Appeal No. 2001-2308
Application 07/704,578
produce the nonglycosylated protein required by the claim. Thus, absent a fact-based
explanation from the examiner, we conclude that the proteins disclosed in this publication
do not meet the claim limitations.
In sum, we do not find that the examiner has provided sufficient reason to believe
that any of the reference products are identical, or substantially identical, to the product of
claim 29. Therefore we reverse this rejection.
Rejection 2
Claims 28 and 29 stand rejected as obvious over Hirano, Weissenbach,
Zilberstein, Revel, or JP 115025A in view of Gilbert, Ingolia, or Clark. The examiner states
that Hirano, Weissenbach, Zilberstein, and Revel do not specifically teach the amino acid
sequence of the protein, and with the exception of Revel do not specifically teach the
expression of IL-6 in a prokaryotic cell or the production of an nonglycosylated IL-6. The
JP document discloses a purified protein, and an N-terminal sequence. The examiner
argues that it would have been obvious to use the methods of Gilbert, Ingolia, and Clark for
expression of an nonglycosylated protein, for the advantages of homogeneity, ease of
handling, and low cost. We disagree.
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