Appeal No. 1997-3813
Application No. 08/371,205
invention is described, either explicitly or inherently, in
Takata. Hence, it is our determination that the examiner has
not carried the initial burden of establishing a prima facie
case of unpatentability. In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445,
24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
Specifically, we find that Takata describes a sintered
microporous hydroxyapatite body of an open pore structure
having a porosity in the range from 20% to 50%, of which the
micropores have a distribution of diameters in the range from
0.01 to 0.1 mm (10 to 100 Fm). (Column 2, lines 34-40.) The
sintered microporous hydroxyapatite body is said to be useful
as a filling in a bone cavity or as a prosthetic member.
(Column 2, lines 29-33.) Takata further teaches:
The microporous hydroxyapatite body as mentioned
above can be prepared, taking the granular form
suitable for filling use as a product form, for
example, by admixing 100 parts by weight of a
powdery hydroxyapatite having a particle size
distribution as fine as possible or in the range
from 0.1 to 10 Fm with from 25 to 100 parts by
weight of a thermally decomposable powdery material
having a particle diameter in the range from 0.01 to
0.1 mm [10 to 100 Fm] and granulating the powdery
blend into granules having a particle diameter in
the range from 0.1 to 3 mm [100 to 3000 Fm] by a
known method, optionally, with admixture of a
suitable binder such as an aqueous solution of
polyvinyl alcohol followed by calcination and
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