Appeal No. 2006-2879
Application No. 09/954,789
The merits panel has become aware of an additional Parodi publication
dating to 1991 describing the first human trials with stent-grafts. See Parodi, et.
al, "Transfemoral intraluminal graft implantation for abdominal aortic aneurysm,"
Ann. Vasc. Surg, pp. 491-499 (1991). Moreover, an additional reference already
of record, Holzenbein, "Endovascular Management of Endoleaks After
Transluminal Infrarenal Abdominal Aneurysm Repair," Eur. J. Vas. Endovac.
Surg., Vol. 16, pp. 208-217 (1998), also references the availability and use of
stent-grafts as of the filing date of the present application.
The examiner is encouraged to review these as well as other publications
of record in the application to determine if they would support a rejection of the
pending claims for obviousness in combination with McCrory and Evans or other
appropriate reference. Any new rejection of the claims should address and
analyze appellants' argument and evidence of record that grafts and stent-grafts
were not recognized as being interchangeable by those of ordinary skill in the art.
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