Appeal No. 2000-0448
Application No. 08/605,765
9) the electrical resistance of tissue at the target site.3
Guglielmi does not expressly disclose this limitation, but, as
pointed out by the examiner, does disclose that coil 28 or 56
is made of platinum (col. 7, line 57; col. 9, line 17), which
is one of the materials of which appellant’s coil may be made
(page 13, line 28). It therefore appears that the coil of
Guglielmi would inherently meet the limitations of these
claims, appellant not having defined the scope of
"substantially less" or "slightly less", and their rejection
will be sustained.
Claim 20 reads:
20. A method for occluding a body lumen
comprising:
positioning at least one electrically
conductive, vaso-occlusive element at a target
site within the body lumen; and
applying sufficient high frequency
electrical energy to the vaso-occlusive element
to generate a thermal reaction at the target
site, while said electrically conductive, vaso-
occlusive element remains in place at the target
site and wherein the thermal reaction induces
thrombosis to hold the element in place.
3The expression "substantially equal to" does not appear
to have antecedent basis in the specification. 37 CFR §
1.75(d)(1).
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