Appeal No. 2001-0758 Page 3
Application No. 08/919,477
Adams et al. (Adams) GB 2 109 407 Jun. 2, 1983
DISCUSSION
The issue appellants would have us review is whether claims 1 through 9, 19
and 20 are unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. § 103 over Barbet, Adams and Matthews.
Unfortunately, our review of this matter has been hampered by the failure of the
examiner to address the claims on an individual basis, and even more so by the
inconsistent manner in which the examiner has treated an express limitation of the
claims.
Claim 1 is directed to an aminocarboxylate-appended peptide comprising “at
least one D-tyrosine or tyramine, an amino terminus, a carboxy terminus formed from
D-lysine and no contiguous L-amino acids between the D-tyrosine or tyramine and the
carboxy terminus,” with “an aminopolycarboxylate conjugated to the ,-amino group of
the D-lysine through one of its carboxylic acid groups,” and “a linker group for covalently
binding [the peptide] to an antibody.” Claim 8 is similar to claim 1, except that the
aminopolycarboxylate is conjugated to the peptide through an amide bond or a thiourea
bond. Claims 19 and 20, which depend from claims 1 and 8, respectively, specify that
the linker group consists of an amino group, an imidate group, an isothiocyanate group,
a maleimide group or a halo-acetamide group.
Barbet describes several molecules “compris[ing] two hydrophilic haptens and an
effector group comprising a radioactive isotope” (including isotopes of iodine) wherein
the haptens are joined by a peptidyl “connecting bridge[ ] . . . which allow[s] adequate
separation of haptens” and which is “not very sensitive to hydrolysis.” Column 1, lines
43-45; column 2, lines 63-67; and column 4, lines 15-18. One such molecule is
N-"-DTPA-tyrosyl-N-,-DTPA-lysine - thus Barbet describes an aminopolycarboxylate-
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