Appeal No. 1999-0880
Application No. 08/700,610
Thus, while Overhead Door is certainly closely related to the
issues with which we deal in this appeal, we do not find that
case to be dispositive of the issues before us notwithstanding
the dicta within the decision regarding a software embodiment.
In any event, we find, fortuitously, that there is
support in the original disclosure for the now claimed
“processor controlled code location pointer” and “software
controlled code location pointer” and, so, our decision is
compatible with the dicta in Overhead Door.
We have reviewed the arguments of appellants and the
examiner, as well as the Special Master’s reports and the
Rhyne declaration, of record. We find the declaration of Dr.
Rhyne to be persuasive. While the original specification
appears to disclose only one embodiment of a “code location
pointer,” viz., the mechanical switch 23 in Figure 2, Figures
3 and 4 appear to indicate that there was some software
embodiment originally envisioned by appellants. Now, it may
be that the flowcharts are merely system diagrams with
indications of the operations performed, those operations not
necessarily being performed by software. For example, the
diamond-shaped box in Figure 3 asking “In Program Mode?” is
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