Appeal No. 2000-0087 Page 3 Application No. 08/592,006 The appellant’s invention is directed to a gynecological procedure for sterilizing a female patient by placing a heating device in fixed contact with tissue adjacent to the tubal ostia in order to coagulate the interstitial portion of the patient’s fallopian tube and thereby close the fallopian tube. As disclosed, the method utilizes a light-transmitting optical fiber conduit that transmits laser light energy, which is converted at least in part to heat energy. The optical fiber is inserted through the patient’s uterus. As manifested in independent claim 32, the appellant’s inventive method comprises the steps of (a) inserting into the patient’s uterus an elongated light energy transmitting conduit having a distal end; (b) transmitting light energy through said conduit such that at least a portion of the transmitted energy generates heat; and (c) coagulating tissue adjacent to the patient’s fallopian tubes and thereby closing the patient’s fallopian tubes by applying said heat to said tissue. Independent claim 6 is more limited, in that it specifies that the tissue to which the heat is applied is a portion of the uterus, and includes the additional step of repeating the step of applying heat for the other of the patient’s fallopian tubes, so that both are closed. Independent claim 35 also is more limited than claim 32, for it requires that the distal end of the light transmitting conduit be positioned adjacent to the patient’s tubal ostia. It is the examiner’s position that the claimed method would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of the teachings of Sagie. The appellant argues that this would not have been the case, and points out a number of deficiencies in Sagie’sPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007