Appeal No. 1996-0223
Application No. 07/931,563
Furie ‘320 discloses antibodies which specifically form complexes with human native
prothrombin only in the presence of Ca and are nonreactive with human abnormal prothrombin (col.+2
3, lines 60-63) as well as antibodies which specifically form complexes with human abnormal
prothrombin in the presence of human normal prothrombin and in the presence or absence of Ca (col.+2
3, lines 63-67).
According to the examiner,
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the
invention was made to purify prothrombin using immobilized calcium-dependent
antibodies, as per Furie et al. (US Pat. 4,769,320) and Falb et al., and to use Mg ,2+
2+ 3+
Mn , or Gd in place of calcium when forming the prothrombin/metal/antibody
complex since Furie et al. (1979) teach that any of these metals can replace calcium for
binding to gla residues in the formation of prothrombin/metal/antibody complex. One
would be motivated to replace calcium with these other metals in order to reduce the
activation of calcium-dependent proteases and to optimize the conditions for
protein/antibody complex formation. [Answer, page 8.]
We reverse this rejection for the same reasons set forth in rejection II. above, i.e., none of the
applied prior art references disclose or suggest use of conformation-specific antibodies for protein
purification.
OTHER MATTERS
Claims 7 and 14 in appellants’ “Appendix - Claims on Appeal” incorrectly use the Greek letter
tau (J) instead of gamma (().
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