Appeal No. 1997-2392
Application No. 08/089,990
THE REJECTION UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 103:
On this record, the examiner provides two references, Lasky and Gilbert,
which teach antibodies specific for epitopes located within the CD4 binding region
of HIV-1 gp120. According to the examiner (Answer, page 4) Lasky’s Figure 6
(Lasky, page 979) illustrates that the amino acid sequence of the epitope is variable
among different HIV-1 isolates. Lasky’s Figure 6 also illustrates that 1 sequence
(HXB2) of the 12 sequences listed comprises the amino acid sequence of
appellants’ SEQ ID NO:1. The examiner also finds that Gilbert teach (Answer,
bridging sentence, pages 4-5) antiserum raised against a peptide having a
sequence that “differs from Seq ID No. 1 of claim 7 by a single residue ([Gilbert’s]
Peptide 5 has glutamic acid (E) at position 7 … whereas Seq. ID No: 1 has lysine
(K) at this position).”
The examiner relies upon Sun’s Figure 6 (Answer, page 5) to establish “that
the sequences of the gp120 glycoproteins of various HIV-1 isolates were known in
the art at the time the instant invention was made. Figure 6 shows sequences
corresponding to the regions containing the CD4 binding sites of fifteen different
strains of HIV-1. One of the [15] HIV-1 isolates, designated HXB2, is shown to have
a sequence which is identical to that recited in claim 7.” The examiner therefore
concludes (Answer, bridging sentence, pages 5-6) that Sun “establishes that an
HIV-1 isolate having in its CD4 binding domain a
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