Appeal 2007-1707
Application 10/335,597
All pending claims stand rejected over prior art (Br. 2). The
Examiner relies on the following evidence of unpatentability:
Nelson US 5,381,588 Jan. 17, 1995
Assaker WO 99/56653 Nov. 11, 1999
Claims 1-3 and 5-11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
anticipated by Assaker (Br. 2).
Claims 1-3 and 6 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
anticipated by Nelson (Br. 2). The claims in this grouping stand or fall
together because Appellants have not provided separate reasons for
patentability of any individual claims. See 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(vii).
We select claim 1, the only independent claim on appeal, as
representative of each rejection. Claim 1 reads as follows:
1. A bone plate comprising:
a body including a first surface, a second, bone-
contacting surface opposed to the first surface, and at least one
resilient aperture extending through the first and second
surfaces, the at least one resilient aperture having a predefined
shape and size, and being configured to expand and contract for
receiving a bone screw.
DISCUSSION
Anticipation by Assaker
Claims 1-3 and 5-11 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as
anticipated by Assaker.
Assaker discloses an anterior cervical bone plate with bone anchorage
screws for attaching the plate to bone (Assaker, p. 2, ll. 6-15). The bone
plate comprises an aperture (12) for an anchorage screw (6), and a sliding
3
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