Interference No. 103,950
Nardella does not discuss why the modification of the
anvil and cartridge in the prior art (Nardella’s claim 37)
would have been suggested by the prior art.3
Nardella further states that staples having both jaws
rotatable at the distal end of the anvil and cartridge with
curved distal portions were well known in the art as
illustrated by U. S. Patent No. 5,040,715 to Green (Green
‘715); Published Examined Japanese Utility Model Application
No. 60-41924; U.S. Patent No. 3,079,606 to Bobrov; and U.S.
Patent No. 3,490,675 to Green.
However, Nardella has not discussed why a person of
ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to modify
the stapler of the prior art (Nardella’s claims 35 and 37) so
that the anvil and cartridge are rotatably connected or so
that the anvil and cartridge are curved.
Tsuruta argues that the recitation in claim 5 that the
high-frequency signal which is applied to the staples is also
3Throughout the motion, Nardella directs our attention to
various prior art references which, according to Nardella,
disclose a feature or features recited in claims 4 through 16
which is not recited in Nardella’s claims 35 or 37 but fails
to discuss how the modification of the invention of Nardella’s
claims 35 or 37 so as to include the feature would have been
obvious to a person skilled in the art.
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