Appeal No. 2000-0198 Page 5
Application No. 08/400,178
16, 18 and 20 to be the trial stem components. Main portion 22, upon which the ball is
mounted in a manner not explained, terminates at its distal end in a stem portion 16 which
extends into the medullary canal. Depending upon the length of stem required, additional
stem portions 18 and 20 may be added. As shown in Figure 1, virtually all of Kenna’s
inventive structure is installed in the medullary canal. The stem components are connected
together by interlocking keys and keyways that operate perpendicularly to the longitudinal
axis of the stem(s) and which, once installed, are locked together by longitudinally movable
spacers 24, 26 and 28. Kenna instructs the user to select appropriately sized components
(column 1, lines 23-26). However, even if the Kenna fastening system were to be
considered to be a “quick release interlock means,” it is quite clear from Figure 1 that it is
not so constructed or so located with regard to the medullary canal as to allow the
components to be separated or connected to one another while the device “remains
implanted in the medullary canal,” nor does it operate in such a manner as to allow
connection and disconnection “in a direction along the longitudinal axis of the selected trial
stem component,” both as required by claim 22.
The system disclosed in Demane is quite similar to that of Kenna, except that the
patent illustrates a plurality of trial head components rather than merely explaining this
feature. As was the case with Kenna, the prosthesis comprises a main portion that
terminates at its distal end in a stem portion 19, and it can further be equipped with
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