Appeal No. 95-0005
Application 08/141,412
a register means, an identification mean, and means for
repeatedly accessing said register means and said
identification means, means for modulating the accessed
signals, means for transmitting the modulated signals back to
the interrogator through a single inductive coupling. The
access means, modulating means, and transmitting means are
contained in a meter transponder separate from the
interrogator which communicates with the transponder through
the single inductive coupling. According to 35 U.S.C.
§ 112, sixth paragraph, such means-plus-function features must
be construed to cover the corresponding structure, materials,
or acts, disclosed in the appellant’s specification, and their
equivalents, for performing the respective functions. In re
Donaldson Co., Inc., 16 F.3d 1189, 1193, 29 USPQ2d 1845, 1848
(Fed. Cir. 1994) (in banc).
The examiner has not made any meaningful analysis under
35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, in comparing the appellant’s
claimed invention with the applied prior art. Lapsley
discloses a system having individual conductive paths from one
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