Appeal No. 1997-3821
Application No. 08/570,256
determining when power is supplied to the controller
as set forth in the claim (e.g. Claim 15 Lines 22-23).
The claim language "determines" when the power is
supplied. How can the system determine when the
power is supplied when initially there is no power?
The claim language is written as if some element is
monitoring whether power is being supplied to the
controller chip. What element does this monitoring?
In order to perform this determining step it would seem
that some element must be active to monitor the
controller chip and "determine" when power is supplied.
The specification is clear that initially no power
is
connected to the expansion board. When power is
connected to the expansion board the controller executes a
series
of microinstructions (see P 5 Lines 26-27 of the
Specification). The specification does not speak of
monitoring the power or determining when the power
is
supplied, only that once it is supplied a series of
microinstructions are executed. [Answer at 5.]
Appellant, after noting that Webster's New World Dictionary
defines "determine" to mean "to fix" or "to ascertain" (Reply
Brief at 2), argues that
[t]he Specification provides at p. 5, lns. 26-30,
"[w]hen power is provided to board 10, controller
16 executes a series of microinstructions." The plain
language of the Specification thus requires the
controller 16 "to fix" or "to ascertain" when it
receives power so that it can execute a series of
microinstructions. This is a well known operation
in computer components. The previous examiner herself
states that the computer of Morgan "determines" when
power is supplied to the data processing system 10.
(Answer at p. 4, lns. 16-19). [Reply Brief at 3.]
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