Appeal No. 1999-1516
Application 08/263,835
The examiner’s reliance upon the handing off teachings at columns 5 and 6 of Rouffet are
misplaced because the discussion there relating to the decision to hand off depending on
the availability of a satellite having a better elevation or a higher orbit is all within the
context of low earth orbit satellites only. Taken is conjunction with Grant, we do not see that
the artisan would have found such a teaching as suggesting the ability to hand off between
the LEO satellites of Grant to a GEO satellite or vice-versa as proposed by the examiner.
As indicated earlier, the ground station in Grant always communicates with the GEO
satellite and the LEO satellites always communicate with the GEO satellite. There is no
separate communication in Grant between the LEO satellites and the ground station to
suggest a handing off operation within Grant itself such that the examiner’s proposal would
have merit.
Since we reversed the rejection of claim 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, we also reverse
the additional two stated rejections of the remaining claims on appeal further in view of
Weinberg and Ballard. These latter rejections must be reversed even though independent
claims 1, 2, and 7 on appeal more specifically recite the use of medium earth orbit or MEO
satellites. Weinberg and Ballard are thus not seen to cure the basic deficiencies provided
by the combination of Rouffet and Grant.
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