Appeal No. 2003-0892 Page 6
Application No. 09/454,385
nucleosides commonly found in DNA and RNA, methods of their derivatization and
subsequent use in the synthesis of fluorescent oligonucleotides . . . having prescribed
sequences” (column 1, lines 13-19). According to the examiner (Answer, pages 5-6),
Conrad teaches a method for identifying target DNA or RNA sequences
(column 27, lines 50-55) comprising: a) selecting a primer of more than 15
nucleotides . . . having a 3' hydroxyl group at one end and having a
sequence of nucleotides to specifically hybridize with an identifying
sequence of nucleotides in the target DNA (column 27, lines 55-60), b)
hybridizing the primer to the identifying nucleotide sequences of the target
RNA sequence (column 27, lines 60-65), c) extending the primer along
the target sequence by progressively binding a plurality of nucleotides to
the primer that are complementary to the corresponding nucleotides on
the target sequence to form a reporter molecule, where the
complementary nucleotides include rUTP nucleotides labeled with a
fluorophore and unlabelled rATP, rCTP, and rGTP nucleotides . . . [and]
d) detecting fluorescence emitted by fluorophores on individual reporter
molecules to identify the target DNA sequence (column 28, lines 2-10).
Castro describes “single-molecule electrophoresis,” which “promises to combine
the advantages of free-solution capillary electrophoresis (system automation, speed,
reproducibility) with the unsurpassed sensitivity of single-molecule detection” (page
3186). According to the examiner, “[i]t would have been prima facie obvious to one
having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to combine the
method of Conrad with the use of single molecule electrophoresis as taught by
Castro[,]” “for the express advantages of improved speed, reproducibility and
unsurpassed sensitivity” (Answer, page 6).
Appellant argues that one skilled in the art would not have had reason to detect
Conrad’s fluorescent polynucleotides using Castro’s method because “[t]he advantages
of single molecule electrophoresis taught by Castro [ ] are for sorting and detecting
single molecules by size . . . but [sic, not?] for detecting the presence or absence of a
fluorescent probe” (Brief, pages 6-7). We disagree. Castro specifically teaches that the
“technique is sensitive enough to detect and analyze a small, single-fluorophore
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