Appeal No. 96-2444
Application 08/360,194
(specification, page 4) and, presumably, returns the computer
to a normal mode when pushed again.
The examiner found that "it was notoriously well known
that some portable computers had a sensor which noticed when
the case was closed to power down the computer, but not to
remove the power from certain elements such as RAM memory"
(Paper No. 4, page 3). Appellants disagree with this finding
of "notoriously well known" prior art. However, as discussed
in the section entitled "Appellants' arguments," infra, we
find that appellants admitted in the specification that
separate case-closed switches to put a portable computer in a
sleep mode were known. The admitted prior art discloses two
separate switches, one actuable by a user's digit to switch
between a normal and standby mode and one actuable by closing
the case to switch to a sleep mode.
The examiner recognized that one difference between the
prior art and the claimed invention is the claimed use of a
single button to place the laptop computer into one of many
modes (Paper No. 4, page 4; EA4, EA7). The examiner concluded
that "[i]t clearly would have been obvious to have implemented
the true sleep mode as notoriously well known to those skilled
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