Appeal No. 2001-2004 Page 5
Application No. 08/956,715
found to be resistant to the formation of blood thrombus on the surface of a device in
contact with blood” (column 17, lines 19-23) would have suggested to one of ordinary
skill in the art that the silver interface layer 2005 placed on the outer surface of the
implantable medical device shown in Figure 20 (column 17, lines 54-64) be provided
with this characteristic. The essence of the appellants’ arguments in opposition to this
conclusion is that a detailed analysis of the reference does not support the examiner’s
conclusion that the reference would have suggested the claimed feature to one of
ordinary skill in the art.
Bosley is directed to implantable medical devices such as stents, catheters and
cannula, and has as its objective improving the sonic characteristics of these devices so
that acoustic imaging of them is enhanced. At the outset, we must agree with the
examiner that there are several passages in Bosley that appear, when taken in the
abstract, to support the examiner’s conclusion. The first of these is that Bosley defines
the technical field of the invention as being “surface-treated stents . . . and the like,
which have a surface that is resistant to the formation of thrombus, fungus, bacteria,
and encrustations thereon” (column 1, lines 24-27). Surface materials disclosed in
Bosley include silver (column 4, line 7; column 13, line 65; column 17, line 64; claim
15). Moreover, as stated above, Bosley makes reference to a disclosure in a technical
publication that a surface energy range of 20-30 dynes per centimeter has been found
to be resistant to the formation of blood thrombus on surfaces that are in contact with
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