Appeal No. 1998-0696 Page 4
Application No. 08/444,664
Independent claim 4 requires a method step of “providing
a range equidistant from the center of the servo area in which
a read element moves during a read, a write, or a format
operation on said disk.” Independent claim 7 requires, inter
alia, “a range where said read element can move relative to
said track is equally distant from the center of said track.”
The examiner admits that APA, which essentially says only
that a magnetoresistive head is typically provided with a
reproduction element and a recording element, does not limit
the movement of the reproduction element to a range extending
equally distant from the center of the track, which is, of
course, appellants’ improvement over the prior art.
The examiner relies on Hanson to provide for such a
teaching, citing, specifically, Hanson’s recitation of causing
a “readback sensitivity profile to be mirrored about the sensor
center...” [abstract of Hanson, the examiner also cites column
3, lines 60-65 of Hanson]. The examiner reasons that since the
servo bursts of Hanson are symmetrically displaced to opposite
sides of the track center, it would have been obvious to apply
this teaching to APA in order to have provided a “more uniform,
wider linear MR region” [answer-page 4].
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