Appeal No. 1997-4292 Page 12
Application No. 08/515,344
cells with a folded bridge in at least one cell. The examiner
states that
the short segments at the ends of the stent are
considered by the examiner to be bridges and are
considered to be within the cell. Assuming, arguendo,
they are not within the cell rejection above relating to
claim 1 also rejects claim 5 (i.e., the bridges interior
to the outside bridges are contained within the cells as
the cell is defined in claim 1 above.
The appellant argues (brief, p. 3) that Pinchasik lacks
the claimed "bridge" which causes a cell to have a finite
expansion limit in one lateral dimension.
This time, after careful consideration of the respective
positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner and
the teachings of Pinchasik we find ourselves in agreement with
the examiner's position that claim 5 is anticipated by
Pinchasik. In that regard, it is our determination that the
"bridge" identified by the examiner would inherently causes a
cell to have a finite expansion limit in one lateral
dimension. This would be due to the fact that Pinchasik's
stent is preferably fabricated from low memory, more plastic
than elastic, bio-compatible material, for example, stainless
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