Patent ID: 7771951

Claim:
An antibody competition assay method for determining antibodies that bind to an epitope on an antigen, comprising: providing a set of antibodies, wherein the set of antibodies comprises a plurality of antibodies, wherein each antibody in the set binds to the same target antigen; labeling each antibody of said set of antibodies that bind to said target antigen to form a labeled reference antibody set such that each labeled reference antibody is distinguishable from every other labeled reference antibody in said labeled reference antibody set; providing a probe antibody that binds to said target antigen; contacting said probe antibody with said labeled reference antibody set in the presence of said antigen in one reaction; detecting bound probe antibody in a complex comprising said target antigen, one labeled reference antibody bound to said target antigen, and said probe antibody bound to said target antigen; identifying each said labeled reference antibody bound to said target antigen in each said complex; determining whether said probe antibody competes with any reference antibody in said labeled reference antibody set, wherein competition indicates that said probe antibody binds to the same epitope as an antibody in said set of antibodies that bind to said target antigen.