Appeal No. 2002-2198 Page 2
Application No. 09/408,409
BACKGROUND
The appellant's invention relates to a prosthetic joint implant having a tissue-
integratable rough surface and as a special example a porous coating on a surface
other than that which may be commonly provided for the intramedullary prosthetic-bone
interface (specification, p. 1). A copy of the claims under appeal is set forth in the
appendix to the appellant's brief.
Claims 2 to 14 and 19 to 25 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as being
anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 5,702,483 to Kwong.
Rather than reiterate the conflicting viewpoints advanced by the examiner and
the appellant regarding the above-noted rejection, we make reference to the answer
(Paper No. 22, mailed April 12, 2002) for the examiner's complete reasoning in support
of the rejection, and to the brief (Paper No. 21, filed March 15, 2002) and reply brief
(Paper No. 23, filed May 20, 2002) for the appellant's arguments thereagainst.
OPINION
In reaching our decision in this appeal, we have given careful consideration to
the appellant's specification and claims, to the Kwong patent, and to the respective
positions articulated by the appellant and the examiner. As a consequence of our
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007