Appeal No. 1998-1824
Application No. 08/463,383
Claim 16, the sole independent claim on appeal, is
specifically drawn to a method for manufacturing a neck flange
having a neck engaging portion of a flexible material and an
interconnection of a less flexible material and sets forth
particular steps.
As indicated above, it is manifestly clear to us that
claim 16 expressly addresses the method of manufacturing “a
neck flange”. Read in light of the underlying disclosure
(pages 1 and 3), a neck flange is readily understood to be a
particular article of manufacture that secures, positions, and
supports a tracheostomy tube to a patient’s neck and provides
comfort and adjustability.
With the above understanding of the claimed subject
matter in mind, we turn now to the evidence that the examiner
relies upon in support of the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
The patent to Linne explicitly discloses a process (Figs.
3 and 4) for forming a unitary seal (Fig. 2). It is at once
clear to us, from a reading of this reference, that it does
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