Appeal No. 1996-3409
Application No. 08/092,543
In its broadest aspect, the claimed screening method comprises comparing the
electrical signal pattern generated by multiple preselected constituents in a biological
sample from a test subject with a data base representative of the frequency distribution of
those same constituents in samples from epidemiologically significant populations with,
and without, that disorder.
Matson 1987 teaches that “[c]oulometric electrode series array sensors, coupled
with liquid chromatography (n-ELC), provide a route to multiplying the resolving power of
conventional [liquid chromatography] by factors of 10 to 50.” The reference suggests that
“[t]he use of multiple parameter assays of entire metabolic pathways is potentially
a powerful tool for unraveling mechanisms of disorders . . . and classification of
neurological diseases” and also describes “various techniques of multiple regression and
algorithm construction” as “under investigation.” See the Summary and page 908.
Seltzer discloses frequency distribution analysis of fingerprint patterns (ulner or
radical loops, arches and whorls) to distinguish between early- and late-onset primary
degenerative dementia.
The examiner argues that “[i]t would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art at the time the invention was made to [have] used a frequency distribution as
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