Appeal No. 97-2600
Application 08/500,091
trocar may be (a) sharp so that the screw threads cut tissue,
(b) “smoothly contoured” (apparently for the purpose of simply
distending tissue) or (c) a combination of sharp and smoothly
contoured (see column 2, line 62 through column 3, line 23)
and (2) Alvord teaches an analogous medical instrument wherein
the spiral is formed from a wire which is clearly “rounded.”
The problem is,
however, that Fig. 7 of the appellants’ drawings clearly
depicts
the spiral as having a generally sharpened edge which appears
remarkably like the screw threads 32 of Auburn which are
stated to cause “a gradual cutting through the abdominal wall”
(column 2, line 64).
Moreover, the appellants have provided evidence that
one skilled in the art would recognize that the spiral or wire
48 of the instant application has an edge which cuts tissue.
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