Appeal No. 97-3294
Application 08/408,225
We reverse the rejection of claims 1 through 5 and
16 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b), but affirm the rejection of
claims 14 and 15 on the same ground.
Claims 1 through 5
Independent claim 1 requires, inter alia, a device
body having a flexible first flange provided “on an outside
surface of the device body,” with the first flange having a
deployed, use orientation in which it “projects generally
outwardly from the outside surface of the device body.”
It is apparent to us that one versed in the art
would fairly appreciate the diamond shaped esophageal end 404
of
the helical coil spring implant 400 of Blom (Figs. 12 through
15) as a flange-like structure relative to the remaining
portion of the coil spring. Nevertheless, we find ourselves
in accord with
appellants’ view that the teaching of Blom does not address a
flange “provided on an outside surface” of a device body, as
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