Appeal No. 1995-1993
Application 07/661,370
agreement with the appellants’ position. Accordingly, we reverse both rejections.
The present invention is directed to the 0.4 kb envelope protein of feline
3
immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a plasmid which comprises a DNA sequence encoding
said protein, an eukaryotic host cell transformed with said plasmid, a method of producing
said protein, a process for making a pharmaceutical composition comprising the amino
acid sequence of said protein and a pharmacologically acceptable carrier, a
pharmaceutical composition comprising said protein, the use of said pharmaceutical
composition for immunizing a cat against FIV, and a kit for detecting FIV antibodies in a
biological sample.
Rejection I
The examiner has premised his conclusion of obviousness on the teachings of
Talbott, Pedersen, and Kieny in view of Starcich, Pauletti, Modrow, Watanabe and
Colasanti. As we understand it, the examiner is proposing two theories by which he
believes the claimed subject matter would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art. Theory I is primarily based on the combined teachings of Talbott, Pedersen and Kieny
and, Theory II, on the combination of Talbott, Starcich, Pauletti and Modrow. Both theories
hinge on the examiner’s finding that the FIV 0.4 envelope protein and the
3According to the specification, FIV is a member of the family Retroviridae which
includes human and simian immunodeficiency viruses. Specification, p. 1, lines 24-29.
4
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007