Appeal No. 2006-0325 Παγε 11
Application No. 10/152,485
movements of the spine where one or more discs has been biologically degraded. As
explained by the Navas patent, during spinal movement, the healthy disc "deforms
elastically, progressively braking the movement and dampening it completely at the end
of amplitude" (column 1, lines 26-28). The Navas patent, in column 3, line 37, like
appellant's specification, describes the damper as "made of a bio-compatible, elastic
material" and discloses in column 4, lines 49-59, that
[a] stabilization system has thus been produced, making it
possible to obtain a set of the residual intervertebral
movements necessary for the elementary physiology of the
spine, while eliminating the bad positions of the vertebrae
and abnormal movements thereof.
Any appropriate material may be used for making the
damper 1, in particular a bio-compatible elastomer. A
composite material may also be adopted, optimally
responding to the two mechanical requirements of the
damper, viz. the resistance to longitudinal traction and to a
compression without buckling.
The Navas patent further teaches that the hardness of the damper will be chosen
so that, under the effect of the forces applied to the vertebrae, none of the elements
resumes its dimensions in the free state. In this way, according to the Navas patent,
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