Appeal No. 2000-0526
Application No. 08/818,958
Farris II would have suggested to one of ordinary skill
in the art filling the container of the plungerless syringe of
the method of claims 13 and 14 of Farris I with a therapeutic
fluid and docking the plungerless syringe with a device, such
as a needle or cannula, in order to adapt the method of the
patent claims for injecting a therapeutic fluid into a
patient. Further, it would have been obvious to one of
ordinary skill in the art at the time of the appellant's
invention to provide a sealing device, such as an adhesive or
tongue and groove arrangement, on the inside surfaces of the
walls of the passage communicating the gas trap chamber and
container in the method of claims 13 and 14 of the Farris I
patent and to compress (i.e., bend closed) the passage walls
to form a seal to remove any risk that air trapped in the air
trap chamber will be injected into the patient, as taught by
Farris II.
Claim 9 on appeal depends from claim 3 and, as
interpreted, supra, further requires that the body portion of
the plungerless syringe be provided with a wide central
portion tapering both towards the outlet and gas passageway.
We note that the body (container 12) of the tangible
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