Appeal 2007-1615
Application 10/693,442
rebounded. No data on body mass gain or loss were provided for the
experiments discussed in Examples 1 and 2.
However, in several other experiments, Van Heerden showed that the
appetite suppressive effect of Hoodia is associated with reductions in body
weight or decreased growth rate when compared to controls. For example,
in Example 44, an eight day study, Hoodia sap (Sample 1), administered
orally, “produced marked, dose-related reductions in daily food
consumption[,] [and] [t]he duration and amplitude of these reductions . . .
were dose-dependent . . . The highest dose of Sample 1 (sap) produced
statistically significant reductions in food consumption on a daily basis up to
5 days post-dose” (Van Heerden, col. 58, ll. 18-27). “Sample 1 (pure sap)
[also] produced dose-related, statistically significant effects on bodyweights
when compared with the vehicle-treated control group . . . These effects
were statistically significant from 48 hours post-dose until the end of the
study” (id. at col. 58, ll. 46-53). Spray dried sap (Sample 2), also “produced
marked and statistically significant reductions in food consumption . . .
[which] lasted 48 hours post-dose” (id. at 58, ll. 28-31), and “statistically
significant reductions in growth of the animals when compared with the
vehicle-treated control group . . . These effects were statistically significant
between days 3 (48 hours post-dose) and 5 inclusive” (id. at 58, ll. 54-59).
The Examiner acknowledges that the “references do not expressly
teach the time periods/intervals instantly claimed” (Answer 15). However,
the Examiner argues that the cited references “teach that the cactus plant
Hoodia gordonii (and/or extracts thereof - such as the sap: as disclosed in
[Van Heerden]) is effective as a weight loss and/or anti-obesity agent for
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