Appeal No. 1997-3129
Application No. 08/301,743
obviousness. Note In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24
USPQ2d
1443, 1444 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
With respect to independent claims 1, 11, 14, and 17, the
Examiner has demonstrated (Answer, page 4) how the various
claimed circuit chips, storage elements, and transceiver
circuits are present in the test device of Sauerwald. As the
basis for the obviousness rejection, the Examiner asserts the
obviousness to the skilled artisan of integrating the off-chip
selector circuitry illustrated, for example, in Sauerwald’s
Figure 4, within one of the circuit chips 52 and 54.
In response, Appellants attack the Examiner’s
establishment of a prima facie case of obviousness by
asserting (Brief, pages 8-10) that Sauerwald teaches away from
on-chip selection circuitry. Appellants point to passages in
Sauerwald, directed to a chip self-test feature, which
describe the disadvantages and advantages under certain
conditions of placing such feature on-chip. Appellants
proceed to draw the inference that, since Sauerwald is silent
about on-chip self testing for interconnects, there is an
implicit teaching away from such feature.
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