Appeal No. 2006-0624 Page 4
Application No. 10/096,127
patient’s cells.” Id. at 5. “In one embodiment of the present invention, a method
of treating a skin-related autoimmune disease in a patient comprising
administering to the patient an effective amount of antibody to gamma
interferon,” wherein the skin-related autoimmune disease may be alopecia
areata, vitiligo, or psoriasis. Id. at 6.
The specification reports preliminary results of the treatment of patients
with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), in which patients were treated for
consecutive days. See id. at 46. “Preliminary results, based on at least one
patient in each group, indicate that pain and swelling in joints have decreased
and skin lesions have disappeared, further indicating that a common mechanism
underlies all autoimmune disease, with disturbed cytokine production in different
target cells producing various clinical manifestations.” Id.
With respect to psoriasis, the specification notes that the disorder “is
characterized by an excessive proliferation of keratinocytes induced by activated
CD4 Th1 lymphocytes via a complex network of cytokine interactions.” Id. at 50-
51. Patients were treated for seven days, after which papular psoriatic lesions
disappeared in all patients. See id. The specification concludes that “antibody to
gamma-IFN is an effective treatment for psoriasis and further indicates that this
therapy is also an effective treatment for any skin-related autoimmune disorder.”
Id. at 51.
DISCUSSION
Claims 10 and 12 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being
obvious over the combination of Queen, Ashkenazi I or Ashkenazi II, Levinson
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