Appeal No. 97-0935
Application 08/340,905
shaft adjacent the tip portion is a drill or functions like a
drill but merely says that it is shaped as a drill or, as we
interpret it, has some characteristics that a drill has.
We have carefully reviewed appellants' arguments in
the Brief, but these arguments seem to be directed to the fact
that the part of the shaft adjacent the tip does not perform a
drilling function. In our view, however, the claim limitation
is broader than requiring this part of the shaft to perform a
drilling function. Appellants argue that this portion of the
shaft in Collison performs as a tap. Even if this is true,
the tap portion of the shaft of Collison resembles or has the
appearance of a drill, i.e., with a cylindrical structure with
chip cutouts and tapering on the front end via a conical
section to a pointed tip. Therefore, the arguments in the
Brief directed to the tap function of this part of the
Collison screw are not convincing. With respect to claims 2,
4 and 5, these dependent claims are actually directed to drill
structure or a structure that has some actual drill function.
With respect to claim 4, Collison does not show a cutout or
spiral flute as on a spiral drill. Nor does Collison show a
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