Ex Parte Schwartz et al - Page 2

                Appeal  2006-1953                                                                             
                Application 10/195,347                                                                        

                                              BACKGROUND                                                      
                      Articular cartilage lines the surfaces of opposing bones in some joints                 
                (Specification 1).  “[W]hen articular cartilage tissue is no longer healthy it                
                can cause debilitating pain in the joint” (id.).                                              
                      The Specification discloses “an implantable, biodegradable cartilage                    
                repair device” (id. at 7: 5-6).  The application’s Figure 1 is reproduced                     
                below:                                                                                        












                      The figure is said to show a cartilage repair “device 10 [that] includes                
                an anchor 12 which is anchored . . . in both a section of native cartilage 16                 
                and the underlying subchondral bone 18” (id. at 10: 14-16).  “The cartilage                   
                repair device 10 also includes a scaffold or plug 26.  The plug 26 is secured                 
                to the anchor 12. . . . [T]he plug 26 functions as a chondrogenic growth-                     
                supporting matrix for promoting a positive cellular response in an effort to                  
                achieve articular cartilage regeneration” (id. at 11: 1-8).                                   
                      “One or both of the plug and the anchor may be formed from naturally                    
                occurring extracellular matrix,” or ECM (id. at 7: 19-20).  “One such ECM                     

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