Appeal No. 2000-0323 Page 6
Application No. 08/608,920
Claim 15 recites an introducer system for dilating a body
vessel comprising, inter alia, a dilator having a first
stiffness and an elongated introducer sheath having a second
stiffness wherein the second stiffness is less than the first
stiffness.
The examiner determined (final rejection, p. 3) that the
recitation in independent claim 15 that the second stiffness
is less than the first stiffness (i.e., the stiffness of the
elongated introducer sheath is less than the stiffness of the
dilator) lacked written description support in the original
application. We agree.
We have reviewed the originally filed disclosure and find
no express disclosure for the above-noted limitation of claim
15. In addition to an express disclosure, the written
description requirement can be satisfied by showing that the
disclosed subject matter, when given its "necessary and only
reasonable construction," inherently (i.e., necessarily)
satisfies the limitation in question. See Kennecott Corp. v.
Kyocera Int'l, Inc., 835 F.2d 1419, 1423, 5 USPQ2d 1194, 1198
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