Ex Parte FURUICHI et al - Page 8




          Appeal No. 2001-2407                                                        
          Application No. 09/154,703                                                  


          there is no disclosure of structural details for an actuator                
          driven by either electrostatic force or electromagnetic force,              
          the specification does describe the actuator structure including            
          a drive portion and a movable portion, along with electrodes to             
          supply current to the coil.  See page 8, line 22-page 9, line 1,            
          page 12, lines 21-23 and page 23, line 20-page 24, line 4.  The             
          artisan would have understood from this disclosure that the                 
          actuator would be driven by either electrostatic force or                   
          electromagnetic force and would further have understood how to              
          perform these tasks.  Moreover, such actuators were known to                
          skilled artisans and, as the examiner states, at page 6 of the              
          answer, the rejection would be withdrawn if the actuators were              
          known.  It is clear to us that the actuators, per se, were known.           
          The instant inventive features are directed, not to the                     
          actuators, but to the slider structure upon which the actuator              
          rests.                                                                      
               With regard to claim 13/9, the examiner states that although           
          the claim recites a range of thickness for the slider and                   
          actuator assembly, and appellants cite several passages in the              
          disclosure, enabling the listed dimensions, the cited passages              
          “merely state the dimensions listed in the claims.  The entire              
          disclosure is simply schematic in nature.  There is no showing of           

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