Appeal No. 1996-0111
Application 08/041,428
Similarly, the examiner cites Tamura II as teaching alterations in " -AGP in diseased
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cattle following treatment with antibiotics and upon reappearance of the disease condition.
(Answer, page 12). The examiner states that Itoh discloses (Answer,
page 12):
changes in " -AGP in cattle with inflammatory diseases and after surgical
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operations and also discloses that effective treatment of inflammatory
diseases with antibiotics was correlated with return of the " -AGP level to
1
normal.
The examiner concludes that (id.):
it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to measure and
monitor " -AGP in the body fluids of animals including cattle in order to
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assess the animals’ health as taught by Tamura (1) or Tamura (2) or Itoh
because each reference teaches both methods for measurement and the
value of monitoring the " -AGP in body fluid samples in animals such as
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cattle.
Appellant's only argument as to whether Tamura I, Tamura II, and Itoh are sufficient
to establish a prima facie case of obviousness is that (Principal Brief, page 19):
these publications arguably give some general guidance and may suggest
exploration of the claimed animal management method. However, their
teachings are not sufficiently specific to lead one of ordinary skill in the art to
the claimed method. Simply because a method is arguably "obvious to try"
does not make an invention obvious.
We do not agree that Tamura I, Tamura II and Itoh merely provide general guidance
which might suggest exploration of the claimed animal management method. The
references each describe the identification of diseased animals, the treatment and
monitoring of the animals as the disease condition is treated by monitoring the " -AGP
1
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