Appeal No. 1997-0204
Application No. 08/400,786
Claim 28 is representative of the subject matter on
appeal and reads as follows:
28. A device for detecting an analyte in a biological fluid,
said device comprising:
a) a separation matrix containing an agglutinating
agent and between 70 and 150 millimolar of the buffer 4-(-2-
hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazine-ethanesulfonic acid (HEPES); and
b) means for detecting said analyte, which detection
means is vertically adjacent to the separation matrix and
substantially coincident with the matrix such that said
analyte can move from the separation matrix to the means for
detecting said analyte;
wherein said device has a faster endpoint detection speed
due to the presence of the HEPES buffer in the separation
matrix.
As evidence of obviousness, the examiner relies on the
following prior art:
Cowsar et al. (Cowsar) 4,181,500 Jan. 1,
1980
Hildenbrand et al. (Hildenbrand) 5,160,436 Nov. 3,
1992
Wilk et al. (Wilk) 5,262,067 Nov. 16,
1993
Chu et al. (Chu ‘485) 0 535 485 A1 Apr. 7, 1993
(Published European Patent Application)
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