Appeal No. 1998-0049
Application 08/289,028
Vandierendonck uses a mask field for selecting display
segments during a register instruction, but not for
conditional execution of an instruction (RBr2).
We agree with Appellants' findings regarding the
teachings of Vandierendonck as applied by the Examiner.
While figure 5 of Vandierendonck discloses mask bits, these
mask bits are only used for the flag and register
instructions, not the jump instructions. The mask bits in
the flag and register instructions are not used to select
any of the conditions in the condition logic 40, but are
used to produce constants in the digit mask logic 35 for use
in connection with the sequentially addressed memory
(SAM) 20 (col. 13, line 12 to col. 14, line 9). The
Examiner's response, quoted supra, fails to distinguish
between the conditional branch instructions, which do not
have mask bits but are responsive to status conditions, and
the flag/register instructions, which do have mask bits but
are not responsive to status conditions. Accordingly, the
Examiner's rationale is erroneous.
However, it appears that claim 61 is anticipated by
Vandierendonck when the bits of the "class field," I9 and
- 9 -
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