Appeal 2007-1161
Application 09/954,166
variable region and an extracellular domain of a first transmembrane protein.
The second fusion protein comprises a immunoglobulin light chain
comprising a variable region and an extracellular domain of a second
transmembrane protein. The method calls for expressing the fusion proteins
in a host cell “whereby the two first and two second fusion proteins associate
to form a first molecular complex comprising at least four fusion proteins.”
The molecular complex has two (divalent) ligand binding sites, each site
formed from a first and second transmembrane domain.
Claims 43-52 and 54-61, which are all the pending claims, are
finally rejected over prior art (Br. 2). The Examiner relies on the following
prior art as evidence of unpatentability:
Harris WO 941091 Apr. 28, 1994
Dal Porto, “A soluble divalent class I major histocompatibility
complex molecule inhibits alloreactive T cells at namomolar
concentrations,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Vol. 90, pp. 6671-6675,
(1993).
Chang, “A general method for facilitating heterodimeric pairing
between two proteins: Application to expression of α and β T-cell
receptor extracellular segments,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Vol. 91, pp.
11408-11412, (1994).
Matsui, “Kinetics of T-cell receptor binding to peptide/I-Ek
complexes: Correlation of the dissociation rate with T-cell
responsiveness,” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., Vol. 91, pp. 12862-12866,
(1994).
There is only one rejection at issue in this appeal. Claims 43-52 and
54-61 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over Matsui in
view of Dal Porto, Chang, and Harris (Answer 3). The claims stand or fall
together because separate reasons for patentability of any individual claim
2
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