Appeal No. 2003-1663
Application 09/975,934
circuit which performs an AND function and is implemented with a
digital circuit (Br7-8; RBr4). It is argued that the AND circuit
is not limited to implementation with a digital circuit, but
would include implementation with an analog circuit (Br8; RBr4).
To compensate for the possibility that the scope of independent
claims 1, 11, 15, and 16 of the '973 patent might be unduly
limited by an arguable interpretation of the "AND logical
circuit" as being implemented by a digital circuit, independent
claims 1, 10, 14, and 15 of the present application recite an
"AND functional circuit," which, it is argued, one of ordinary
skill in the art would understand is not limited to
implementation with a digital circuit, but means any circuit
which performs an AND function, implemented with either a digital
circuit or an analog circuit (Br8; RBr4-5; RBr8). Thus, it is
argued, the claimed inventions are not identical because the "AND
functional circuit" of the present invention includes an analog
circuit which performs an AND function, but an analog circuit
would arguably not fall within the scope of the "AND logical
circuit" of the claims of the '973 patent (Br8; Br12; RBr8-9).
We conclude that the terms "AND functional circuit" in the
present application and "AND logical circuit" in the '973 patent
are synonyms for the exact same thing and, thus, the scopes of
the claims are identical. An "AND circuit" is any circuit which
performs the Boolean logic function that when all the inputs are
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