Appeal No. 1997-3989
Application No. 08/424,067
The claimed invention is directed to a driver for absorbable bone screws. These
bone screws, being made of a soft polymeric material, are susceptible to "camming out"
when a normal screwdriver is used by a surgeon to emplace them in bone. Appellants'
driver includes a plurality of driver elements equiangularly disposed about and extending
from a tube portion parallel to the driver longitudinal axis. These driver elements, either
cylindrical post or rectangular keys, mate with matching depressions in the head of the
bone screw, and are not susceptible to camming out.
The claimed invention can be further understood with reference to the appealed
claims which are appended to appellant's brief.
The references of record relied upon by the examiner as evidence of obviousness
are:
Rich 4,466,314 Aug. 21, 1984
Huene, Donald R., "A Method for a Firm Attachment of a Screw on a
Screwdriver", Orthopaedic Review, Vol. VII, No. 1, January 1978.
THE REJECTION
Claims 25 through 32 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as unpatentable over
Huene in view of Rich. According to the examiner, Huene discloses a screwdriver for
securely locking and driving bone screws. The screwdriver includes a threaded
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