Appeal No. 1998-0968
Application No. 08/031,075
Claim 22 is representative of the claimed subject matter and read as follows:
22. A hybridoma which is capable of producing a monoclonal antibody which:
(i) has been raised against the cell walls of Group A Streptococci; and
(ii) is specific to mammalian cells or membranes, or mammalian
immunoglobulins of the IgG class, containing terminal N-acetylglucosamine residues;
wherein, in an enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assay, said monoclonal antibody is:
(i) negative to fetuin; and
(ii) positive to:
(a) bovine serum albumin conjugated to N-acetylglucosamine
residues;
(b) fetuin which has been treated with sialidase and galactosidase; and
(c) immunoglobulins which have been denatured.
Claims 22, 24, 32, 34, 35, 37, 45, 47, 48, 50, 60, 61, 63 and 73 stand rejected
2
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) or, in the alternative, under 35 U.S.C. § 103. As evidence of
3 4
anticipation or obviousness, the examiner relies on Nahm and Katz.
DISCUSSION
Anticipation requires the disclosure, in a single prior art reference, of each element
of the claim under consideration. W.L. Gore & Assoc. v. Garlock, Inc., 721 F.2d 1540,
1554, 220 USPQ 303, 313 (Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 851 (1984). However,
it has been held that additional evidence may be relied on in support of an anticipation
2This rejection was set forth for the first time in the Examiner’s Answer (paper no.
30). In the final office action (paper no. 25), the claims were rejected under 35 U.S.C. §
102(b) alone.
3Nahm et al. (Nahm), “Improved Diagnostic Accuracy Using Monoclonal Antibody
to Group A Streptococcal Carbohydrate,” Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Vol. 12, No. 4,
pp. 506-508, October 1980.
4Katz et al. (Katz), WO 84/04169, October 25, 1984.
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