Appeal No. 1996-1080
Application No. 07/869,111
According to appellants, the invention is directed to a
process for selectively methylating the 6-hydroxy position of
erythromycin A, and intermediates useful in this process,
which process does not involve the formation of quaternary
salts at the 3'-dimethylamino position (Brief, pages 2-3).
Claims 1 and 3 are illustrative of the subject matter on
appeal and a copy of these claims is attached as an Appendix
to this decision.
The examiner has relied upon the following references as
evidence of obviousness:
Faubl et al. (Faubl) 4,640,910 Feb. 3,
1987
Watanabe et al. (Watanabe) 0 158 467 Oct. 16,
1985
(Published European Patent Application)
Kirk-Othmer, Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 3rd ed.,
Vol. 20, pp. 964-65, John Wiley & Sons, 1982.
Claims 1 and 2 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
unpatentable over Faubl in combination with Watanabe and Kirk-
Othmer (Answer, page 2). Claim 3 stands rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over Watanabe1 in combination
1The last digit is omitted from the citation of Watanabe
on page 3 of the Answer. However, this is a harmless error
since the entire prosecution of this application and parent
application no. 07/094,888 recognize the correct citation of
2
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007