Appeal No. 2003-1745 5
Application No. 09/859,614
be a major risk factor of vascular dementia.” Id. Indeed, we find that, “[h]ypertension is
a well established and potentially remediable risk factor for vascular disease.” See page
477, right-hand column. We further find in a discussion of the prevention of vascular
dementia that, “[p]reliminary research suggests that if we control and/or prevent the risk
factors for stroke, particularly hypertension, we may be able to reduce the incidence of
vascular dementia.” Id. Lis further reports on a study by Meyer that, “published results
from a longitudinal study suggesting that vascular dementia is preventable by control of
hypertension.” Id. We find that, “prevention of hypertension offers promise in terms of
reducing the incidence of vascular dementia and related disorders.” Id. Based upon the
above findings we conclude that it would have been obvious to the person having ordinary
skill in the art to treat and prevent the onset of both dementia and cognitive dysfunction by
using one or more pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of hypertension.
While we acknowledge that Lis is not directed to any specific anti hypertensive
pharmaceutical composition, Wyss specifically teaches that, “the angiotensin-converting
enzyme inhibitors most consistently lead to cognitive improvement in the overall
hypertensive population.” See Abstract. Furthermore, Wyss in reporting on ACE
inhibitors states that, “reports suggest that antihypertensive drugs that act by inhibiting
ACE may have no adverse effect on cognitive function and may actually improve cognitive
performance in some hypertensive individuals.” See the paragraph bridging pages 230 and
231. Based upon the above findings, we conclude that it would have been obvious to the
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