within Murray’s disclosure. High pressure saturated steam is always at a temperature above 212° F.
Claim 11 was rejected on Murray with Grindrod 1,714,597 in view of Grind-rod 1,819,023. This claim is more limited than claims 1 to 10 in that it includes the additional step of injecting steam into the chamber. Such an additive step, however, is taught in the Grindrod patent 1,819,023.
The Grindrod patent 1,819,023 is for a method of sterilizing milk and cream. The fluid is treated in cavity 13 with steam which may be “at a pressure of approximately 100 lbs. to the inch and at a temperature in excess of 300° F.” * * * The fluid escaping from cavity 13 finally passes into chamber 50, where it is further treated with steam injected from pipe 56. It is thus seen that the cream is treated with high temperature steam not only in the flow cavity 13, but also in the secondary chamber 50. It has been held that there would be no invention in using this supplementary steam treatment in Murray’s process, injecting steam into his chamber 1.

One of the contentions made by counsel for appellant is that there is no teaching in the patent to Murray of preheating cream to flash pasteurizing temperatures.

It appears from appellant’s application that flash pasteurizing temperatures are about 180° to 195° F., and that such is the “temperature to which cream is conventionally heated in flash pasteurizers.”

The patent to Murray clearly teaches the preheating feature called for in appellant’s appealed claims. We quote from the patent: “The liquid to be treated may have been previously pasteurized or raised to a comparatively high temperature in which case it would be admitted hot to the float chamber.” The patentee further states:

* * * -when saturated steam is used there is found to be in practice little or no increase in the visible temperature of the fluid — presumably due to the degree of vacuum within the container. It will be understood therefore that in treating such delicate fluids as cream, the bodies of which are injured at a high temperature it is essential to use saturated steam, which also provides the washing effect so desirable in assisting the process.

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103 F.2d 922, 26 C.C.P.A. 1249, 41 U.S.P.Q. (BNA) 674, 1939 CCPA LEXIS 169, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-davis-ccpa-1939.