Appeal No. 1999-2626
Application 08/756,060
In use, the Doubek and Johnson dilators are affixed to a
nose 12 by the adhesive 46 after removal of the first and
second release liners 49 and 50 and assume a curved shape
conforming to the contour of the nose. The resiliency and
tendency of the first and second resilient bands 30a and 30b
to return to their normally planar state provides an outward
pull on the outer wall tissues 60 and 62 of the nose to
counter the drawing-in forces exerted on the tissues during
inhalation (see Doubek at column 7, lines 4 through 10; and
Johnson at column 5, lines 13 through 20).
Anticipation is established only when a single prior art
reference discloses, expressly or under principles of
inherency, each and every element of a claimed invention. RCA
Corp. v. Applied Digital Data Sys., Inc., 730 F.2d 1440, 1444,
221 USPQ 385, 388 (Fed. Cir. 1984).
Independent claims 1 and 6 recite a nasal dilator
comprising, inter alia, an “elastic element movable toward an
expanded configuration wherein the length of the elastic
element increases, and biases to a retracted configuration
wherein the length of the elastic element is reduced.” Claim
15, the other independent claim on appeal, recites a nasal
-4-
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