Appeal 2006-3381
Application 10/162,317
STATEMENT OF CASE
Appellants appeal from a final rejection of claims 23, 25, 26, 33 to 37,
and 40 to 64 under 35 U.S.C. § 134 (2002). The Board of Patent Appeals
and Interferences (BPAI) has jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b) (2002).
In the words of the Appellants, the invention relates to “a cassette for
retaining a specimen of surgically exposed tissue from a patient in an
orientation that facilitates optical sectioning of the tissue by a confocal
microscope, or other optical imaging microscope, for Mohs micrographic
surgery.” Mohs surgery is used to study and cure a skin cancer, and boasts
a very high cure rate. The technique was developed by Dr. Fredrick E. Mohs
in the 1930’s and ‘40s and has been improved to its present state. A
confocal microscope uses special equipment to eliminate out-of-focus light,
making a much clearer image of the specimen at a certain optical depth. The
cassette of the Appellants holds the specimen on a special slide, by a flexible
membrane, to facilitate viewing by the microscope.
The Examiner rejected claims 23, 25, 26, 33 to 37, and 40 to 64 as
follows:
A. Claims 23, 26, 33, 41, 46, 48, 49, 53-57 and 60-63 were rejected
under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by U.S. Patent No. 3,551,023
(Brackett).
B. Claims 36 and 42-44 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 3,551,023 (Brackett).
C. Claims 25, 40, and 50 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
being unpatentable over U.S. Patent No. 3,551,023 (Brackett) in view of
U.S. Patent No. 4,974,952 (Focht).
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