Appeal No. 1997-3909
Application 08/430,090
Considering the Group I claims, with claim 10 being
representative thereof, the Examiner reasons that everything
in this Jepson claim before “the improvement comprising:” is
considered admitted prior art (APA). The APA teaches
everything except selecting different velocities for voice
message playback. Yabuuchi teaches altering the speed
(velocity) of voice playback. The Examiner indicates that it
would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at
the time of invention to use Yabuuchi’s selective playback
modes (i.e., speeds) with the APA because of the universally
recognized desirability of multi-speed playback in the
audio/speech processing arts. (Supplemental answer-page 3.)
Appellant argues that the Examiner’s reliance on
Yabuuchi for altering voice playback speed is without merit.
Appellant contends that Yabuuchi’s teaching is merely a
summary of the various playback modes, and that it is
impermissible for the Examiner to select an isolated teaching
from a reference without consideration of what the reference
as a whole teaches to one of ordinary skill in the art.
(Reply brief-pages 7 and 8.)
The cited portion of Yabuuchi states:
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