Appeal No. 2006-0729 Page 3
Application No. 10/322,566
According to appellant (specification, page 4, lines 1-5), these lytic
enzymes prefer ethyllinoleate and triethylcitrate as their substrate over the
triglycerides found in sebum. In accordance with appellant’s claimed invention,
the hydrolysis of ethylinoleate and triethylcitrate is preferred over the hydrolysis
of triglycerides because
it results in a decrease in the sebum levels achieved by inhibiting
the 5-alpha reductase enzyme, an enzyme which as stated above
is the cause of the reduction of testosterone to dihydrotestosterone
whose action is capable of increasing the production of sebum.
Once ethyllinoleate is hydrolysed into linoleic acid, it is able to
inhibit the activity of 5-alpha reductase by a direct mechanism,
whereas triethylcitrate, once hydrolysed into citric acid, acts in an
indirect way creating an environment where the activity of the
aforementioned enzyme is obstructed.
Specification, page 4, lines 11-19. Stated differently, the lytic enzymes produced
by the bacteria “recognize the ethyllinoleate and triethylcitrate mixture as the
preferential substratum rather than the triglycerides of the sebum and so do not
interfere with the structure of these triglycerides, thus reducing the inflammatory
pathologies of seborrhea and acne.” Specificaiton, page 4, lines 20-23.
DISCUSSION
Definiteness:
Claims 18 and 22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second
paragraph, as being indefinite. Claim 12 on appeal is drawn, inter alia, to a
composition that consists essentially of two active ingredients - ethyllinoleate and
triethylcitrate. Claim 18 on appeal depends from and further limits claim 12, inter
alia, to a composition consisting essentially of ethyllinoleate and triethylcitrate
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