Appeal No. 96-2444
Application 08/360,194
in the art and to have further used the only button provided
by the Carter reference" (Paper No. 4, page 4). This is a
mere conclusion and, further, the button in Carter is only
actuable by the user. The examiner also states that "clearly
it would have been obvious to those skilled in the art to use
the switch [for switching back and forth between the normal
and standby modes] in the same manner as one would use a
refrigerator sensor [which is actuated by closing the
refrigerator door]" (EA4), which indirectly addresses a switch
actuable by a user's digit and by closing the case. The
examiner further states (EA8):
Though the art of record fails to detail a single switch
that sensed not only the case cover's position and a
user's finger, it would have been obvious to those
skilled in the art to implement one switch by integrating
the function of many into one.
No art has been applied to support the examiner's conclusion.
While it seems like a simple modification to combine the
functions of two prior art switches, one which is actuated by
a user's digit to switch between a normal and standby mode and
one which is actuated by case closure to enter a sleep mode,
into a single switch which is actuated both by a user's digit
and by closure of the case, the single switch for multiple
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