Appeal No. 2003-1337
Serial No. 08/480,411
Claim 1
Waddell discloses a multiwall catheter having a proximal
end (18) and a distal tip (16) (col. 3, lines 50-51). The
catheter is made by 1) covering all but the distal tip of a
preformed thermoplastic tube (28) with a nonmetallic braid (24)
woven of fiber that previously has been saturated with compatible
thermoplastic material, 2) pulling the covered tube through a
heated die to form a composite tube in which the braid is
embedded into the surface of the thermoplastic tube, 3) covering
the composite tube with an outer preformed thermoplastic
tube (36) which completely covers the braid but does not extend
to the distal tip, and 4) pultruding the covered composite tube
through a heated die such that the outer thermoplastic tube
lengthens to completely cover and become integral with the inner
thermoplastic tube (col. 4, lines 5-43).
The appellants’ claim 1 requires that the inner and medial
resin layers are cured. Waddell’s layers, in contrast, are
thermoplastic. For this reason Waddell fails to anticipate the
microtube claimed in the appellants’ claim 1.
Moreover, the appellants’ claim 1 requires that the medial
layer is the braid matrix layer between the proximal end and an
intermediate point, and that the third layer comprises the
remainder of the braid matrix layer. The examiner considers the
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