Appeal No. 1999-2029 Page 7
Application No. 08/431,360
is free of knots and the loop serves as the sole means for
retaining the group of fibers on the coil. Dormandy teaches
(column 2, lines 58-61) that the coil is formed of a metal
which is relatively opaque to x-rays and may be made of a
material such as stainless steel, copper, gold, or platinum
alloys. Dormandy also teaches (column 3, lines 27-28) that
the fiber is formed of a suitable synthetic medical grade
material such as Dacron .®
Claims 1 through 6
We will not sustain the rejection of claims 1 through 6
under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Claim 1 reads as follows:
A method for making a device for occluding a lumen
or cavity in a mammal, comprising the steps of:
(a) bringing fibers into contact with a substrate to
form an interface therebetween; and
(b) causing the substrate to emit heat so the fibers
at the interface are secured to the substrate.
The examiner's position with respect to claim 1 is that
whatever the source of heat is which fuses the Phelps et
al. strands to the coils would obviously heat the coils
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