Patent decision

BL number

O/179/04

Concerning rights in

GB 0002665.8

Hearing Officer

Mr R Walker

Decision date

23 June 2004

Person(s) or Company(s) involved

F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG

Provisions discussed

PA 1977 Sections 1(1)(a), 1(1)(b) and 14(5)(c)

Keywords

Inventive step, Novelty, Support

Related Decisions

None

Summary

The application relates to a human protein, named Npt2B, with a proposed function in phosphate transport, and to a nucleic acid encoding this protein. Further claims define applications of the protein and nucleic acid, including first and second medical uses.

Claims to the nucleic acid were held to lack novelty on the ground that the nucleic acid had been made available to the public before the priority date of the application, as an isolated sample in a DNA library.

All of the claims were held to lack inventiveness over the prior art, as disclosed in two documents. The first document disclosed a human gene and protein, also identified as a phosphate transporter protein, with a near-identical sequence, while the second document disclosed a mouse gene encoding a phosphate transporter protein with a similar sequence.

The application included claims to the protein or nucleic acid for use in therapy, and to the use of the protein or nucleic acid in the production of a medicament for treating a range of conditions associated with either abnormally high or low phosphate transporter activity. It was held that the description did not wholly support these claims. In particular, there was no support for the therapeutic use of the protein isolated from the cell. There was also no support for the use of the protein or nucleic acid in the treatment of disorders associated with high phosphate transporter activity.

Full decision O/179/04 48Kb