Appeal No. 98-2779
Application 08/496,604
Like the examiner, we are of the opinion that it would
have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the
time of appellant’s invention to use the diamond grid gripping
surfaces as taught by Schlein as the serrated facing surfaces
(24) in Kurwa so as to “insure [sic] a firm and positive grip
on the work-piece” as suggested in Schlein (col. 2, line 51-
52). Both Kurwa and Schlein describe the jaws of their
surgical clamps as being “serrated,” with Schlein expressly
disclosing that such serrations are preferably in the form of
diamond-shaped teeth which, as seen in Figure 7, provide a
diamond grid gripping surface on each jaw. Thus, we view the
collective teachings of the applied references as evidencing
knowledge in the art regarding known alternative forms of
serrated jaws used for surgical clamps, and as being
suggestive to one of ordinary skill in the art of using the
type of serrations disclosed and taught in Schlein on other
surgical clamps with serrated jaws, i.e., such as the surgical
clamp seen in Kurwa, as a means for ensuring a firm and
positive grip on a work-piece during surgery.
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