Appeal No. 96-2137
Application 07/668,920
intracellular antigens of unspecified necrotic neoplastic tissue but not substantially bind
to unspecified living neoplastic tissue. Reviewing this portion of claim 18 in light of the
specification, it is not clear what is meant by the phrase the antibody “does not
substantially bind to living neoplastic tissue.”
The most relevant portion of the disclosure of this application which aids in
interpreting this aspect of the claimed invention is Table 1. However, it is not clear how
the data presented in this table are to be interpreted nor how the binding requirements
of claim 18 are to be interpreted in light of these data. As seen from the heading of the
table, high counts denote antibody binding. Appellants do not explain what is meant by
high counts. The table contains negative control values but the specification does not
explain how these negative controls were obtained or how they are to be used in
interpreting the count values resulting from the assays using live cells of SU-DHL-2 and
A549. For example, if the negative control value of 552 set forth for the live cells of
SU-DHL-2 is to be interpreted as a background control value, all of the monoclonal
antibodies with the exception of 859-4 and 780-3, appear to “substantially bind” rather
than “not substantially bind” living neoplastic tissue, i.e., living SU-DHL-2 cells. The
same observation is seen from viewing the data presented for the A549 live cells.
There, all of the monoclonal antibodies appear to “substantially bind” rather than “not
substantially bind” living neoplastic tissue, i.e., live A549 cells.
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