Appeal No. 2000-1948 Page 15
Application No. 08/751,087
having a leading end and a trailing end and being open at
its leading end to receive the implant, an implant
retainer engageable with the trailing end of the implant
to retain the trailing end of the implant in a fixed
position while enabling the sheath to be withdrawn
rearwardly relative to the implant retainer and implant,
the method further comprising:
inserting the sheath and implant retainer together
with the implant contained within the sheath, into the
body lumen and advancing them as a unit to a location in
the body lumen;
providing a detent to prevent direct continuous
movement of the sheath from a capture position to a
release position;
withdrawing the sheath to the detent between the
captured and release positions while exposing the leading
end of the implant to enable the leading end of the
implant to self-expand;
while in the detent configuration, determining
whether the implant is in a desired position and
orientation; and thereafter selectively (1) moving the
detent to permit the sheath to be withdrawn to a release
position or (2) without shifting the detent, returning
the sheath to the capture position.
As in the rejection of claim 2, the appellants do not
contest the obviousness of combining Williams' control handle
with the device of either Lukic, Braunschweiler or Robinson;
however, the appellants do argue that the resulting method
does not arrive at the subject matter of claim 17. We agree.
For the same reasons as provided in our discussion above with
regard to claim 2, it is our determination that the combined
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