Appeal No. 97-1046 Page 4
Application No. 08/274,481
The examiner relies on the following reference:
Steigerwald 4,042,856 Aug. 16,
1977
Claims 1, 2, 11, 12 and 21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
103 as unpatentable over Steigerwald.
Reference is made to the brief and answer for the
respective positions of appellant and the examiner.
OPINION
We will not sustain the rejection of claims 1, 2, 11, 12
and 21 under 35 U.S.C. 103 based on the evidence provided by
Steigerwald because, in our view, the examiner has failed to
establish a prima facie case of obviousness.
Each of the independent claims requires that the
frequency of the lamp current be “substantially higher than
that of the AC power line voltage” and that the unidirectional
voltage that powers the inverter sub-circuit have an
instantaneous absolute magnitude equal to the larger of two
specifically recited choices. These choices vary slightly
from claim to claim, some calling for DC voltages and
sinusoidal voltages, and others calling for constant magnitude
and alternating voltages.
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