Opinion ID: 4534747
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: A bone-conducting bone-anchored hearing aid

Text: apparatus for sound transmission from one side of a patient’s head to the patient’s cochlea on another side of the patient’s head for reha- bilitation of unilateral hearing loss, the hear- ing aid apparatus comprising: a vibratory generating part arranged to generate vibrations that are mechani- cally transmitted through the skull bone from a deaf side to the inner ear on the other side of the patient; and an implantable part operative to mechani- cally anchor the vibratory generating part, the implantable part being osse- ointegrated in the patient’s skull bone behind an external ear at the deaf side of a patient. Case: 19-1105 Document: 53 Page: 4 Filed: 05/15/2020 4 COCHLEAR BONE ANCHORED v. OTICON MEDICAL AB Id., col. 3, lines 29–41. Cochlear statutorily disclaimed independent claims 1 and 13 and dependent claims 2–3 during the inter partes reviews. The claims addressed by the Board and now before us are dependent claims 4–12, all of which are apparatus claims. Claims 4 and 5 require that the frequency characteristics of the hearing aid are “specifically adapted to transmit vibrations in the skull bone from one side of the skull to the other side” (by incorporation of claim 3) and require that treble frequencies are amplified more than bass frequencies. Id., col. 3, lines 44–53. Claim 6, dependent on claim 1, requires electronic circuitry “to convert a signal from a microphone of the hearing aid to the vibratory generating part from an analog signal to a digital signal.” Id., col. 4, lines 1–5. Claims 7–9, dependent on claim 6, all require certain “digital signal processing means” or “signal processing means.” Id., col. 4, lines 7–19. Claim 10, dependent on claim 6, requires “directivity means comprising at least one directivity dependent microphone and/or signal processing means.” Id., col. 4, lines 20–24. Claim 11, dependent on claim 1, specifies that the implanted part and the vibration-producing part are included in the internal part and that power is transmitted from the external part of the hearing aid to the internal part by induction. Id., col. 4, lines 26–32. Claim 12, dependent on claim 11, adds that the internal part includes a rechargeable battery to be charged by induction from an external power supply. Id., col. 4, lines 33–36.