(September 6, 2016, 1:41 PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that the use of desugared, sugar beet molasses (DSBM) to deice road surfaces would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art were reversed Aug. 31 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals (In re: Natural Alternatives LLC, No. 15-1911, Fed. Cir.; 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 16278).

(Decision available. Document #16-160919-002Z.)

According to the appellate panel of Circuit Judges Pauline Newman, Raymond C. Clevenger and Kathleen M. O’Malley, the examiner...