Appeal No. 2000-0182 Page 5
Application No. 08/831,327
the center axis of the insertion section . We do not agree for
the reasons set forth by the appellants in their brief (pp. 5-8)
and reply brief (pp. 1-2). In that regard, while the Admitted
Prior Art does clearly teach an elastic grasping section arranged
in the leading end portion of an operating wire and composed of
three elastic grasping members different in length having a habit
of flexing such that leading end grasping portions formed at the
leading ends of said elastic grasping members spread outward from
a center axis of said insertion section, the Admitted Prior Art
clearly does not disclose that the leading end grasping portions
of the three elastic grasping members are spread in a spiral
arrangement at the time of spreading of the elastic grasping
section so that the leading end grasping portions are arranged at
different distances from the center axis of the insertion
section, the distances of the leading end grasping portions from
the center axis of the insertion section increasing substantially
monotonically. The examiner's reliance on the Figures 1A, 1B and
2 as inherently disclosing that the leading end grasping portions
are spread in a spiral arrangement and are arranged at different
distances from the center axis of the insertion section is, in
our view, shear speculation, especially since patent application
drawings are not drawn to scale. It is well-settled that under
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