Appeal No. 2002-0253
Application No. 09/093,450
Claims 15-17, the only claims before us, read as follows:
15. A method of treating rheumatoid arthritis in an individual in need thereof
comprising administering to the individual cyclosporin in combination with a tumor
necrosis factor alpha antagonist, in therapeutically effective amounts.
16. A method of Claim 15 wherein the tumor necrosis factor alpha antagonist
is an anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha antibody or antigen-binding fragment thereof.
17. A method of Claim 16 wherein the antibody or fragment is a chimeric
antibody or chimeric fragment, wherein said chimeric antibody or chimeric fragment
comprises a non-human variable region specific for TNF" or an antigen-binding
fragment thereof and a human constant region.
The references relied upon by the examiner are:
Ackerman et al. (Ackerman) 5,204,329 Apr. 20, 1993
Le et al. (Le) 5,656,272 Aug. 12, 1997
Aggarwal et al. (Aggarwal) 5,672,347 Sep. 30, 1997
I. Claims 15 and 16 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being
anticipated by Aggarwal.
II. Claims 15-17 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable
over Aggarwal in view of the appellants’ acknowledgment in the specification (pages 13-
15 and 19-25) that the use of chimeric antibodies for therapeutic uses was well known
in art at the time the invention was made.
III. Claims 15-17 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable
over Le and Ackerman in view of the appellants’ acknowledgment in the specification
(pages 13-15 and 19-25) that the use of chimeric antibodies for therapeutic uses was
well known in art at the time the invention was made.
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