Appeal No. 95-2876
Application 07/906,403
interpreted as including a pharmaceutical agent dispersed in a
core matrix as long as it does not form the core of a core
matrix, we are of the view that the subject matter of claims
20 through 23 is described by Beck as indicated supra. The
extent to which such phrase is interpreted as excluding any
pharmaceutical agent in the core matrix, we are of the view
that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art to eliminate one of the pharmaceutical agents, such as
the one in the core matrix of Beck's multi-layered spherical
microparticles, along with its attendant function. Compare In
re Thompson, 545 F.2d 1290, 1294, 192 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA
1976); In re Kuhle, 526 F.2d 553, 555, 188 USPQ 7, 9 (CCPA
1975). This is particularly true in the present situation
since Beck also teaches that pharmaceutical agents can be
incorporated "in a variety of configurations depending upon
how the drug or drugs are to be released." See column 9,
lines 60-64.
Any request for reconsideration or modification of this
decision by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences
based upon the same record must be filed within one month from
the date hereof. 37 CFR § 1.197.
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