Appeal No. 2001-2363
Application 09/073,022
Luer lock anchor (e.g., 12 in Fig. 3, but un-numbered in Figs. 7
and 8) used to secure and seal a Luer lock type syringe tip (32,
as seen in Figs. 3 and 6) to the stopper. Appellant’s cursory
arguments and lack of clear explanation in the paragraphs
bridging pages 9 and 10 of the brief provide no basis for us to
conclude that the examiner’s position is in any way in error.
Brony does have a plug or valve member (72) which provides a
blockage at an entry portion of the stopper bore and, as noted by
the examiner, a collar with a Luer lock anchor or threads (12)
for securing a Luer lock type syringe tip (32) to the stopper.
With regard to dependent claim 29, which sets forth the step
of spanning the exit position of the bore with “a stretchable
membrane,” the examiner has specifically pointed to the
embodiment seen in Figure 8 of Brony and apparently is of the
view that the resilient bellows member (80) seen in Figure 8
constitutes a “stretchable membrane” spanning the exit position
of the bore in the stopper or link body (18 or 58). We agree.
Appellant’s argument on page 10 of the brief that this
arrangement in Brony is “entirely different than the invention in
which the recited expansible member acts as a retainer for a plug
[e.g., as in Figs. 9A-9C of appellant’s application],” while
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