Appeal No. 97-2877
Application No. 08/334,096
Nothing in these cited references speaks to the
chronological relationship between: (1) resetting of
the timer counter; and (2) gaining access to the
secure memories to recharge the postage meter with
postage. Thus, the relationship is undefined.3
On the other hand, the invention which is the
subject matter of the above captioned patent
application particularly points out and distinctly
claims in claim 1 that:
if said combination and said corresponding
combination are found valid by said
comparing means, then said reset means
first resets said count down timer and
subsequently enables access to said secure
memories (emphasis added).
In this manner, the secure memories are protected
from corruption by spurious inputs which may be
generated when the count down timer is reset. Thus,
the secure memories which contain vital accounting
information are insulated from erroneous or
unintended communications and are only write enabled
for a short duration of time.
In response to appellants’ argument, the examiner states
(Answer, pages 4 and 5) that:
It is respectfully note[d] that in each of Gilham
GB-‘210 and Hunter (‘654 and ‘268):
(1) the count down timer produces the
interrupt signal that disables the postage
meter when the timer has timed out.
3In the absence of other arguments, all of the other
limitations of claim 1 are assumed to be disclosed by each of
the applied references.
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