Appeal No. 2004-1505 Page 6
Application No. 09/016,743
We agree with the examiner’s conclusion that it would have been obvious to a
person of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the present invention to “have made a
construct comprising a binding domain which specifically binds to a tumor cell
associated antigen and a chemokine fusion as taught by Holzer et al with the
chemokine linked to the amino terminus of the heavy chain as taught by Huston et al.”
Examiner’s Answer, page 4. In viewing the two references together, we conclude a
person of ordinary skill in the art would have had a reasonable expectation of success
in forming a chimeric molecule comprising a complete antibody capable of binding to a
tumor cell associated antigen and a chemokine where the chemokine is coupled to the
N-terminus of the heavy or light chain of the complete antibody with the chimeric
molecule being capable of binding to the tumor cell associated antigen and retaining
the chemokine activity.
Hölzer and Huston provide ample motivation to create chimeric molecules that
bind a tumor cell associated antigen and possess chemokine activity. It is not clear on
this record why Hölzer created that chimeric molecule with the chemokine being
coupled to the C-terminus of the complete antibody rather than the N-terminus as
required by claim 1 on appeal. It may be that Hölzer was concerned about retaining the
ability of the complete antibody to bind to the tumor cell associated antigen or perhaps
prior art reasons dictated Hölzer working at the C-terminus of the complete antibody
instead of the N-terminus.
Regardless, Huston provides evidence that at the time of the present invention
persons of ordinary skill in this art understood that effector proteins can be attached to
either the N-terminus or C-terminus of a single-chain Fv fragment with the resulting
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