Appeal No. 2006-0251 Page 3
Application No. 10/017,697
dosage formats, which are intended to be swallowed whole.” However, as
appellants’ specification points out (id.), “[m]any children and some adults …
have difficulty swallowing solid dosage formats, and in this case, the drug is
given in liquid form, either as a syrup or suspension.” This, however, can lead to
poor patient compliance because most drugs are bitter. Id. In this regard,
appellants’ specification discloses (id.), “[b]ecause the threshold for bitterness is
low, only a very small amount of dissolved drug is needed for perception of
bitterness.” Accordingly, appellants disclose a “general solution to the problem of
bad taste in liquid compositions containing either dissolved or dispersed drugs.”
Specification, page 2. In this regard, appellants disclose (specification, bridging
paragraph, pages 2-3), “[t]he drug is dissolved or dispersed in an aqueous taste
masking excipient base comprising a high molecular weight (MW) polyethylene
glycol, a polyvinyl pyrrolidone and/or copolyvidone.” According to appellants’
specification (page 3), the resulting composition has substantially reduced bitter
taste and aftertaste.
Against this backdrop, we consider the merits of the pending rejections.
Anticipation:
Claims 1-4, 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15-19, 22-24, 26, 28-33 and 43-46 stand
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by White. The examiner relies on White
to teach a composition within the scope of appellants’ claimed invention. In this
regard, we find that White discloses pharmaceutical compositions that contain
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007