Appeal No. 97-2600
Application 08/500,091
For example, the supplemental declaration by John M. Collins
states that:
1. Auburn 4,191,191 clearly teaches
that the trocar of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 has
helical ridges forming a screw thread
arrangement 32. The helical ridges 32 of
Fig. 3 are “sharp pointed” (column 3, lines
10-11) and produce “a gradual cutting” of
the abdominal wall (column 2, line 64).
Accordingly, one skilled in the art would
recognize that the sharp edge of Fig. 3 of
Auburn is a cutting edge, and would
recognize that the wire 48 of Riek et al
[the instant application] has the same edge
and shape as Fig. 3 of Auburn and therefore
know that since both trocars are to be
rotated to penetrate, the wire 48 of Riek
et al provides an edge which cuts tissue
when moved along tissue, and therefore is a
cutting edge.[ ] [Page 1.]4
See also paragraphs 8 and 9 of the first declaration by
Collins.
On the other hand, the evidence relied on by the examiner
(i.e., Auburn and Alvord), while establishing that a spiral or
4Using the same reasoning, the edges 24 depicted in the
Fig. 7 of the appellants’ drawing are apparently likewise
cutting edges.
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