Appeal No. 2000-0327 Page 6
Application No. 08/745,330
time, is addressed in col 2, lines 53-60 and col 6, line 68 to
col 7, line 3."
Upon review of Thompson, we are in agreement with
appellant (brief, page 5) that the flow sensors in Thompson
only sense that there is water flow in the pipe, and that
Thompson does not measure the volume of the flowing water.
Thompson discloses (col. 12, lines 30-35) that "[f]rom the
foregoing, it will be appreciated that a fluid management
system is provided which acts as a water conservation tool,
and which shuts down the fluid supply system to prevents [sic]
leakage and loss when a fixture or water utilization device
has been left running for too long." The portions of Thompson
referred to by the examiner indicate that the flow timing
means are responsive to each flow sensor's output signal for
timing the period during which the flow sensor measures flow,
and do not measure the volume of the flowing water. We find
that the examiner has misinterpreted the language in Thompson
(col. 6, lines 68 through col. 7, line 5) that "the flow
sensors used on any system in accordance with the present
invention should be capable of detecting extremely low (and
forward) flow rates, preferably on the order of 0.1 gallons
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