Appeal 2007-2213
Application 10/355,433
glycol results in greater accuracy of the placement of the probe
or probe precursor when the liquid has a particular viscosity.
(Id. at 6-7.)
We conclude that the Examiner has set forth a prima facie case that
claim 1 would have been obvious to the ordinary artisan. Brennan describes
“a method for conducting a large number of chemical reactions on a support
surface,” including methods for making array plates (Brennan, col. 2, ll. 11-
28). In the method, “[s]olutions of chemical reactants are added to
functionalized binding sites on the support surface by means of a
piezoelectric pump. This pump deposits microdroplets of chemical reactant
solution onto the binding sites.” (Id. at col. 2, ll. 12-16.)
In Example 2, Brennan describes the assembly of oligonucleotides on
dot surfaces of array plates according to the H-phosphonate procedure or the
phosphoramidite method (id. at col. 7, l. 42, to col. 8, l. 18). “Droplets of
oligonucleotide synthesis reagents in acetonitrile are applied to the dot
surfaces and tend to bead up” (id. at col. 7, ll. 53-55). A “piezoelectric
pump head is used to deliver the blocked nucleotides and activating reagents
[in acetonitrile] to the individual dots” (id. at col. 8, ll. 6-15). We agree with
the Examiner that it would have been prima facie obvious to include the
same concentration of the blocked nucleotides in the different drops, because
similar concentrations of reagent would be expected to result in similar
reaction rates for the different monomers.
Okamoto describes “a method of spotting a probe . . . to a solid
support,” comprising “supplying a liquid containing a probe on a surface of
a solid support by an ink jet method” (Okamoto, col. 2, ll. 20-25). Okamoto
states that “use of the spotting method . . . allows accurate and efficient
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