Appeal No. 2006-1226 Page 2
Application No. 10/272,382
Background
Complexes of metal salts and amino acids are known in the art and useful in
animal feeds, among other things. See the specification, pages 1-2. In one form,
“[t]hese complexes exist as ion pairs in which the metal-amino acid comprises the
cation. The counter ion (anion) is provided by a mineral acid.” Page 3, lines 4-5.
The specification discloses “metal amino acid complexes in which the amino acid
serves a dual role. It serves as the bidentate ligand to form a complex with the metal
ion, and the counter ion to balance the charge on the cationic complex. This allows the
preparation of stable crystalline complexes that contain 20-30% metal. The alpha
amino dicarboxylic acids aspartic and glutamic acid are examples of suitable ligands.”
Id., lines 8-12.
The specification notes that
some sources make reference to compounds containing metals and
aspartic or glutamic acid. . . . In the first report copper glutamate dihydrate
was obtained by the slow evaporation of a solution of glutamic acid and
copper nitrate (The Crystal Structure of Copper Glutamate Dihydrate,
Carlo M. Gramaccioli and Richard E. Marsh, Acta Cryst., 21, 594 (1966)[.]
The structure of the blue-green crystals was determined by x-ray
crystallography. A companion paper reported the structure of the zinc
glutamate dihydrate crystals obtained by the evaporation of an aqueous
solution of zinc oxide in glutamic acid (The Crystal Structure of Zinc
Glutamate Dihydrate, Carlo M. Gramaccioli, Acta Cryst., 21, 600 (1966)).
Page 3, lines 13-25.
Discussion
1. Claim construction
Claims 1-11 and 17 are pending and on appeal. The claims subject to each
rejection will stand or fall together because Appellants have not argued them
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