Appeal No. 1997-1849
Application 08/414,180
based on a non-enabling disclosure to the extent that they read on (1) a method for treating
an addictive, compulsive disorder caused by cocaine abuse, or (2) a method for treating
drug dependence caused by cocaine abuse.
Third, a patent specification is directed not to the layman, but rather to a person
having ordinary skill in the art. In re Folkers, 344 F.2d 970, 975-76, 145 USPQ 390, 394
(CCPA 1965). A specification need not teach, and preferably omits, what is well-known in
the art. Hybritech, Inc. v. Monoclonal Antibodies, Inc., 802 F.2d 1367, 1385,
231 USPQ 81, 94 (1986), cert. denied, 480 U.S. 947 (1987). Here, specification testing
establishes the capability of representative 1-(substituted-phenyl)-3-azabicyclo-
[3.1.0]hexanes to inhibit the neuronal reuptake of 5-serotonin, norepinephrine, and
dopamine in rat brain crude synaptosomal preparations at concentrations consistent with
the ability to serve as agents for treating addictive behaviors such as cocaine abuse
(specification, pages 24 through 26). Given the results of that testing, persons having
ordinary skill in the art would not doubt the objective truth of statements in applicants'
specification that 1-(substituted-phenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexanes not only attenuate
voluntary ethanol consumption in rats and humans but also serve as agents for treating
addictive behavior such as cocaine abuse. See the Amit reference, attached to
applicants' Appeal Brief, suggesting that the effects of 5-HT(serotonin) uptake inhibitors
are global in nature and not specific to any single consummatory behavior.
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