Appeal No. 1998-2637 Page 15
Application No. 08/470,142
(9)
Finally, independent claim 155 stands rejected as being unpatentable over Dubrul
in view of Everett. This claim is directed to a method of establishing a flow of liquid
between an interior of a vessel in a human body and a location outside of the human body.
The method calls for a cannula having an oval cross sectional configuration as viewed in a
plane perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the sheath. It is the examiner’s position that it
would have been obvious to modify Dubrul’s cannula by changing the round configuration
to an oval one in view of the teachings of Everett “to resist bending in a plane” (Answer,
page 5). We agree with the appellants that one of ordinary skill in the art would not have
been motivated to make such a change to the Dubrul cannula for the reason given in view
of the fact that Dubrul’s cannula is made of an elastic and deformable material which is not
intended to resist bending, and its operation might well be destroyed by doing so.
In view of the foregoing, the references fail to establish a prima facie case of
obviousness and we will not sustain the rejection of claim 155.
SUMMARY
None of the rejections are sustained.
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