Appeal No. 1997-1351
Application 08/127,924
Claims 29-32
The Examiner considers these claims vague when read
with previous claims because the interface module only
contains a controller/memory (FR3).
Appellants traverse the statement that the interface
module contains only a controller because the interface
module may include other elements (Br7).
In response, the Examiner states that the issue is not
claim scope (EA9): "What the claim is really saying is that
'the controller which is an interface module is a circuit'.
This is confusing because they all appear to be different
words for the same physical entity. It is clear that a
controller interfaces various devices and it is a circuit
with a specific function of controlling the entity it is
supposed to control."
We disagree with the Examiner. That the interface
module is broadly recited does not make the limitation that
the interface module is an application-specific circuit
indefinite. It is also not correct to state that the
controller, interface module, and application-specific
circuit are all just different names for the same thing and,
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