Appeal No. 1997-3676
Application 08/237,221
the prior art which had been used to first close the tear
ducts to determine whether too much drainage of tears from the
eye through the tear ducts was the solution to certain eye
problems, and later to re-open the ducts, if necessary. As we
understand the procedure in the prior art laser method, the
punctum (the entrance of the tear duct) was the site of the
application of laser energy to close and open the tear duct
(see column 1). Ector is combined with Herrick with regard to
the basic features of the claimed invention. Ector discloses
an intubation device that functions to re-establish the flow
of fluids through the tear ducts by removing blockages. In
order for the physician to monitor the location of the end of
the device as it moves through the tear duct, it is provided
with a fiber optic illumination probe. There is no teaching
of using laser energy. It is the examiner’s position that
“[i]t would have been obvious . . . to provide for the
insertion of fiber optic elements into the tear ducts as
taught by Ector in the method of Herrick . . . since this
would enable the removal of occlusions which were more deeply
lodged in
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