Appeal No. 2006-0386
Application 09/460,222
optical head moving means which is arranged below the optical
disc and moves the optical head in the radial direction of the optical disc;
disc discriminating means for discriminating the thickness of the
disc substrate of the loaded optical disc and for generating the
discrimination signal according to the result of the discrimination; and
control means for generating the control signal to said holding
means in accordance with the discrimination signal and for moving the
aberration correcting means onto said optical path in which the occurrence
of the aberration due to the disc substrate is smallest onto said optical
path,
and wherein the optical head records, reproduces, or erases the
information signal onto/from the optical disc by the light flux which has
transmitted the selected aberration correcting means.
For reasons which will become apparent, it is not necessary to decide whether
appellants are correct to argue that claim 6 is too indefinite to be read on any
embodiment. However, we note that appellants have not explained whether this
argument is based solely on the examiner’s § 112, ¶ 2 criticism of claim 6 (discussed
infra) or whether it is based on other reasons which have not been identified.
E. The rejections in the ‘629 application
Claims 1-30 were rejected for indefiniteness under 35 U.S.C. § 112, ¶ 2 for the
following reasons:
Claim 1 recites “N converging means whose . . . thickness[es];”.
However, it is not clearly recited according to what structural element or
means the aberrations had been corrected.
Claim[s] 2 & 4-9 [recite] “disc discriminating means”. Is the above
means the same as the one in claim 1 and if not what is the difference?
Claim 4 recites “control means for selecting the light emitting
means”. It is not clear whether the selection means selects one of the
objective lenses or one of the light beams?
Claim 6 & 7 also recites “-- in accordance with a control signal”.
However, the claim fails to recite the source of a control signal.
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