Appeal No. 96-2137
Application 07/668,920
antibody may not be specific to any surface protein or antigen of the cell
line employed in the screening process, certain tumor cell lines (such as
histiocytic cell lines) have surface components that exhibit generalized
binding of immunoglobulins.
No further information is given as to how the live cell data are to be interpreted to take
into account that the reported values represent counts of binding to both live and dead
cells.
Upon filing of this application on March 13, 1991, claim 18 was presented, which
was and is the only independent claim pending in the application. Claim 18 as
originally presented read as follows:
18. A method for measuring necrotic tissue in a mammal, comprising the
steps of:
obtaining monoclonal antibody that is specific to necrotic tissue of substantially
all tissues of said mammal but not to living tissue, said monoclonal antibody being
labeled;
contacting said labeled antibody in vivo with tissue of said mammal, which tissue
includes necrotic tissue, thereby permitting said antibody to bind preferentially to said
necrotic tissue; and
measuring the binding of said labeled antibody to said necrotic tissue.
As can be seen, claim 18 was directed to a method for measuring necrotic tissue in a
mammal. Claim 18 was amended in Paper No. 19, inter alia, to recite “a method for
measuring necrotic neoplastic tissue in a mammal . . ..” In response to a new ground of
rejection in the Examiner’s Answer, appellants amended claim 18 in Paper No. 28 to
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