Appeal No. 2001-0740
Application 09/054,415
when the apparatus is activated, when it is completely powered
down, and when it is in a standby mode, which require high, no,
and low power, respectively (EA11).
Appellants disclose the "operational cycle" to correspond to
one cycle of SLEW/SETTLE/HOLD as shown in appellants' Figs. 3-4.
However, this is not specifically recited in claim 1. A "cycle"
is defined as a single complete execution of a periodically
repeated phenomenon (e.g., a year constitutes a cycle of the
seasons) or a periodically repeated sequence of events (e.g., the
cycle of birth, growth, and death). We agree with the examiner
that an "operational cycle" is broad enough to read on the on/off
cycle of a circuit, but do not agree with the examiner's
speculation that the circuit would have a standby mode using low
power. Low power must be applied when the circuit is operating.
The examiner asks if low power is provided when the circuit is
powered down or placed into a standby condition, but none of
these conditions is claimed. Thus, the examiner seems to be
trying to invent reasons why possibilities outside of the claim
language might make the claim is indefinite. The rejection of
claim 1, and dependent claims 2-8, on this basis is reversed.
Claim 3
The examiner states that the "two inputs" of claim 3 are not
clearly identified with anything (EA4).
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