Appeal No. 2006-2471 Page 4
Application No. 09/824,364
limitations from the specification into the claims. Texas Digital Sys., Inc. v. Telegenix,
Inc., 308 F.3d 1193, 1204, 64 USPQ.2d 1812, 1819 (Fed. Cir. 2002). Our mandate is to
give claim “their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification.”
In re Bond, 910 F.2d 831, 833, 15 USPQ2d 1566, 1567 (Fed. Cir. 1990). With these
guiding principles, we interpret the property that the pharmaceutical composition
“reduces interaction between the statin and the aspirin” to require that contact between
the two drugs is reduced in the single formulation or as they dissolve from it.
Obviousness under 35. U.S.C. § 103(a)
Claims 36, 38-40, and 42-47 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over Eisman1 in view of Eichel2, Hodges3, and Shell4.
Eisman describes combinations of drugs for treating peripheral atherosclerotic
disease and intermittent claudication. Eisman, Abstract. Several different drug
combinations are disclosed, including a cholesterol lowering drug which is an inhibitor of
the enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG CoA) and a second drug for
lowering cholesterol. Id., Abstract; column 7, lines 40-55. Also disclosed are
combinations that contain inhibitors of angiotensin converting enzyme and squalene
synthetase. Id. The statins pravastatin and lovastatin are stated to be suitable HMG
CoA inhibitors. Id., column 8, lines 56-64; column 13, lines 18-20. Aspirin is a member
of a list of more than a dozen other agents which can be utilized as cholesterol lowering
1 Eisman et al. (Eisman), U.S. Statutory Invention Registration No. H1286, published Feb. 1, 1994
2 Eichel et al. (Eichel), U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,686, issued Aug. 24, 1993
3 Hodges et al. (Hodges), U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,202, issued Jul. 6, 1993
4 Shell et al. (Shell), U.S. Pat. No. 5,972,389, issued Oct. 26, 1999
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