Appeal No. 2006-0704 Page 23
Application No. 10/060,697
combination of calcium sulfate and demineralized bone in a single bone repair
composition aided in bone healing.
According to Sottosanti (column 1, lines 28-33), demineralized bone “induces
undifferentiated cells in the graft site to differentiate into osteoblasts and grow into new
bone, while the graft material is resorbed by the host.” At column 4, lines 10-17,
Sottosanti discloses that the
[i]nclusion of DFDBA in the composite graft material actually induces new
bone formation by stimulating cellular transformation. At the same time,
the calcium sulfate in the graft material composition provides the benefit of
enhanced binding of the DFDBA to an osseous recipient graft site and
enhanced mineralization by providing a ready source of calcium ions.
Snyders discloses that “[f]or many years, it has been known that bone contains
biochemical factors which are released and/or activated in response to bone injury . . .,
and that these factors are essential not only in fracture repair but bone graft repair as
well.” Snyders, column 6, lines 58-62. In addition, Snyders discloses that calcium
sulfate “not only does not inhibit the normal growth and healing process of bone, it also
has been characterized as an accelerant of the same because of its contribution of
calcium ions to the process.” Snyders, column 4, lines 64-68. See also Hanker,
column 1, lines 28-30, “[t]he [calcium sulfate] plaster also provides a source of calcium
in the area of the implant and stimulates revascularization and bone formation; and
Sottosanti (column 3, lines 10-12), “[t]he composite graft material [which contains
calcium sulfate] also supplies a ready source of calcium for rapid mineralization.”
Therefore, at the time of appellants’ claimed invention, a person of ordinary skill
in the art would have recognized, inter alia, that calcium sulfate provides a source of
calcium ions that is important in bone healing, and that demineralized bone provides
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