Appeal No. 2001-1939 Page 5
Application No. 09/072,605
but does not specify the pressure or a range thereof. Applying the definition of
“polishing” provided by the appellant, one of ordinary skill in the art would understand
that the inventive method recited in Frantzen’s claim 5 is for the purpose of “smoothing
and brightening” the surface of the stent.
Suzuki is directed to removing burrs from a workpiece, that is, removing thin
ridges or areas of roughness produced in cutting or shaping metal areas,2 by impacting
the workpiece with a pressurized stream of abrasive particle-water slurry. Suzuki
teaches that 450 psi is an effective pressure for performing this operation. From our
perspective, deburring falls within the definition of “polishing” since, in the absence of
evidence to the contrary, the effect of removing the roughness produced in cutting or
shaping the metal by the action of the abrasive stream upon the surfaces of the
workpiece would make them smoother and brighter than they were prior thereto. Since
radially expandable surgical stents are formed of metal, we agree with the examiner
that one of ordinary skill in the art would have found it obvious to utilize Suzuki’s
suggested pressure of 450 psi in the Frantzen system, suggestion being found in
Suzuki’s explicit teaching that this would remove ridges and areas of roughness
resulting from shaping processes.
2See, for example, the definition of burrs in Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1973, page 148.
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