Appeal No. 1996-0111
Application 08/041,428
Having reviewed the disclosure of the parent applications, we find no description
within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, of the concept of homeostasis or
homeostatic balance. Further, the use of the terminology "homeostasis" and "optimum
health" at pages 2-3 of the present specification suggests that they are more reasonably
intended to refer to alternative aspects of health rather than, as urged by appellant, a
situation where homeostasis is merely encompassed within the concept of optimum
health. Therefore, we find no error in the examiner's determination that claims 25-26 are
entitled to the filing date of the current application as the effective filing date. Thus, we
agree with the examiner that Tamura I, Tamura II, and Itoh constitute prior art as to these
claims.
In sitting forth the basis of the rejection of claims 25-26 the examiner cites Tamura I
as teaching (Answer, page 11):
purification of bovine " -AGP and raising antisera for use in a single radial
1
immunodiffusion assay. Tamura further discloses elevated serum " -AGP
1
in animals with various conditions, e.g., see p[age] 933: "The amount of
1
circulating " -AG also seems to correlate with the extent of the disease ...
1
Therefore, quantitative measurement of serum " -AG in cattle may be a
1
useful aid in monitoring the course of various diseases ... Furthermore,
increases in " -AG without apparent diseases may indicate sub-clinical
1
pathological conditions."
1The designation "AG", as used in Tamura I, Tamura II, and Itoh, represents " -1-
acid glycoprotein. See Tamura I at page 987, line 1 of the Abstract.
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