Appeal No. 2003-1307 Page 2
Application No. 09/420,785
reacting the peptide substrate with a nucleophile in the presence of
a modified carboxypeptidase Y;
wherein the modified carboxypeptidase is derived from the peptide
having the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 and comprises: (a) at least
one substitution in an S1 subsite with an amino acid having a
negatively charged side chain, (b) at least one substitution of an
amino acid residue capable of interacting with a peptide substrate P3
residue, wherein the substitution introduces an amino acid having a
negatively charged side chain, and (c) substitutions L178S and
M398L; and
wherein at least one substitution (a) and at least one substitution
(b) are different.
No prior art is cited by the examiner.
GROUNDS OF REJECTION
Claims 24 and 25 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph,
as the specification fails to adequately describe the claimed invention.
We reverse.
DISCUSSION
The examiner emphasizes (Answer, page 4, emphasis original) that claim
24 comprises “a substituted negatively charged amino acid residue in at least
one of positions N241 and L245 and substitutions L178S and M398L.”
Accordingly, the examiner finds (Answer, bridging sentence, pages 4-5), “[t]he
genus of … modified carboxypeptidases Y encompass an infinite number of
species having different structures and functions because ‘comprising’ is open
claim language.” According to the examiner (Answer, page 5), “the claim is not
limited to substitutions at residues 241 and/or 245 (178 and 398) only and reads
on an unlimited number of other substitutions negating, in effect, reference to
SEQ ID NO:[ ]4.” The examiner makes similar assertions with regard to the
scope of claim 25.
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