Appeal 2007-1998
Application 09/997,829
relied upon by the Examiner in support of the rejection of record, we have
not included it as part of our deliberations.
In the event of further prosecution, we encourage the Examiner to take
a step back and consider all of the available prior art to determine if the prior
art provides some rationale for combining the elements of Appellant’s
claimed stent in the specific arrangement provided by Appellants in their
claimed invention. In this regard, we direct the Examiner’s attention to
Buirge.1 Buirge teaches a stent comprising an inner polymeric layer, an
outer polymeric layer and a therapeutic layer. While we take no position on
the merits of Buirge as it relates to Appellant’s claimed invention, we note
that Buirge teaches a stent configuration wherein a therapeutic layer is
positioned between two other layers. We also note that the Specification, on
page 7, provides a reason for using PTFE in vascular devices. Lee2
describes a PTFE graft having pharmacological agents on either side of the
PTFE film (see Lee, col. 4, l. 49 to col. 10).
1 United States Patent No. 5,735,897, which issued April 7, 1998 and claims priority, inter alia, to
Application No. 08/300,742, filed September 2, 1994, now abandoned.
2 United States Patent No. 5,123,917, which issued Jun. 23, 1992.
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