Appeal 2006-0423
Application 10/426,995
1 opposing bones” coupled with the reference to those bones in the body
2 of claim 1 relative to the anchoring unit.
3 03. There are several definitions for the word “articulate,” but a person of
4 ordinary skill in the art would understand it to be among those within an
5 anatomical context.
6 04. The pertinent definitions are, as a transitive verb, to unite by forming a
7 joint, and as an intransitive verb, to form a joint. Because this definition
8 merely describes articulating in terms of joints, the definition of joint
9 becomes material. Again, there are many definitions, but that within an
10 anatomical context is, as a noun, a point of articulation between more or
11 less moveable parts, as between bones or between segments in the leg of
12 an arthropod2.
13 05. Thus, in an anatomical context, articulating means joining moveable
14 parts.
15 06. Doty’s artificial disk replacement (Doty, Fig. 1:12), plate (Doty, Fig.
16 7:66), and screw (Doty, Fig. 7:68) are a device placed between bones,
17 anchoring unit, and link member. Once installed, Doty’s artificial disk
18 replacement forms a joint that does not move relative to the bones to
19 which it is attached. However, during installation, until all the anchoring
20 screws and pins are in place, while the artificial disk replacement is in
21 place, it forms a joint that does move relative to the bones between
22 which it is placed.
2 Webster’s II New Riverside University Dictionary, 1994.
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Last modified: September 9, 2013