Appeal No. 1997-3792
Application No. 08/321,334
agree. In our view, the claim requires that the selected
"maximum clock signal frequency value" be adjusted either
before or after it is selected, a function which is not
performed in any of Kenny's embodiments. For this reason, 3
the rejection of claim 1 and dependent claims 2 and 3 for
anticipation by Kenny is reversed.
We also agree with appellants that Kenny fails to
disclose means for calculating an expected (i.e., future)
temperature, as required by claim 2. The Figure 5 embodiment,
the only embodiment responsive to temperature, responds to
current temperature without making calculations of an expected
temperature. The temperature calculations discussed in Kenny
at column 6, lines 34-61, on which the examiner relies, are
3Consequently, we do not reach appellants' argument that
Kenny fails to disclose adjusting the maximum clock signal
frequency in accordance with idle and busy operating
conditions of the microprocessor. However, we will address
the examiner's
characterization of Kenny's low speed (e.g., 1 MHZ) clock
signal as an "idle" operating condition (Answer at 3). "[I]dle
time" is defined in the TechEncyclopedia as "[t]he duration of
time a device is in an idle state, which means that it is
operational, but not being used. See
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/
defineterm?term=IDLETIME&exact= (copy enclosed). Is the
examiner's position that Kenny's CPU is inherently (i.e,
necessarily) inactive during at least part of the time it is
being operated at the lower clock speed?
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