Appeal 2007-3462
Application 11/172,223
1 sensing the temperature of a connector, and then visually indicating the
2 result of the temperature to a user was well known (Ballman). Stanescu,
3 which was issued nearly a decade after Ballman, explains the many
4 advantages of using RFID tags to convey information about a connector (FF
5 16). Stanescu does not convey an over temperature occurrence through the
6 transponder, but it does communicate the occurrence of another potential
7 anomaly – loss of connectivity. Despite Applicants’ assertions that Stanescu
8 does not use its RFID tag to identify the actual status or connection of a
9 cable (Reply Br. 3), we find that Stanescu does determine connectivity of a
10 cable connector and conveys that information to a receiver through the
11 attached RFID tag (Stanescu abstract “a system and method for monitoring
12 connectivity in a cable system includes radio frequency identification (RFID)
13 transponders on cable ends and RFID sensors at connection points.”; col.
14 3:16-18 “a system for monitoring pluggable cable connectivity includes an
15 electronic tag proximate a connector of the pluggable cable; col. 3:37-39
16 “[t]he described embodiment provides a real time way to identify and
17 manage connectivity in a structured cable system”; and Claim 1 “a system
18 for monitoring connections between plural mating positions made by a cable
19 having a connector at each of two ends”). (Emphasis added).
20 Case law illustrates that an adaptation of an old idea (here Ballman)
21 using newer technology that is commonly available and understood in the art
22 (here Stanescu and Black) would have been obvious to the skilled artisan.
23 Leapfrog Enterprises Inc. v. Fisher-Price Inc., 485 F.3d 1157, 1162, 82
13
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