Appeal No. 2006-1993 Page 3
Application No. 10/147,651
over claims 1-9 of U.S. Patent No. 6,437,215. See Final Rejection, mailed March
16, 2005, page 2. After careful review of the record and consideration of the
issues before us, we reverse the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112, first
paragraph, and under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b). Because appellants do not contest
the obviousness-type double patenting rejection, see Appeal Brief, page 18, that
rejection is summarily affirmed. Finally, we raise other issues that the examiner
may wish to address upon return of the application.
BACKGROUND
“The present invention is generally in the area of transgenic animal
models of atherosclerosis, methods for screening for inhibitors acting via
interaction with the SR-BI scavenger receptor, and compositions obtained
thereby.” Specification, page 1. “SR-BI might play a major role in transfer of
cholesterol from peripheral tissues, via HDL, into the liver and steroidogenic
tissues, and that increased or decreased expression in the liver or other tissues
may be useful in regulating uptake of cholesterol by cells expressing SR-BI,
thereby decreasing levels in foam cells and deposition at sites involved in
atherogenesis.” Id. at 6-7.
According to the summary of the invention,
Transgenic animals that do not express functional SR-BI and
ApoE develop severe atherosclerosis, by age four weeks in
transgenic mice. Moreover, these animals exhibit progressive heart
dysfunction starting by age four-six weeks, and die by age nine
weeks. Pathology shows extensive fibrosis of the heart and
occlusion of coronary arteries. The occlusion appears to be due to
atherosclerosis, since fat deposition is in the walls. These animals
are good models for the following diseases, and for screening of
drugs useful in the treatment and/or prevention of these disorders:
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