Appeal No. 2003-1171
Application 09/809,648
positions of the appellants and the examiner regarding the merits
of these rejections.
DISCUSSION
I. The 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) rejection of claims 1 and 3 as being
anticipated by Danks
Danks discloses a trocar (see Figures 6A and 6B) comprising
a housing 40, a cannula tube 84 attached to the housing and
defining a bore therewith and an obturator 12 for sliding
engagement in the bore. The obturator includes a hollow sheath
18, a piercing tip 80 on the distal end of the sheath and a
shield 15 slidably disposed within the sheath. The piercing tip
80 consists of a substantially planar pointed blade 81 having a
sharp tip 87 and straight sharpened edges 91, and the shield 15
consists of a “bottle shaped” distal end 51 having a blunt distal
end 92 and opposed slightly concave surfaces 94 which taper
inwardly toward the blunt end. The shield 15 moves between a
fully extended position completely covering the piercing tip
(Figures 7A and 7B), a partially retracted position covering part
of the piercing tip (Figures 8A and 8B), and a fully retracted
position completely exposing the piercing tip (Figures 9A and
9B).
Anticipation is established only when a single prior art
reference discloses, expressly or under principles of inherency,
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