An Inclusive Litany

4/21/01

In December, Ohio-based Menusaver, Inc., sued Michigan-based Albie's Foods, Inc., alleging Albie's sold crustless peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in violation of Menusaver's patent. The following is from the official record of U.S. patent 6,004,596, held by Menusaver:

CLAIMS

We claim:

1. A sealed crustless sandwich, comprising:

   a first bread layer having a first perimeter surface coplanar to a contact surface;
   at least one filling of an edible food juxtaposed to said contact surface;
   a second bread layer juxtaposed to said at least one filling opposite of said first bread layer, wherein said second bread layer includes a second perimeter surface similar to said first perimeter surface;
   a crimped edge directly between said first perimeter surface and said second perimeter surface for sealing said at least one filling between said first bread layer and said second bread layer;
   wherein a crust portion of said first bread layer and said second bread layer has been removed.

2. The sealed crustless sandwich of claim 1, wherein said at least one filling comprises:

   a first filling;
   a second filling;
   a third filling; and
   wherein said second filling is completely surrounded by said first filling and said third filling for preventing said second filling from engaging said first bread layer and said second bread layer.

3. The sealed crustless sandwich of claim 2, wherein said first filling and third filling have sealed characteristics.

4. The sealed crustless sandwich of claim 3, wherein:

   said first filling is juxtaposed to said first bread layer;
   said third filling is juxtaposed to said second bread layer; and
   an outer edge of said first filling and said third filling are engaged to one another to form a reservoir for retaining said second filling in between.

5. The sealed crustless sandwich of claim 4, wherein said first filling and said third filling are comprised of peanut butter; and said second filling is comprised of a jelly.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Many individuals enjoy sandwiches with meat- or jellylike fillings between two conventional slices of bread. However, some individuals do not enjoy the outer crust associated with the conventional slices of bread and therefore take the time to tear away the outer crust from the desired soft inner portions of the bread. This outer crust portion is then thrown away and wasted. There is currently no method or device for baking bread without having an outer crust. Hence, there is a need for a convenient sandwich that does not have an outer crust and that is not prone to waste of the edible outer crust portions. The present invention provides a method of making a sealed crustless sandwich that can be stored for extended periods of time without an inner filling seeping into the bread portion.

[Ed.: On a related note, the Detroit-based Love Your Neighbor Corp. sued the Love Thy Neighbor Fund Inc., a Florida-based charity, for trademark infringement, alleging "lost sales and profits it would have made but for these wrongful acts." (There has also been arbitration on an associated Internet domain name dispute.) At least 40 other U.S. organizations use some variant of "love thy neighbor" in their names, an expression that can be traced back about 5,700 years.]