Appeal No. 98-2779
Application 08/496,604
surgical clamp of Kurwa and that defined in claim 1 on appeal
is the requirement in appellant’s claim 1 of a jaw portion on
each of the intersecting arms which includes a “diamond grid
gripping surface.” As set forth in Kurwa, at column 2, lines
45-46, the jaw portions (18a, 18b) of the surgical clamp are
described as having “serrated facing surfaces 24." As seen in
Figure 6a, the serrated facing surfaces of the jaws of the
clamp in Kurwa are used to grip an object, i.e., the optic
nerve (D), during enucleation (a surgical procedure involving
the removal of a diseased eyeball). Recognizing that the
surgical clamp of Kurwa lacks the specific type of gripping
surface set forth in appellant’s claim 1, the examiner has
turned to the surgical clamp of Schlein for such a teaching.
On pages 3-4 of the final rejection, the examiner has
indicated that
“Schlein discloses a surgical clamp having jaw
portions, 10, 12 comprising diamond grid gripping
surfaces 22.
It would have been obvious to one having
ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention
was made to use the diamond surfaces as taught by
Schlein, since Schlein states at column 2, lines 51-
58 that such a modification would insure [sic] a
firm grip on the tissue being selected.”
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