Appeal No. 96-4138
Application 08/392,609
ordinary skill in the art with the motivation to make the
modification needed to arrive at the claimed invention.). The
examiner, however, has offered no reason or motivation to make
the needed modification. Moreover, even if it would have been
obvious to make such a modification, we find nothing that would
have motivated one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the
counterbore in Macaulay’s modified catheter body with a diameter
equal to or greater than the diameter of the counterbore in the
patentee’s tip to remove the patentee’s supporting braid 21.
Furthermore, Tanabe teaches away from eliminating the braid in
this manner inasmuch as Tanabe expressly teaches the art to
maintain the supporting braid along the length of the counterbore
as shown in Figure 2 of the patent drawings.
The examiner’s decision rejecting appealed claims 1 through
9 and 14 under § 103 is therefore reversed.
REVERSED
HARRISON E. McCANDLISH )
Senior Administrative Patent Judge )
)
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