Appeal No. 1997-1965
Application No. 08/466,482
benzimidazoles fully meeting compounds I or II recited in claims 18 through 20; that each
secondary reference (Aikawa and Harsányi) discloses substituted benzimidazoles useful for
treating diseases characterized by excessive smooth muscle cell proliferation in a mammal;
that the compounds of the primary and secondary references are “closely related” in
structure; and that a person having ordinary skill in the art would have attributed to the
compounds of each primary reference the properties or utilities disclosed by the secondary
references. Accordingly, the examiner concludes that a pharmaceutical composition
comprising a compound of Raeymaekers, Venkataratnam, Gevaert, or Beilstein and a
pharmaceutically acceptable carrier would have been prima facie obvious. The examiner
also concludes that a method for treating diseases characterized by excessive smooth
muscle cell proliferation in a mammal by administering to that mammal a smooth muscle cell
proliferation inhibiting amount of a compound disclosed by Raeymaekers, Venkataratnam,
Gevaert, or Beilstein would have been prima facie obvious (examiner’s answer, pages 8
and 9). We disagree.
First, with respect to the substituted benzimidazoles disclosed by Raeymaekers,
Venkataratnam, Gevaert, and Beilstein, which fully meet compounds I and II in claims 18
through 20, the primary references do not disclose or suggest using those benzimidazoles
in a pharmaceutical composition or in a method for treating diseases characterized by
excessive smooth muscle cell proliferation in a mammal. Rather, the primary references
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