In Re: Durance

In 2010, the inventors filed the 989 Patent Application as part of the national stage of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, 35 U.S.C. 371. The application is directed to improved methods and apparatuses for “microwave vacuum-drying of organic materials, such as food products and medicinal plants.” It describes dehydrating organic material, such as fruits and berries, by placing the material in a container, transferring the container to a vacuum chamber, and rotating the container as it moves through the vacuum chamber while applying microwave radiation to the organic material. The Patent Board affirmed an examiner’s obviousness rejection of the claims. The Federal Circuit vacated, finding that the Board failed to consider arguments in applicants’ reply brief that were properly made in response to the examiner’s answer. The court directed the Board to consider arguments on whether the divider walls in the containers are a part of the claimed structure of the tumbling limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112 and whether a structural identity rejection can be used to find a prima facie case of obviousness for method claims. View "In Re: Durance" on Justia Law