Appeal No. 2000-2269 Page 4
Application No. 08/862,337
at the same antigen-recognition site bound by the immunogen. Claim 26 is
directed to a nucleic acid that binds an antigen binding protein at the same
antigen recognition site as a non-nucleic acid immunogen; i.e., a nucleic acid
produced in a process such as that of claim 1.
1. The rejection over Gold
The examiner rejected the claims as obvious in view of the teachings of
either Gold ‘163 or Gold PCT.1 The examiner characterized Gold as teaching
a method for identifying nucleic acid species which interact with
targets comprising the steps: a) combining a broad class of
molecules including proteins, such as antigen binding proteins or
antibodies, [and] receptors, such as T cell receptors . . . , with a
degenerate pool of nucleic acids . . . , b) recovering a nucleic acid
bound to the target at a specific site . . . , c) amplifying selected
nucleic acids by cDNA synthesis followed by PCR and RNA
transcription. . . . Gold also teaches the interaction of selected
nucleic acids with proteins not known to bind nucleic acids . . . as
well as the use of solid supports.
Examiner’s Answer, page 4.
The examiner concluded that
[i]t would have been prima facie obvious to one having ordinary skill
in the art at the time the invention was made to utilize the method of
Gold for the identification of targets of any molecule and any
epitope. The method of Gold is not limited to the specific examples
cited in the patent, and an ordinary practitioner would have been
able to utilize the method of Gold to identify nucleic acids which
interact with any specific desired antibody, and for the selection of
nucleic acids which can compete for binding at an antibody target
site.
Examiner’s Answer, page 5.
1 Although the rejection is putatively based on either Gold reference, the examiner cited only to
Gold ‘163 when explaining the basis of the rejection. The disclosures of both Gold references
appear to be identical. Therefore, we will limit our discussion to Gold ‘163.
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