Appeal No. 1998-2831 Page 6
Application No. 08/541,013
Claim 6
We will not sustain the rejection of claim 6 under 35
U.S.C. § 102(b).
To support a rejection of a claim under 35 U.S.C. §
102(b), it must be shown that each element of the claim is
found, either expressly described or under principles of
inherency, in a single prior art reference. See Kalman v.
Kimberly-Clark Corp., 713 F.2d 760, 772, 218 USPQ 781, 789
(Fed. Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 465 U.S. 1026 (1984).
Claim 6 reads as follows:
A safety-shielded trocar, comprising;
a trocar cannula;
an inner cannula within said trocar cannula, wherein
said inner cannula moves axially relative to said trocar
cannula between an extended position and a retracted
position;
means acting on the rear end of said inner cannula
for biasing said inner cannula to its extended position;
means for locking within said trocar cannula,
wherein said means for locking is movable between a first
position that locks said inner cannula in its extended
position and a second position that permits axial
movement of said inner cannula to its retracted position;
and
means for latching within said trocar cannula
wherein, upon the movement of said means for locking from
its first position to its second position, said means for
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007