Appeal No. 2002-0910 Page 10
Application No. 09/229,855
to drive medicament, such as an anti-septic, into the wound to aid in the healing thereof
and whether such a method would inherently meet the limitations of claim 8.
CONCLUSION
To summarize, the decision of the examiner to reject claims 1, 8 and 12 under
35 U.S.C. § 102(b) is affirmed as to claims 1 and 12 and reversed as to claim 8. The
examiner’s decision to reject claims 3-7, 11 and 13-17 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) is
reversed. The application is remanded to the examiner for the reason noted above.
In addition to affirming the examiner's rejection of one or more claims, this
decision contains a remand pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(e).
37 CFR § 1.196(e) provides that
Whenever a decision of the Board of Patent Appeals
and Interferences includes or allows a remand, that
decision shall not be considered a final decision.
When appropriate, upon conclusion of proceedings
on remand before the examiner, the Board of Patent
Appeals and Interferences may enter an order
otherwise making its decision final.
Regarding any affirmed rejection, 37 CFR § 1.197(b) provides:
(b) Appellant may file a single request for rehearing within
two months from the date of the original decision . . . .
The effective date of the affirmance is deferred until conclusion of the
proceedings before the examiner unless, as a mere incident to the limited proceedings,
the affirmed rejection is overcome. If the proceedings before the examiner do not result
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