Appeal No. 97-0320
Application No. 08/096,261
circuits into serial data and for
outputting converted position information
so that said positions of said word
lines or bits connected to said defective
memory cells can be determined and
thereafter replaced.
As discussed earlier, in addressing this claimed feature, the
Examiner (Answer, page 3) has relied on Mizuno's description
of the connection of the memory repair system through a serial
port 15 to an external computer 17. In response to the
Examiner's arguments, Appellant contends (Reply Brief, pages 8
and 9) that In re Donaldson Co., 16 F. 3d 1189, 1193, 29
USPQ2d 1845, 1848 (Fed. Cir. 1994) requires that the "means
for" language occurring in the claims, in accordance with 35
U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, must be interpreted as covering
the structure, material or acts set forth in the specification
and equivalents thereof. We note that, since the Reply Brief
was entered without further response by the Examiner, we do
not have the benefit of the Examiner's comments on this
particular argument of Appellant. However, it is our view
that, while Appellant has pointed to corresponding structure
within their specification for the "output circuit" means
statement in the claim, from our earlier discussion we are not
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