Appeal No. 2003-0160
Application No. 08/971,320
Appellant's invention relates to an illuminated pointing device for a computer. An
understanding of the invention can be derived from a reading of exemplary claim 1,
which is reproduced below.
1. A pointing device for a computer, wherein the pointing device is
selected from the group consisting of a touchpad, a mouse, a point stick,
a joystick and a trackball, the pointing device comprising:
a sensor to translate movement by a user of the computer to a
signal representing a desired corresponding change in the position of a
pointer on a display of the computer;
a communications link over which the signal is sent to the
computer;
a housing having one or more illuminated exterior surfaces to
render the device visible in a low-light or no-light environment; and
a user-operable button for providing a user input.
The prior art of record relied upon by the examiner in rejecting the appealed
claims is as follows:
Guscott et al. (Guscott) 4,728,936 Mar. 1, 1988
Siefer et al. (Siefer) 5,153,386 Oct. 6, 1992
Stephan et al. (Stephan) 5,748,185 May 5, 1998
(filed Jul. 3, 1996)
Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 13-15 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as
being unpatentable over Stephan in view of Siefer.1 Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 13-
1 Here, we note that the examiner has not made a rejection under 35 USC § 112
with respect to dependent claims 5 and 11 which appear to improperly depend from
cancelled claims(their dependency is left blank in the appendix to the brief.)
2
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