Ex Parte Beck et al - Page 7


               Appeal No.  2006-3250                                                  Page 7                
               Application No. 10/468,562                                                                   
               bacteria used by Hikichi, also produces its own β-alanine from aspartic acid.                
               Baigori, page 4241, figure 1.  Further, while E. coli produces its own β-alanine,            
               Hikichi requires that the culture medium be supplemented with β-alanine in order             
               to produce large quantities of D-pantothenic acid.  Hikichi, column 2, lines 20-24,          
               and column 3, lines 58-61.                                                                   
                      Nevertheless, the Examiner reasons (Answer, page 4), since both E. coli               
               and Bacillus subtilis produce D-pantothenic acid, a person of ordinary skill in the          
               art at the time the invention was made would have found it prima facie obvious to            
               substitute Bacillus subtilis, for E. coli in the method taught by Hikichi.  According        
               to the Examiner (id.), a person of ordinary skill in the art would have been                 
               motivated to make this substitution to avoid adding β-alanine to the culture                 
               medium.  We disagree.  Even if a person of ordinary skill in the art would have              
               been motivated to modify Hikichi’s method by substituting Bacillus subtilis for E.           
               coli, there is no suggestion in either reference that one would obtain at least 2 g/l        
               of salts of D-pantothenic acid in the absence of additional β-alanine added to the           
               fermentation media.  The Examiner admits as much by recognizing (Answer,                     
               page 5), that “one of ordinary skill in the art would not have known in advance              
               exactly how much pantothenic acid would have been produced in a recombinant                  
               fermentation with B. subtilis as a host cell in which no β-alanine is added.”  While         
               it is true that both organisms produce their own β-alanine, as discussed above,              
               Hikichi requires that the culture medium be supplemented with β-alanine in order             
               to produce large quantities of D-pantothenic acid.  Accordingly, we disagree with            
               the Examiner’s assertion (Answer, page 5) that due to the similarities between E.            






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