Appeal No. 1999-0334 Page 2
Application No. 08/150,747
vitamin B12 whereby the immobilized primary antibody binds all of the exogenous
intrinsic factor, and any vitamin B12 in said sample and labeled vitamin B12 compete for
reaction with the exogenous intrinsic factor; measuring the amount of labeled vitamin
B12 bound to the primary antibody through the exogenous intrinsic factor; and using the
measurement of the labeled vitamin B12 to determine the amount of vitamin B12 in the
fluid sample.
34. A method to determine an amount of folate in a fluid sample, the fluid
sample comprising at least some of the folate bound to endogenous folate binding
protein, the method comprising: treating the fluid sample to free any of said folate
present in the sample from endogenous folate binding protein and to destroy the
endogenous folate binding protein=s binding ability; combining the following with an
amount of an immobilized primary antibody which specifically binds folate binding
protein: (a) an amount of exogenous folate binding protein, (b) the treated fluid sample
and an amount of labeled folate whereby the immobilized primary antibody binds all of
the exogenous folate binding protein, (c) and any folate in said sample and labeled
folate compete for reaction with the exogenous folate binding protein; measuring the
amount of labeled folate bound to the primary antibody through the exogenous folate
binding protein; and using the measurement of the labeled folate to determine the
amount of folate in the fluid sample.
As evidence of obviousness, the examiner relies on the following references:
Litt 4,092,408 May 30, 1978
Gutcho et al. (Gutcho) 4,146,602 Mar. 27, 1979
Pourfarzaneh et al. (Pourfarzaneh) WO 91/00519 Jan. 10, 1991
Suter et al. (Suter), AThe Immunochemistry of Sandwich ELISAs. II. A Novel System
Prevents the Denaturation of Capture Antibodies,@ Immunology Letters, Vol. 13, pp.
313-316 (1986)
Høier-Madsen et al. (Høier-Madsen), ARabbit Antibodies Against the Low Molecular
Weight Folate Binding Protein from Human Milk. Use for Immunological
Characterization of Human Folate Binding Proteins in an Enzyme-Linked
Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), Bioscience Reports, Vol. 7, No. 7, pp. 553-557 (1987)
Claims 34 and 35 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. ' 103 as unpatentable over
Gutcho, Litt, Suter and Høier-Madsen, while claim 33 stands rejected as unpatentable
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