Appeal No. 97-2600
Application 08/500,091
Before MEISTER, ABRAMS and FRANKFORT, Administrative Patent
Judges.
MEISTER, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
This is an appeal from the final rejection of claims
16-25, 27, 29-37, 39 and 41-44, the only claims remaining in
the application. We reverse.
The appellants’ invention pertains to an instrument
for the penetration of body tissue. Independent claim 16 is
further illustrative of the appealed subject matter and reads
as follows:
16. An instrument for the penetration of body
tissue comprising:
a rigid shaft having a distal end,
a tissue contacting element at the distal end of
said shaft shaped to enlarge an opening in body tissue as the
tissue contacting element and said shaft are advanced, said
tissue contacting element having a distal end, and at least
part of said tissue contacting element being transparent to
permit viewing of body tissue therethrough, and
an advancing element at said tissue contacting
element, said advancing element having a cutting edge to
penetrate the body tissue and extending from adjacent the
distal end of said tissue contacting element towards said
shaft.
2
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