AMGEN INC.Download PDFPatent Trials and Appeals BoardNov 27, 20202020005948 (P.T.A.B. Nov. 27, 2020) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO. 15/047,815 02/19/2016 Francisca Tan-Malecki 32263/46430ACON4 5415 109438 7590 11/27/2020 Marshall, Gerstein & Borun LLP (Amgen) 233 South Wacker Drive 6300 Willis Tower Chicago, IL 60606-6357 EXAMINER SEIF, DARIUSH ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 3731 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 11/27/2020 ELECTRONIC Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding. The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication. Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail address(es): EFRHelp@amgen.com mgbdocket@marshallip.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte FRANCISCA TAN-MALECKI, RONALD FORSTER, SCOTT M. NUNN, SON C. TRAN, SHELDON MOBERG, and MARK D. HOLT ____________ Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 Technology Center 3700 ____________ Before EDWARD A. BROWN, MICHELLE R. OSINSKI, and WILLIAM A. CAPP, Administrative Patent Judges. Opinion for the Board filed by OSINSKI, Administrative Patent Judge Opinion Concurring filed by CAPP, Administrative Patent Judge OSINSKI, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Appellant1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1–10 and 12–22.2 We have jurisdiction over the appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We AFFIRM. 1 We use the term “Appellant” to refer to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Appellant identifies the real party in interest as AMGEN, INC. Appeal Br. 3. 2 Claim 11 is cancelled. Appeal Br. A2 (Claims App.). Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 2 THE CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER Claims 1 and 15 are the independent claims. Claim 1 is reproduced below. 1. A method of assembling an injector, the method comprising: providing a container having a wall defining an interior surface and a seal assembly having an interior surface, the wall and seal assembly defining a reservoir; providing a fluid delivery system physically separate from the container, the fluid delivery system comprising a container needle having a point; providing an injection member physically separate from the container needle and configured to be connected in fluid communication with the container needle during use of the injector; sterilizing the container including the reservoir and fluid delivery system while the container and the fluid delivery system are separate from each other; filling the sterile reservoir of the container with a volume of a drug product under sterile conditions in a first assembly space, the drug product comprising a granulocyte colony- stimulating factor (G-CSF); after sterilizing the container and filling the sterile reservoir, attaching the fluid delivery system to the container in a second assembly space such that the point of the container needle is disposed adjacent to or within the seal assembly to define a storage state, wherein the first assembly space has a higher level of freedom from contamination than the second assembly space; attaching the container needle to an actuator, the actuator adapted to move the container needle from the storage state to a delivery state wherein the container needle is disposed through the seal assembly, into the sterile reservoir, an d in fluid communication with the drug product for delivery to a patient via the injection member. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 3 EVIDENCE The Examiner relied on the following evidence in rejecting the claims on appeal: Badia US 4,919,658 Apr. 24, 1990 Gross US 6,824,529 B2 Nov. 30, 2004 Py US 2006/0191594 A1 Aug. 31, 2006 Shue US 2007/0276338 A1 Nov. 29, 2007 Smith US 2008/0097306 A1 Apr. 24, 2008 Tachikawa WO 2010/098323 A1 Sept. 2, 2010 REJECTIONS I. Claims 1–4, 10, 12, and 14–22 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, and Badia. Final Act. 3–11. II. Claims 5 and 13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, and Appellant’s Admitted Prior Art (“AAPA”)3. Id. at 11–12. III. Claims 6, 7, and 9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, and Py. Id. at 12–14. IV. Claim 8 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, Tachikawa, and Py. Id. at 13. OPINION Claims 1–4, 10, 12, and 14–20 The Examiner finds that Shue teaches most of the limitations of independent claim 1, including, among other things, providing a fluid 3 The Examiner refers to paragraph 55 of the Specification as AAPA. Final Act. 12. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 4 delivery system (seat member 22/needle cannula 23) that is physically separate from a container (sealed chamber 31). Final Act. 3; see also Ans. 4 (“The embodiment of FIG. 22 also shows how the fluid delivery system (22/23) and container (31) may be made separately ([0058, last sentence), and threadedly attached (123a/123b) by removing end caps 6 and 7.”). The Examiner also finds that Shue teaches “attaching the fluid delivery system to the filled container.” Final Act. 3 (citing Shue Fig. 5). The Examiner acknowledges that “Shue does not expressly disclose . . . a step of sterilizing the container including the reservoir and fluid delivery system while the container and fluid delivery system are separate from each other.” Final Act. 3. With respect thereto, the Examiner takes the position that “the separate sterilizing of components of medical instruments in clean room conditions prior to their assembly is old and well known in the art as a way to make the instruments safe to use in medical procedures.” Id. at 4. The Examiner also points to Smith’s teaching that “syringe components may be sterilized in a clean room environment as well as assembled in the clean room environment.” Id. (quoting Smith ¶ 23) (emphasis omitted). The Examiner concludes that it would have been obvious to “separately sterilize the reservoir and fluid delivery systems of Shue . . . as taught by Smith.” Id. The Examiner also acknowledges that Shue fails to expressly disclose filling the sterile reservoir of the container with a drug product under sterile conditions in a first assembly space that has a higher level of freedom from contamination than a second assembly space in which the fluid delivery system is attached to the filled container. Final Act. 3. As to filling the reservoir, the Examiner takes the position that “syringes containing Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 5 granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (G-CSF) are old and well known in the art . . . and it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art . . . to fill the syringe of Shue with a drug product comprising a . . . G-CSF . . . in the event that G-CSF was desired to be administered.” Id. at 4. As to filling the container prior to the container’s attachment to the delivery device, the Examiner takes the position that “[a]s envisaged in the FIG. 22/23 embodiment of Shue, the container (31) is filled prior to being attached to the delivery device (22/23)” and “[a] person having ordinary skill in the art would recognize that this order of operations would obviously apply to the Fig. 5 embodiment as well.” Id. at 15. The Examiner also states that it would be “highly counter-intuitive” to attach the fluid delivery system to the container before filling the container with a drug product in Shue because this “would dramatically increase the complexity of the filling process.” Id. As to filling the reservoir under sterile conditions in an assembly space with a high level of freedom from contamination, the Examiner turns to Gross, noting its teaching that “[t]he term ‘sterile area’ denotes a higher standard of cleanliness (i.e. sterility) such as is required for areas in which syringes are pre-filled. While medical devices must be assembled in clean areas according to well defined standards, the level of cleanliness is not as stringent as for a filling suite in which parenteral drug containers are filled.” Final Act. 4 (quoting Gross 5:49–59) (emphasis omitted). As to a second assembly space (in which the fluid delivery system is attached to the container) having a lower level of freedom from contamination than the first assembly area in which the container is filled with a drug product, the Examiner takes the position that “Gross teaches that Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 6 a filling area is required to have the highest level of cleanliness compared to any other portion of the manufacturing process (such as the assembling process).” Final Act. 4. The Examiner concludes that it would have been obvious “to modify the combination of Shue and Smith by having the sterile reservoir of the container filled in one location having the highest level of freedom from contamination (cleanliness), as compared to a separate location where the components are attached to one another.” Id. at 5. The Examiner explains that “[i]n in a world where operating costs were non- existent, all further assembling steps (e.g.[,] attaching the needle, packaging, etc.) would also happen in the sterile environment, however[,] this is not practical in the real world, because sterile areas are very expensive to maintain.” Ans. 5. The Examiner states that, with the teachings of Gross “in mind, it would have been obvious and clear to a person having ordinary skill in the art, that the Shue container (3[1]) would need to be filled in a ‘sterile environment’, however, the fluid delivery portion (22/23) would not necessarily need to be attached to the container in that same sterile environment, but rather a clean environment with a less stringent standard of cleanliness.” Id.; see also id. at 7 (“The motivation for filling and assembling the Shue injector in sterile and clean environments are for the purposes of avoiding contamination . . . . Of course[,] there are additional cost benefits of filling in a highly sterile environment and then sterilizing and assembling the components in a less sterile, clean environment.”).4 4 The Examiner also finds that Shue does not expressly disclose “an injection member physically separate from the container needle and configured to be connected in fluid communication with the container needle during use of the injector.” Final Act. 3–4. The Examiner finds that Badia “teaches providing an injection member . . . physically separate from an Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 7 Appellant argues that the cited references fail to disclose or render obvious attaching a fluid delivery system to a drug-filled sterile container in an assembly space having a lower level of freedom from contamination than an assembly space in which the container is previously filled with a drug. Appeal Br. 11. More particularly, Appellant argues that the Examiner’s characterization of Gross as teaching a filling area being required to have the highest level of cleanliness “is an oversimplification and mischaracterization of what is taught by Gross.” Id. at 12–13. Appellant argues that instead Gross more precisely teaches that only if a container were filled and “all parts of the fluid path” were sealed under sterile conditions can contamination in subsequent assembly steps be avoided when later steps of assembly are performed at lower levels of cleanliness. Id. at 13. Appellant argues that Gross does not teach or suggest attaching a fluid delivery system to a container after the container has been filled with a drug, nor that such an attachment can be conducted “post-filling or in an assembly space which has a lower level of freedom from contamination than where the syringe was previously filled with the drug.” Appeal Br. 13. Appellant also argues that “Smith does not disclose attaching a fluid delivery system to a container of an injector after that container has been filled and sterilized.” analogous container needle . . . and configured to be connected in fluid communication, via a flexible tubing duct . . . , with the container needle during use of the injector.” Id. at 5 (citing Badia Figs. 1A–1C, 4–5). The Examiner concludes that it would have been obvious “to modify the method of the combination of Shue, Smith, and Gross . . . as taught by Badia, since this would make the device more versatile and capable of accessing injection sites with the injection member alone that may otherwise have been difficult to reach with the entire syringe assembly.” Id. Appellant does not challenge these particular findings or conclusions. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 8 Id.; see also id. at 19 (“Smith’s syringe is sterilized and assembled in the same ‘clean room environment.’”). Appellant further argues that “Badia . . . does not disclose the conditions under which a container is filled with a drug or describe how, in terms of cleanliness, those conditions compare to an assembly space where a fluid delivery system is attached to said container.” Id. at 13–14. As to Appellant’s arguments regarding Gross, Smith, and Badia each failing to teach attaching a fluid delivery system after a container has been filled and sterilized (Appeal Br. 13–14), we do not find such argument persuasive where the Examiner’s rejection is first based on Shue rendering obvious filling the container prior to the container’s attachment to the fluid delivery system and is then further based on Smith rendering obvious the sterilization of the container and fluid delivery systems of Shue when they are separated before they are then attached in accordance with the further teachings of Shue. See Final Act. 4, 15. We also do not find Appellant’s argument regarding Smith teaching that its syringe is sterilized and assembled in the same environment to be persuasive of error where the Examiner is relying on Smith only for teaching that the reservoir and fluid delivery systems of Shue may be separately sterilized and is relying on the teachings of Gross for conducting filling and assembling in different rooms. See id. at 3–4. In sum, Appellant’s arguments are unpersuasive because they attack Gross, Smith, and Badia individually, rather than the combination of references relied on by the Examiner in the rejection so as to apprise us of error in the Examiner’s rejection. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425 (CCPA 1981) (one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually when the rejection is based on a combination of the references). Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 9 As to Appellant’s argument that Gross does not teach or suggest that attachment of a container to a fluid delivery system can be conducted in an assembly space that has a lower level of freedom from contamination than where the container was filled, because Gross only teaches that later assembly steps can be performed at lower levels of cleanliness if the container were filled and “all parts of the fluid path” were sealed under sterile conditions (Appeal Br. 13), we are not persuaded of error by the Examiner. We are not persuaded by such an argument because, in our view, Gross’s teaching of the ability to complete further assembly steps (e.g., Shue’s attachment of a fluid delivery system to a filled container) in a space having a lower level of cleanliness is applicable to Shue. The Examiner explains that Smith renders obvious the sterilization of Shue’s container and fluid delivery systems while they are separated. Final Act. 4. Shue itself then teaches end caps 6, 7 for “shielding the communicating end 231 of the [fluid delivery system] 23” and “the [container] 3” (Shue ¶ 58), such that the parts of the fluid path in Shue are shielded so as to be kept under sterile conditions for later attachment of the fluid delivery system to the filled container in a clean room. We have considered Appellant’s argument that “a person of ordinary skill in the art would have thought it was not appropriate to attach Shue’s needle cannula 23 (i.e., part of the alleged fluid delivery system) to Shue’s carpule 3 (i.e., the alleged container) in a less-than-sterile environment” because “the end 231 of Shue’s needle cannula 23 (and perhaps also the end 232 of Shue’s needle cannula 23) would be exposed to contaminants if the needle cannula 23 was attached to Shue’s carpule 3 in an assembly space that was less-than-sterile” which “would compromise the fluid path defined Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 10 by Shue’s needle cannula 23.” Appeal Br. 16; see also id. at 21 (making similar argument). As explained above, the sterilization and shielding of needle cannula 23 and Shue’s carpule 3 via end caps 6, 7 would help ensure that the fluid path, as previously separately sterilized in accordance with the teachings of Smith, would not be compromised before assembly in a clean room. Appellant argues that the Examiner “does not address why it would have been obvious to fill Shue’s carpule 3 (i.e., the alleged container of claim 1) with G-CSF under sterile conditions in a first assembly space, and, subsequently, attach Shue’s needle cannula 23 and the seat member 22 (the combination of which is alleged to correspond to the claimed fluid delivery system) to Shue’s filled carpule 3 in a second assembly space that has a lower level of freedom from contamination than the first assembly space.” Appeal Br. 14; see also id. at 20 (making similar argument). More particularly, Appellant argues that the teachings of Gross do “not explain why a person of ordinary skill in the art would have sought to assemble Shue’s injector in the manner that is allegedly taught by Gross.” Id. at 15; see also id. at 20 (“[T]he Examiner’s assertion [of avoiding contamination as the reason why it would have been obvious to sterilize components before attaching a fluid delivery system to a container] fails to address why it would have been obvious to perform these steps in different assembly spaces hav[ing] different levels of freedom from contamination.”). We are not persuaded by this argument because the Examiner has explained at least that there are cost benefits in filling in a highly sterile environment and then assembling the components in a less sterile, but clean environment. Final Act. 7. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 11 We have also considered Appellant’s argument that “it is inappropriate to assume that cost savings alone would have motivated a person of ordinary skill in the art to assemble Shue’s device according [to] the method disclosed in Gross” and “a person of ordinary skill in the art would have balanced any cost savings against the increased risk of contamination.” Reply Br. 5. Our reviewing court has recognized that a given course of action often has simultaneous advantages and disadvantages, and this does not necessarily obviate any or all reasons to combine teachings. See Medichem, S.A. v. Rolabo, S.L., 437 F.3d 1157, 1165 (Fed. Cir. 2006) (explaining that if there are tradeoffs involved regarding features, such things do not necessarily prevent the proposed combination); Winner Int’l Royalty Corp. v. Wang, 202 F.3d 1340, 1349 n.8 (Fed. Cir. 2000) (“The fact that the motivating benefit comes at the expense of another benefit, however, should not nullify its use as a basis to modify the disclosure of one reference with the teachings of another. Instead, the benefits, both lost and gained, should be weighed against one another.”). Here, that a cost-savings benefit gained from completing assembly in a different space may come at the expense of an increased risk of contamination should not nullify its use as the basis to further modify Shue. It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art to choose which advantages to pursue given the known tradeoffs stemming from the available choices. Therefore, the Examiner has provided a reason with rational underpinning for further combining of prior art teachings, resulting in known tradeoffs. For the foregoing reasons, Appellant does not apprise us of error in the Examiner’s determination that the combination of Shue, Smith, Gross, and Badia renders obvious the subject matter of independent claim 1. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 12 Accordingly, we sustain the rejection of claim 1, and claims 2–4, 10, 12, and 14–20, for which Appellant relies on the same arguments and reasoning (Appeal Br. 21), under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, and Badia. Claims 21 and 22 Dependent claims 21 and 22 recite “sterilizing, while in the second assembly space, a surface of the seal assembly to be penetrated by the point of the container needle prior to attaching the fluid delivery system to the container.” Appeal Br. A4 (Claims App.). The Examiner concludes that “it would have been obvious . . . to sterilize the entirety of . . . Shue’s container, including the surface of the seal assembly (35) to be penetrated by the point of the container needle prior to attaching the fluid delivery system to the container, in order to ensure the seal is sterile prior to removal of the contents of the container.” Final Act. 11. Appellant argues that the Examiner’s “assertion is improper because it is [not] supported by the prior art.” Appeal Br. 22. More particularly, Appellant argues that “[t]here is no indication in . . . Shue that contaminants exist on a surface of the ‘seal’ of Shue’s alleged container or that such contaminants would be transferred to Shue’s needle cannula 23 upon the needle cannula 23 penetrating the ‘seal.’” Id. More particularly, Appellant also argues that “if the components of Shue’s syringe were assembled in a sterile manufacturing environment, there would be no concern that the ‘seal’ of Shue’s container was prone to contamination and thus in need of the sterilization step proposed by the Examiner.” Id. The Examiner maintains that it would have been obvious “to fill the container of Shue, with any desired medicament to be injected, in a highly Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 13 sterile environment, to avoid contaminating the fluid, and then, to subsequently sterilize and attach the fluid delivery system to the container, in a clean environment having less stringent cleanliness requirements.” Ans. 6; see also id. (quoting Smith ¶ 23) (“After the syringe components are fabricated, the syringe components may be sterilized in a clean room environment as well as assembled in the clean room environment.”). We agree with the Examiner that it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to sterilize the seal assembly in the second assembly space having a lower level of freedom from contamination (e.g., upon removal of Shue’s end caps 6, 7 in a clean environment with a less stringent standard of cleanliness) in order to ensure the seal is sterile. For the foregoing reasons, Appellant does not apprise us of error in the Examiner’s determination that the combination of Shue, Smith, Gross, and Badia renders obvious the subject matter of dependent claims 21 and 22. Accordingly, we sustain the rejection of claims 21 and 22 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, and Badia. Rejections II–IV In contesting the rejection of dependent claims 5–9 and 13, Appellant relies on the same arguments and reasoning we found unpersuasive in connection with independent claim 1 as the basis for seeking reversal of the rejection of claims 5–9 and 13. Appeal Br. 21–22. Accordingly, for the same reasons discussed above in connection with the rejection of claim 1, we also sustain the rejections, under 35 U.S.C. § 103, of: claims 5 and 13 as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, and AAPA; claims 6, 7, and 9 as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, and Py; and claim 8 as unpatentable over Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, Tachikawa, and Py. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 14 CONCLUSION In summary: Claims Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1–4, 10, 12, 14–22 103(a) Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia 1–4, 10, 12, 14–22 5, 13 103(a) Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, AAPA 5, 13 6, 7, 9 103(a) Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, Py 6, 7, 9 8 103(a) Shue, Smith, Gross, Badia, Tachikawa, Py 8 Overall Outcome 1–10, 12–22 No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a). See 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1)(iv). AFFIRMED UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD ____________ Ex parte FRANCISCA TAN-MALECKI, RONALD FORSTER, SCOTT M. NUNN, SON C. TRAN, SHELDON MOBERG, and MARK D. HOLT ____________ Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 Technology Center 3700 OPINION CONCURRING CAPP, Administrative Patent Judge I concur in the result reached by the panel in all respects. I write separately to add my own personal observations regarding Appellant’s contentions that it is somehow nonobvious to perform different steps of assembling an item in places that have differing controlled environments. Persons skilled in the art of manufacturing delivery systems for medications, such as syringes, know how to assemble the various components to create a finished article. Persons skilled in the art similarly know how to fill containers, such as syringe fluid reservoirs. Persons skilled in industrial design know how to perform various stages of manufacturing an item or assembly in a variety of locations and environments. Manufacturing and assembling items in a “clean room” is not unique to the medical supply industry. “Clean rooms” have, for example, been routinely used in the manufacture of semiconductor chips for decades. Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 16 An industrial designer tasked with designing an assembly operation for, say, syringes filled with medication, approaches the task with certain criteria in mind in terms of quality control and the safety and efficacy of the desired finished product. Depending on the criteria required of the finished product, the industrial designer may choose to perform one or more (or perhaps sometimes none) of the steps of the manufacturing process in a controlled environment. The choice as to which manufacturing process steps are performed in environments that are controlled to various degrees in terms of temperature and the number of contaminant particles per unit of atmospheric volume in order to arrive at a desired finished product is a matter of routine optimization that is well within the capabilities of someone with only ordinary skill. Anyone skilled in the art would immediately recognize that the level of sterilization/cleanliness in a finished article of manufacture is affected by and is a function of the cleanliness of the surrounding environment in which the manufacturing, assembly, and filling takes place. See In re Applied Materials, Inc., 692 F.3d 1289, 1297 (Fed. Cir. 2012) (A recognition in the prior art that a property is affected by a variable is sufficient to find the variable result-effective). Where the general conditions of a claim are known in the prior art, it is not inventive to discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine experimentation. Id. at 1295, quoting In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456 (CCPA 1955). It is well settled that a claim to a product does not become non-obvious simply because the patent specification provides a more comprehensive explication of the known relationships between variables and the properties affected by such variables. Id. at 1297. I see no reason to reach a different result here Appeal 2020-005948 Application 15/047,815 17 because the claim at issue is directed to a method of manufacture instead of a manufactured article. Here, Appellant merely manufactures and assembles an article in various steps and in various controlled environments. Appellant presents neither evidence nor persuasive technical reasoning that ordering of the various steps and selection of the various controlled environments for performing those steps requires more than ordinary skill or produces unexpected results. With the foregoing in mind, I fully concur in the result reach by the majority. Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation