Appeal 2006-3416
Application 10/884,751
USPQ2d 1152, 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1988) (explaining the general evidentiary standard
for proceedings before the Office).
1. The customary and ordinary meaning of “flange” is “[a] protruding rim,
edge, rib, or collar, as on a wheel or a pipe shaft, used to strengthen an
object, hold it in place, or attach it to another object.” The American
Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (4th ed. 2000), found at
www.bartelby.com.
2. The customary and ordinary meaning of “protrude,” as an intransitive
verb, is “[t]o jut out; project.” The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language (4th ed. 2000), found at www.bartelby.com.
3. The Summary of the Invention of Appellants’ Specification describes the
flanges as “radially extending” (Specification 3:7 and 9) and further
describes that an expander causes a portion of the tube “to fold outward
forming a first annular flange; and forming a second annular flange on
the anastomosis device to trap a wall of the target vessel between the first
and second annular flanges and seal the graft vessel to the target vessel”
(Specification 4:1-4).
4. The Examiner failed to provide a definition of flange or to consider the
ordinary and customary meaning of the term “flange.”
5. Furst discloses an expandable intraluminal graft including a tubular-
shaped member 10 having a first end 12, a second end 14, and a wall
surface 16 disposed between the first and second ends (Furst, col. 4,
ll. 52-55; Fig. 1).
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