Appeal No. 95-4491
Application No. 07/864,210
Chakrabarti et al. (Chakrabarti), "Conformational Studies of
Vitreous Polysaccharides," in The Association for Research in
Vision and Ophthalmology, Incorporated MEETING SCHEDULE, p. 97
(Sarasota, FL, Spring Meeting, April 25-29, 1974).
The sole issue in this appeal is whether claims 1, 9, 13,
19, 21, 23-28 and 30-32 were properly rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over the combination of Pape,
Balazs, Healon, Kawano, Drugs in Japan, and Chakrabarti.3
Discussion
The claims on appeal are directed to a composition
comprising a mixture of chondroitin sulfate and sodium
hyaluronate in an aqueous buffer (see claim 26) and a method
of using the composition for protecting human or animal
ophthalmic endothelial or epithelial cells subject to trauma
during surgery (see claim 1). The mixture is said to exhibit
an unexpectedly synergistic viscosity which exceeds the sum of
the individual viscosities of the chondroitin sulfate and
sodium hyaluronate.
According to appellants (Specification, pp. 2-3):
3 Claims 24 and 28 were also finally rejected under
35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, for lack of adequate
descriptive support. However, this rejection was withdrawn by
the examiner. See Answer, p. 2.
4
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