Appeal No. 2000-1948 Page 10
Application No. 08/751,087
slot 90 in the upper portion 60 of housing 50. Williams also
teaches (column 4, lines 43-55) that
While in the preferred embodiment a spring biased
pushbutton locking device is shown to lock the
thumbswitch in a fixed position along said thumbswitch
slot, it is envisioned that any other equivalent means
can be used to lock the thumbswitch, including dispensing
with the pushbutton assembly shown and providing tabs
along the slot to frictionally engage posts 172, 174.
The specific embodiment of the present invention has been
described above in connection with a specialized catheter
designed to deliver stents, however, it is within the
scope of the present invention that the present invention
may be used with any type of catheter or any other
medical instrument.
After the scope and content of the prior art are
determined, the differences between the prior art and the
claims at issue are to be ascertained. Graham v. John Deere
Co., 383 U.S. 1, 17-18, 148 USPQ 459, 467 (1966).
Based on our analysis and review of each of the
references to Lukic, Braunschweiler and Robinson, it is our
opinion that the differences include (1) a control handle
having a body and a movable portion, the movable portion being
connected to a trailing portion of the sheath, the movable
portion being movable along the body of the handle to effect
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