Appeal No. 97-1046 Page 7
Application No. 08/274,481
frequency to be higher than that of the power supply voltage,
the examiner has pointed to nothing in Steigerwald which would
indicate that this is the case. Moreover, as appellant has
pointed out, reference to Figures 4a, 4b, 5a and 5b in
Steigerwald would appear to indicate that the frequency of the
lamp current is the same as the input voltage. Thus, in order
for us to agree with the examiner, we would need to resort to
some speculation. Deficiencies in the factual basis of a
rejection cannot be supplied by resorting to speculation or
unsupported generalities. In re Freed, 425 F.2d. 785, 787, 165
USPQ 570, 571 (CCPA 1970);
In re Wagner, 379 F.2d. 1011, 1016, 154 USPQ 173, 177 (CCPA
1967).
With regard to the instantaneous absolute magnitude of the
unidirectional voltage feature, we find no need to take a
position on this argument as we find no basis for the examiner’s
finding, in Steigerwald, of a lamp current frequency higher than
that of the AC power line voltage. We do note, however, that we
are unclear as to the relevance of the examiner’s reliance on
Steigerwald’s Figure 5a for this feature.
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