Appeal No. 95-2710
Application 08/011,837
Appellants provide figures which show that appellants’
antibodies agglutinate sperm and other cells (page 8, lines 2-
28; page 17, lines 18-20), and state that all five tested
antibodies coagulated virtually all cells present in semen,
either directly or by binding to factors secreted by the
seminal vesicles (page 17, line 30 - page 18, line 2). Also,
Isojima discloses (page 67) that H6-3C4 has strong sperm
immobilizing and agglutinating activities.
The examiner provides no evidence or sound technical
reason which indicates that one of ordinary skill in the art
would have questioned the objective truth of the statements in
appellants’ specification that their pan semen antibodies bind
to cells and pathogens in semen, including cells that carry
AIDS, thereby trapping the cells and pathogens. Hence, the
examiner has not carried his initial burden of establishing a
prima facie case of lack of utility.
For the above reasons, we do not sustain the rejection
under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph
The examiner argues that there is no evidence of record
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