Appeal No. 2003-1794 Page 14
Application No. 09/804,969
We do not agree with Appellants that the claimed polynucleotides have
utility because the encoded protein has been identified as a putative
phospholipase. All that Appellants’ specification discloses regarding the
polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:15 is that it has some unspecified degree of sequence
similarity to “animal phospholipases, including phospholipase C delta-4.” Page 2.
No further information is provided regarding the activity or function of either the
polypeptide encoded by the claimed polynucleotides or the phospholipase C
delta-4 with which it has some unspecified degree of sequence similarity.
As the examiner pointed out, phospholipases have different biological
roles. The evidence of record supports the examiner’s position, and shows that
phospholipases have widely varying activities in vivo. See, e.g., the instant
specification, which discloses that “[p]hospholipases . . . can play a key role in
the cell activation and signal transduction. As such, phospholipases have been
associated with, inter alia, development, inflammation, infectious disease, and
cancer.” Page 1. See also the abstracts submitted with the Appeal Brief
(Exhibits D through H). These abstracts show that
• there are at least four isozymes of the delta type of phospholipase C
(PLC), and there exist “pathological conditions in which an abnormal
protein level of PLC delta or its activity have been observed” (Pawelczyk,
Exhibit D);
• different isozymes of phospholipase C play a role in development of the
rat central nervous system (Shimohama et al., Exhibit E); development
of the cerebellum (Hashimoto et al., Exhibit E); renal development and
hematopoiesis (Shirane et al., Exhibit E); and B-cell function and
development (Kurosaki et al., Exhibit E); and phospholipase D1 plays a
role in development of the retina (Lee et al., Exhibit E);
• expression of one isozyme of phospholipase C is induced by growth
factors (Fukami et al., Exhibit F), and expression of another isozyme is
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