Appeal No. 2003-1792
Application No. 09/434,598
We do not find that appellant’s claim grouping conforms with Rule 1.192. While
appellants have grouped claims 34 and 35 separately from claim 37 (Brief, page 4),
they have not presented separate argument as to why claims 34 and 35 are patentable
in view of the cited art. Since the individual claims of each group are not argued, we
decide this appeal with respect to the prior art rejections on the basis of claim 37, as
representative of Group I, and claim 36, as representative of Group II. Thus, claims 34
and 35 fall with claim 37. 37 CFR §1.192(c)(7) (2002).
DISCUSSION
Background
The claimed invention is directed to a set of affector oligomers for specifically
reducing the expression of an RNA molecule of interest. Affector RNA molecules
include ribozymes, external guide sequences, anti-sense RNA and triple helix forming
RNA that inhibit expression of target RNA molecules. Specification, page 1.
Disclosed in the specification is a method of identifying affector molecules by
screening or selecting for those RNA molecules that alter the expression of a fusion
transcript which includes the sequence of an RNA molecule of interest, from a library of
potential affector RNA molecules. Specification, page 8. Inhibition of expression of the
fusion transcript prevents expression of the reporter protein. This allows inhibition of
expression to be monitored by detecting expression of the reporter protein. Id. The
inhibition of expression is accomplished by interaction of a nucleic acid molecule
involved in the expression of the RNA molecule of interest with an affector molecule.
3
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007