Appeal No. 2006-0650 Page 2
Application No. 10/007,613
contamination. Specification, page 4. According to the application, raising the
temperature (e.g., from about 35°C to about 150°C) of instruments contaminated
with prions causes the prions to become susceptible to enzymatic degradation. Id.,
pages 4-5. After heating the instruments to this temperature, they are contacted with an
enzyme at a second temperature to digest the contaminating prions. The process can
also be carried out at single temperature, when thermostable enzymes are utilized. Id.,
page 11.
Discussion
1. Claim construction
Claims 39-51, 53-56, 63, 71, 73, 74, 80, and 82 are on appeal. Claims 1-38,
68-69, and 75-79 are also pending, but have been withdrawn from consideration by the
examiner. The claims stand or fall together. See Brief, page 8.
We will consider claims 56 and 82 as representative of the claims subject to each
rejection. Claim 56 reads as follows:
A system comprising:
(a) one or more articles susceptible to contamination by infectious prion protein;
(b) means for heating said one or more articles;
(c) a proteolytic enzyme selected from the group consisting of keratinases and
subtilisins; and
(d) means for exposing said articles to said proteolytic enzyme;
wherein said one or more articles are characterized by an elevated temperature
of from about 40°C to about 60°C and exposure to said proteolytic enzyme.
Claim 82 differs from claim 56 in reciting a specific type of keratinase. In both
claims 56 and 82, a “wherein” clause is recited in which the articles are “characterized
by” a single temperature range and exposure to a proteolytic enzyme. The “wherein
clause” was not literally recited in the application when it was originally filed. However,
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