Appeal No. 97-1656 Page 15
Application No. 08/314,26
Takahashi does not control ‘the existence of a mask’ ....”
(Appeal Br. at 11-12.) In response the examiner explains,
“the existence of a mask is determined based on the priority
of the display patterns.” (Examiner’s Answer at 9.)
Giving claims 3 through 6 their broadest reasonable
interpretation, we find that the claim limitation of a “third
controlling means for controlling the existence of a mask in
display in accordance with the priorities of said display
tasks,” (Appeal Br. at 16-17), is broad enough to read on
Takahashi’s priority control circuit. The reference teaches a
priority control circuit that masks font data on an overlapped
portion of a display pattern output from a screen display
circuit. Masking is performed based on priorities of display
patterns entered from a central processing unit, i.e., CPU.
Col. 3, ll. 21-25; col. 6, ll. 35-38.
By arguing that Takahashi sets a mask in the event of a
conflict, the appellant admits that the reference teaches a
means for setting a mask, i.e., a means for controlling the
existence of a mask. The mask is set in the event of a
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