Appeal No. 2005-2593 18
Application No. 90/005,867
selected from the group consisting of sex hormone, melatonin hormone,
adrenal hormone, thyroid hormone, and thymus hormone, said kit for
establishing a regimen for the replenishment of said human growth
hormone and at least two of said supplemental hormones to
predetermined physiological levels.
Claim 30 is directed to a kit comprising human growth hormone and at least two
supplemental hormones such as adrenal hormone and sex hormone. As explained
above, Fahy suggests that human growth hormone and DHEA can be administered to a
patient for the treatment of aging, and Umbreit discloses that estrogen can be
administered to a patient to slow down the aging process. Umbreit also discloses that
estrogen may be administered in combination with other active substances and medications such
as additional hormone compositions. See Umbreit at 4, lines 19-21. The examiner explains that
it is generally considered prima facie obvious to combine several compounds which are useful
for the same purpose and use them for that purpose. Therefore, the examiner concludes that it
would have been prima facie obvious to combine human growth hormone, DHEA and estrogen
in a kit for the treatment of aging. See Answer at 31-33.
The preamble of claim 30 also indicates that the kit is “for increasing life
expectancy and life span.” However, this language is merely a statement of intended
use and fails to limit the scope of the claim. See In re Paulsen, 30 F.3d 1475, 1479, 31
USPQ2d 1671, 1673 (Fed. Cir. 1994) (the preamble of a claim does not limit the scope
of the claim when it merely states a purpose or intended use of the invention). In any
event, as discussed above, Fahy suggests that human growth hormone and DHEA are
useful in the treatment of aging, and Umbreit discloses that estrogen can be used to
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