Appeal No. 2001-1472 Application 08/772,878 that it would have been further obvious to the artisan to provide a metal tip insert to Manna’s probe, as taught by Kühne, to allow for the tip to be a harder material than the probe. Appellant’s arguments (brief, pages 7-12) again initially go to the fact that lipectomy as in Manna is a fundamentally different process than lithotrity and that there would be no incentive to combine Manna with Wuchinich and Kühne. In this instance, we note that representative claim 22 is drawn to a power delivery tip “for . . . lithotrity.” Thus, the claims on appeal are directed to a power delivery tip having a particular configuration for use on an ultrasonic probe wherein the tip must have the capability of being used in lithotrity. While Manna specifically discloses the probe therein as being used for a lipectomy procedure, we find no evidence of record to establish that the probe and power delivery tip of Manna would be incapable of being used for lithotrity if subjected to an appropriate level of ultrasonic energy. Moreover, since Manna already discussesPage: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007