Appeal No. 94-4061
Application 07/659,683
or component of a whole or of a larger group, class or
aggregate " and thus connotes a physical step. We also agree5
with the appellant that loading instructions in the form of data
in a memory normally involves applying voltages to pins of one or
more integrated circuit memories in order to store electric
charge in certain electrical components within the circuits of
the memory IC's and thus is a physical step.
The examiner further states that the language:
`decoding an output of said microprocessor to produce a
respective ... signals... on execution of a respective watchdog
instruction' recited in claim 15 does not fully recite the nature
of `output' generated as a result of the execution (Examiner's
Answer, page 3). The examiner explains that `an output' is too
broad to define the type of signal, because there are so many
different signals output from a microprocessor and that `on
execution' is recited in an ambiguous way, because it is not
clear what executes the watchdog instruction (Examiner's Answer,
page 8). The examiner may be correct that the language "an
output" is broad, but just because language in a claim is broad
5 Webster's Third New International Dictionary (G.&C. Merriam
Co. 1981).
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