Appeal No. 95-0065
Application 07/568,348
(appellant's prior patent) on the ground of "same invention"
type double patenting.
Claim 54 reads (underlining added):
54. A system for the removal of biological tissue
within a body comprising:
a laser energy source including means for operating
said laser energy source in a pulsed mode with an output
wavelength in a range of 1.4 - 2.2 micrometers and for
operating said laser energy source at an energy level of at
least about one joule per pulse for a surgical site of the
order of 1.5 millimeters in diameter to remove biological
tissue within the body;
an optical fiber for conducting laser energy from
said laser energy source from a proximal end of said fiber to
a surgical site at a distal end of said optical fiber; and
means for directing an output of said laser source
to the proximal end of said optical fiber.
Claim 15 differs from claim 54 only in that (1) instead of the
first underlined portion, claim 15 recites "artherosclerotic
plaque"; and (2) claim 15 omits the second underlined
portion.6
6Since the disclosures of the patent and the instant
application are the same, there is no difference between claim
54 and claim 15 as to the coverage of the recited means-plus-
function elements.
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