Appeal No. 2007-0054
Application No. 08/846,722
white blood cells) to kill invading bacteria and in response to foreign
bodies.” (Id. at 1.) “These active oxygen species can injure cells.” (Id. at
2.) “Antioxidants have been shown to inhibit damage associated with active
oxygen species.” (Id. at 3.) Hydrogen peroxide is an example of an active
oxygen species. (Id. at 13.)
The specification describes “a method for treating the disease state in
mammals caused by mammalian nasal and sinus cells involved in the
inflammatory response.” (Id. at 11.) The method “comprises: contacting
the mammalian nasal and sinus cells participating in the inflammatory
response with an inflammatory mediator; wherein the inflammatory
mediator is present in an amount capable of reducing the undesired
inflammatory response and is an antioxidant.” (Id.) “Typical diseases
treatable by the present . . . method include but are not limited to rhinitis,
eosinophilia syndrome, sinusitis and the like.” (Id. at 18.)
The specification states that the preferred inflammatory mediator is
pyruvate or a pyruvate precursor. “A precursor is a substance from which
another substance is formed and . . . also includes salts.” (Id. at 16.)
DISCUSSION
1. CLAIMS
Claims 1-6, 8-18, and 27-31 are on appeal. Claims 19-26 are also
pending but have been withdrawn from consideration by the Examiner.
For each rejection, the claims have been argued as a group. Thus, the
claims of each rejection stand or fall together. We will focus on one claim
from each rejection -- claims 1, 18, and 27, which are representative and
read as follows:
2
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