Appeal No. 1997-1817
Application No. 08/139,693
chance encounter of the infected person with a particular antigenic determinant
(monoclonal response) or as part of a polyclonal response to a lectin-like factor
(lymphokine, growth factor) (p. 26, col. 1, para. 3).
Currently, treatment with AZT must be prolonged because the
triggering of latent HIV DNA to destroy itself is mainly dependent on
G0/G1 switches generated by random antigenic signals. ... However, if all
host T-lymphocyte were activated synchronously by an appropriate
concentration of an appropriate growth factor, all the integrated HIV DNA
molecules would be destroyed with their host cells. Furthermore, all
liberated RNA viruses could be prevented from replicating in previously
uninfected cells by a short and intensive concomitant course of AZT.
[Page 26, para. bridging cols. 1-2.]
Forsdyke explicitly references Matsuyama3 as suggesting that TNF is a suitable
polyclonal growth factor for activating latent HIV (abstract; p. 26, col. 2, para. 2).
Matsuyama discloses that TNF preferentially kills HIV-infected cells and
enhances HIV-replication (p. 2507).
According to the examiner, appellants have allegedly admitted on page 11 of the
specification that "[n]ew methods of extracorporeal blood processing by the inventors
are presented as shown below; however, the extracorporeal blood processing can be
prior art" (answer, para. bridging pp. 4-5).
The examiner's position, as best it is understood, is that the in vitro elimination of
HIV-infected cells by Matsuyama is constructively an extracorporeal processing step
(answer, p. 17, first full para.). Thus, it would have been obvious to use a conventional
3Footnote 33 in Forsdyke identifies Matsuyama et al. as the same Matsuyama relied upon by the
examiner as prior art in this rejection.
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