Appeal No. 1997-3027
Application 08/301,926
voltage breakdown preventing diode is shared with two driving
transistors.
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced as
follows:
1. An integrated circuit for driving complimentary
signals on two terminals comprising:
a first means for driving a signal on a first output
terminal,
a second means for driving a complimentary signal on
a second output terminal, and
a shared means for preventing the flow of a damaging
breakdown current in either driving means resulting from an
excessive externally supplied voltage on either output
terminal.
The Examiner relies on the following references:1
Khan 4,931,672 Jun. 5, 1990
Fraser et al.(Fraser) 5,173,621 Dec. 22, 1992
Appellants’ Admitted Prior Art (APA) as shown in Figure 2.
Claims 1 through 13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 as being unpatentable over APA in view of Khan and
Fraser. The provisional obviousness-type double
1 Although the Answer lists Waller et al. (4,980,582)
instead of Khan, the final rejection, brief and answer verify
that Khan, not Waller et al. is the appropriate reference.
2
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