Appeal No. 94-2280
Application 07/627,175
consideration by the examiner as being directed toward a
nonelected invention.
THE INVENTION
Appellants’ claimed invention is a ligand which is useful
for forming radionuclide complexes. Claim 1 is illustrative
of the subject matter of the invention and is appended to this
decision.
THE REJECTION
Claims 1 and 2 stand rejected under a judicial doctrine
as being directed to an improper Markush group.
OPINION
We have carefully considered all of the arguments
advanced by appellants and the examiner and agree with
appellants that the aforementioned rejection is not well
founded. Accordingly, this rejection will be reversed.
The test for whether a Markush group is proper is whether
all of the compounds in the group have in common a functional
utility and a substantial structural feature disclosed as
being essential to that utility. See In re Harnisch, 631 F.2d
716, 722, 206 USPQ 300, 305 (CCPA 1980); Ex parte Della Bella,
-2-2
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