Appeal No. 94-3919
Application 08/391,550
ORDER VACATING REJECTION AND
REMANDING APPLICATION TO THE EXAMINER
Claim 15 is the only claim pending in the application and reads as follows:
15. A method of acylating a peptide or protein comprising reacting the CoA ester
of an oxy- or thio-substituted fatty acid analog compound having activity as a substrate of
myristoylating enzymes selected from the group consisting of C or C fatty acids or alkyl13 14
esters thereof in which a methylene group normally in a carbon position from 4 to 13 is
replaced with oxygen or sulfur with said peptide or protein in the presence of a source of
N-myristoyl transferase to thereby decrease the hydrophobicity of the resulting acyl peptide
or protein compared to the corresponding myristoyl peptide or protein while maintaining
about the same chain length.
The examiner has rejected this claim under 35 U.S.C. § 101 alleging that the claim method
"lacks utility." (Examiner's Answer, page 3). In relevant part, the examiner has concluded
that "myristoylation of proteins does not constitute any useful practical utility other than to
advance further study." (Examiner's Answer, page 4).
Parent application 07/745,660 was the subject of Appeal No. 93-1653. Claim 15,
as it was pending the parent application, reads as follows:
15. A method of acylating a peptide or protein comprising reacting the CoA ester
of an oxy- or thio-substituted fatty acid analog compound having activity as a substrate of
myristoylating enzymes selected from the group consisting of C or C fatty acids or alkyl13 14
esters thereof in which a methylene group normally in a carbon position from 4 to 13 is
replaced with oxygen or sulfur with said peptide or protein in the presence of a source of
N-myristoyl transferase.
When this application was refiled, claim 15 was amended to add the language describing
the decreased hydrophobicity of the resulting acyl peptide or protein. On the record
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