Interference No. 104,007
Count 1
An endoscopic drill guide for locating a tunnel to be drilled through a femur for endosteal
fixation of a ligament graft between the femur and a tibia, said drill guide comprising:
(a) a cannulated shaft, said cannulated shaft being cannulated along its entire length and
having a centrally located longitudinal axis; and
(b) an offset hook located on a distal end of said cannulated shaft and offset from said
longitudinal axis of said cannulated shaft for engaging a notch in a femur and for aligning said
cannulated shaft at a predetermined offset location in said notch.
The claims of the parties which correspond to this count are:
McGuire et al. (McGuire) : Claims 41-54
Schmieding : Claims 1-16
U.S. Patent No. 5,320,626 (‘626 patent) to Schmieding issued June 7, 1994. The senior
party applicant, McGuire, provoked this interference by copying claims from the ‘626 patent.
This proceeding was declared on October 29, 1997. Although Schmieding is listed as the junior
party, both parties enjoy the same date of constructive reduction to practice, February 19, 1992.
Motions were filed by Schmieding during the period set for filing preliminary motions.
On June 9, 1999, motions of Schmieding for judgment on the ground that (1) McGuire
abandoned, suppressed or concealed the invention under 35 U.S.C. § 102(g) (Paper No. 8), and
(2) that Schmieding be designated senior party, or that neither party be designated junior or
senior party (Paper No. 10), were denied. A motion of Schmieding to redefine the interfering
subject matter by designating Schmieding claims 11-16 as not corresponding to the count (Paper
No. 9) was deferred to final hearing.
Both parties took testimony, filed briefs and appeared for the oral hearing under 37 CFR
§ 1.654.
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