Appeal No. 97-0938
Application 08/292,502
The examiner concedes that Herrick’s eye drop dispensing
device does not meet the limitation in claim 15 requiring that
the “axial displacement measured along said collar axis, between
an edge of said outer end of said positioning means adjacent the
outlet opening when the dispenser is attached to said device, and
the outlet opening, is less than about 10mm” (see page 4 in the
brief). In this regard, Herrick does not specify any particular
axial displacement measured along the axis of the collar (housing
member 20) between an edge of the outer end of the positioning
means (support guide member 40) adjacent the outlet opening
(fluid dispensing opening 18 of container 14) and the outlet
opening. Nonetheless, the examiner concludes that the “less than
about 10mm” axial displacement recited in claim 15 would have
been an obvious matter of design choice (See pages 4 and 5 in the
answer).
The appellants’ disclosure indicates that the claimed axial
displacement is an important, if not critical, factor in allowing
eye drop medication to be administered in the manner recited in
claim 15, i.e., with the patient’s head in an erect position.
The disclosure also indicates that this particular mode of
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