Appeal No. 2007-0083
Application No. 10/174,574
proteins having homology thereto, are of interest to the
scientific and medical communities.
We herein describe the identification and characterization of
novel polypeptides having homology to thioredoxin, designated
herein as PRO270 polypeptides.
Page 25.
DISCUSSION
1. CLAIMS
Claims 25-29 are pending and on appeal. The claims have not been
argued separately; therefore, they stand or fall together. 37 CFR
§ 41.37(c)(1)(vii). Claim 25 is representative and reads as follows:
25. An isolated antibody that binds specifically to the polypeptide
of SEQ ID NO:32.
2. UTILITY
Claims 25-29 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §§ 101 and 112, first
paragraph, as lacking patentable utility. The Examiner argues that claimed
antibodies lack utility because PRO270 lacks utility. In particular, the
Examiner argues that the disclosed similarity between PRO270 and
thioredoxin is not enough, by itself, to establish PRO270’s utility:
[T]he mere identification that a protein belongs to a family of
proteins, while indicative of evolutionary relatedness, is not
indicative of function, nor by extension of utility. . . . [W]ithout
any information as to the specific properties of the protein, the
mere identification of such as having homology to thioredoxin
proteins is not sufficient to impart any particular utility to the
polypeptide.
Examiner’s Answer, page 4.
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