Appeal 2007-2018
Application 09/810,377
20. The introducer sheath of claim [17, wherein the
shaft comprises fluorinated ethylene propylene, wherein said
distal tip section radiopaque material is selected from the group
consisting of tungsten, titanium, tantalum, platinum, gold,
silver, bismuth trioxide and lead, and] wherein said distal tip
section contains between about 50 and 55% by weight of said
radiopaque material.
2. REFERENCES
The Examiner relies on the following references:
Coneys US 4,657,024 Apr. 14, 1987
Parker US 5,221,270 Jun. 22, 1993
Hopkins US 5,948,489 Sep. 7, 1999
3. OBVIOUSNESS
Claims 1, 2, 4, 13, and 17-23 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
obvious over Parker in view of Coneys. The Examiner relies on Parker for
disclosing a sheath comprising a shaft and a distal tip, “the distal tip section
comprising polymeric material 34 containing 35-65% of a radiopaque
material such as tungsten, where the shaft is less radiopaque than the distal
tip section, the polymeric material can be polyamide, and the tip member
was originally a separate member” (Answer 3). The Examiner relies on
Coneys for disclosing “that it is known in the art that fluorinated ethylene
propylene [(FEP)] can be used as sleeves in catheters when used in
combination with radiopaque materials of varying amounts” (id.). In
particular, the Examiner argues that “Coneys clearly sets forth that FEP can
be loaded up to 70-80% with radiopaque material” (id. at 7). The Examiner
concludes that it would have been obvious “to modify the polymeric
material in Parker to be made of . . . [FEP] as suggested by Coneys” because
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