Appeal No. 1999-0512
Application No. 08/701,979
retained” until it is navigated to a desired location. From
the above, it is abundantly clear to us that one skilled in
this art would readily appreciate that the end caps of Ryan
serve as stops. It is also quite apparent to this panel of
the board that the inclusion of a weakening means on the end
caps of Ryan for assisting retraction and release of the stent
(column 6, lines 63 through 65) does not detract from the
stent movement prevention function of the end caps during
delivery of the stent through the patient. Of course, this
same viewpoint is also clearly applicable to the inclusion of
a slit as the particular weakening means. It is worthy of
noting that the argument advanced in the main brief seems to
be rebutted by appellants’ own teaching that a cup can be
formed with areas of weakness, be elastomeric, and may
accordion or buckle, and apparently still be able to retain a
stent on the catheter in its reduced condition during
maneuvering to its deployment site (specification, pages 7 and
10).
Claim 8
9
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