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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><A onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"
href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1952246,00.html">McDonald's Files
for Patent on the Sandwich</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG><FONT face=Arial
size=5></FONT></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG><FONT face=Arial
size=5></FONT></STRONG></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4><STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=5>Can nobody make a sandwich
like McDonald's?</FONT></STRONG><FONT face=Arial size=5> </DIV>
<P><STRONG></STRONG></P>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2><STRONG>David
Adam</STRONG><BR></FONT><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2><B>Monday
November 20, 2006</B><BR></DIV></FONT><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>
<P><B>Guardian</B></P>
<DIV></FONT><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>It has been the food of
monarchs and commoners ever since John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich,
first pressed some meat between two slices of bread and took a bite. Billions of
butties later, the fast-food giant McDonald's has set its sights on his
invention. The company has filed patents in Europe and the US that claim the
"method and apparatus for making a sandwich" as its intellectual
property.</FONT> </DIV>
<P><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>Patent application WO2006068865
relates to the "pre-assembly of sandwich components and simultaneous preparation
of different parts of the same sandwich". It covers the "simultaneous toasting
of a bread component" and heating a "meat and/or cheese filling". And it says
the company has invented a way to add garnishes and condiments using a "sandwich
assembly tool".</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>The patent says McDonald's wants to
cut down on the time and labour required to put its sandwiches together. The
company also wants them to look and taste the same and has come up with what it
describes as "novel methods" to put them together.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>The assembly tool contains a
"cavity" into which the sandwich-maker places the garnish ("including, but not
limited to, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles, chilli, coleslaw, giardinera,
peppers, spinach, radishes, olives, egg, cooked bacon and cheese") and the
condiments ("ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, sauces, relish, oils, salt, pepper,
barbecue sauce, steak sauce, hot sauce, dressings including salad dressings,
yogurt, butter, margarine and liquid or semi-liquid cheese").</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>A "bread component" is then placed
over the cavity and the assembly tool "inverted" to tip out the contents.
"Typically, a sandwich filling will thereafter be placed in the bread
component," the 55-page patent explains. "Often the sandwich filling is the
source of the name of the sandwich, for example - ham sandwich."</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>It also describes how to make
cocktail sandwiches, by taking a full-sized version that is "cut up into smaller
pieces".</FONT></P>
<P><FONT face=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif size=2>Lawrence Smith-Higgins of the UK
Patent Office said: "McDonald's or anyone else can't get retrospective exclusive
rights to making a sandwich. They might have a novel device but it could be
quite easy for someone to make a sandwich in a similar way without infringing
their claims." McDonald's would not comment.</FONT> </P></FONT></BODY></HTML>