Appeal No. 2003-1736
Application No. 09/123,137
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellants regarding the noted rejections, we make reference to the examiner’s
Answer for the examiner’s reasoning in support of the rejection, and to the appellants’
Brief for the appellants’ arguments thereagainst. As a consequence of our review, we
make the determinations which follow.
Background
The composition of claim 1 is a composition for the local alleviation of a medical
condition caused by inflammation or unwanted tissue proliferation at a site, the
composition comprising an effective amount of one or more active oxygen inhibitor
compounds which destroy or prevent the formation of active oxygen species in a
polymer solution or hydrogel, wherein the polymer solution or hydrogel is administered
to the site in fluent form and forms a conforming barrier by ionic crosslinking, chemical
redox reaction, photopolymerization, or physical gelation at the site of administration,
and wherein the barrier persists at the site for days to weeks.
According to the invention superoxide dismutase (SOD) and other oxygen
inhibitors are directly applied in combination with a barrier material at local sites of
tissue injury to prevent or decrease formation of adhesions and undesirable
proliferation of cells. Specification, page 6. The specification describes that
compositions such as those claimed are particularly useful in the treatment of
secondary adhesions. Specification, pages 27-29. According to the specification,
3
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