Appeal No. 2004-0245
Application 09/265,926
antiviral agents famciclovir (appealed claim 6) and penciclovir (appealed claim 7) (specification,
page 1, lines 11-14 and 26-28, page 4, and page 6, last structural formula (famciclovir)). The
reaction schemes begin with the synthesis of an intermediate compound of formula (I) which
encompasses the compound of appealed claim 5 when formula members “R1” and “R3” are
methyl and amino, respectively. The compound of claim 5 is structurally depicted as the second
appearing structural formula in “scheme 2” on page 6 of the specification.
The reference relied on by the examiner is:
Grinter et al. (Grinter)1 0 302 644 Feb. 8, 1989
(published European Patent Application)
The examiner has rejected appealed product claim 5 over Grinter as anticipated under
35 U.S.C. § 102(b) and as obvious under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) (answer, pages 3-6). The examiner
has rejected appealed process claims 6, 7 and 10 through 13 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
unpatentable over Grinter (answer, pages 6-13).
Appellant groups appealed claim 5 and appealed claims 6, 7 and 10 through 13 according
to the respective grounds of rejection (brief, page 2). Thus, we decide this appeal based on
representative appealed independent claims 5 and 10. 37 CFR § 1.192(c)(7) (2001).
We affirm the grounds of rejection under § 103(a) and reverse the ground of rejection
under § 102(b).
Rather than reiterate the respective positions advanced by the examiner and appellant, we
refer to the examiner’s answer and to appellant’s brief for a complete exposition thereof.
Opinion
The claimed process schemes of appealed claim 10 begin with the sequence “(i)” of
coupling of a 6-chloro-purine derivative of formula (II) with a tri-carboxylate derivative of
formula (V) to obtain a 6-chloropurine derivative intermediate having a tri-carboxylate
containing moiety in the “9” position encompassed by formula (VI), which is decarboxylated to
obtain a 6-chloro-purine derivative intermediate with a di-carboxylate containing moiety in the
“9” position encompassed by formula (I).
1 The patent literature family of Grinter includes United States Patent No. 5,175,288 (‘288
patent), issued December 29, 1992. See page 1, lines 17-18, of the present specification.
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