Appeal No. 2005-0545
Application No. 09/989,019
l. 58-64):
A still further object of the present invention is
a treatment method designed to combat cellulitis and local
fat overload and to improve the aesthetic appearance of a
person, characterized by the application to the skin or
oral administration of a composition containing at least
one . . . lipolytic active principle.
Soudant instructs (Soudant, col. 2, l. 3-7):
Topical application of an anticellulitic agent may
erase local accumulation of fat by lipolytic action.
The best-known and most widespread method of stimulating
lipolysis is by inhibiting phosphodiesterase to prevent
or at least limit the rate of cyclic AMP breakdown.
Thus, absent evidence sufficient to establish that the
invention of Claim 8 is patentably distinct from the invention of
Claims 1-7 and 9-11, the patentability of the method of treating
cellulitis of Claim 8 by topical application of a formulation of
Claims 1-7 and 9-11 reasonably appears to stand or fall with the
patentability of formulation Claims 1-7 and 9-11, stated as useful
for topical application to the skin of a woman evincing the cosmetic
condition called cellulite, in view of the combined prior art
teachings. One or more of the applied prior art references teaches
that at least one of the components of the rejected formulation is a
phosphodiesterase inhibitor and lipolytic. Thus, persons having
ordinary skill in the art would reasonably have expected that such
component could be topically applied to the skin to combat
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