Appeal No. 1998-1078 Page 8
Application No. 08/442,532
driving magnet pole portion, said FG magnetized portion, and
said FG pattern in a circumferential direction are set so that
a maximum point of a torque ripple of said brushless motor
always occurs at the same time as, a point of an output signal
from said FG pattern, said point of said output signal
functioning as a trigger for rotation control."
The U.S. Court of Customs and Patent Appeals (CCPA)
established the rule that “where the general conditions of a
claim are disclosed in the prior art, it is not inventive to
discover the optimum or workable ranges by routine
experimentation.” In re Aller, 220 F.2d 454, 456, 105 USPQ
233, 235 (CCPA 1955)(citing In re Swain, 156 F.2d 239, 70 USPQ
412 (CCPA 1946); Minnesota Mining and Mfg. Co. v. Coe, 99 F.2d
986, 38 USPQ 213 (D.C. Cir. 1938); Allen v. Coe, 135 F.2d 11,
57 USPQ 136 (D.C. Cir. 1943)). As with many rules, however,
there are exceptions to the CCPA’s rule. One exception is the
case where a "parameter optimized was not recognized to be a
result-effective variable ...." In re Antonie, 559 F.2d 618,
621, 195 USPQ 6, 8 (CCPA 1977). More specifically, "[i]n
determining whether the invention as a whole would have been
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