Appeal No. 97-1002
Application 08/014,379
This is a decision on the appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134
from the examiner's final rejection of claims 1-27, which
constituted all the claims in the application. An amendment
after final rejection was filed on February 22, 1996 and was
entered by the examiner. This amendment cancelled claims 6-13
and 22-27. An initial (revised) appeal brief was filed on
February 22, 1996 appealing the rejection as to claims 1-5 and
14-21. The examiner entered several new grounds of rejection in
response to the appeal brief. Appellant filed a reply brief on
June 21, 1996 in which the appeal was waived (withdrawn) with
respect to claims 1-3. Accordingly, this appeal now involves
only claims 4, 5 and 14-21.
The claimed invention pertains to a method and apparatus
for protecting an electrical utility watt-hour meter and the
corresponding metered circuitry from the damage caused by
transient voltage surges.
Representative claim 14 is reproduced as follows:
14. Transient voltage surge suppression (TVSS) apparatus
adapted to protect a watt-hour meter and electrical equipment
metered thereby from lightning or switching transient voltage
surges, comprising a circuit board
(i) carrying means substantially non-conductive at normal
power voltage but conductive at higher voltages, including
varistors as the sole variable resistance components thereof
adapted to clip transient voltage surges and shunt surge currents
to ground,
2
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