Appeal No. 1997-2182
Application 08/137,443
appellants must rebut the position taken by the examiner.
As we have noted above, on balance, the evidence on which
the examiner has relied gives credence to the objective
truthfulness of appellants' representations rather than casts
doubt on them. Moreover, the examiner has improperly narrowly
construed appellants' claims as limited to the treatment of
Alzheimer's disease. Both the claims and appellants'
disclosure are directed generally to treating a type of memory
dysfunction in mammals characterized by decreased cholinergic
function. The very art on which the examiner relies suggests
that at the time appellants made their invention, AChE
inhibitors were generally recognized as a class of compounds
suitable for treating illness attributable to decreased
acetylcholine function, including Alzheimer's disease.
The examiner also expresses his belief that the prior art
on which he has relied establishes that there was, at the time
of appellants' invention, no known cure or even treatment for
Alzheimer's disease. In the first instance, as we have stated
above, appellants do not claim either a cure of or even
treatment for Alzheimer's disease but claim a method for
treating a specific type of memory dysfunction. Secondly, the
operative claim term used is "treating" by administration of
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