Appeal No. 1998-1600
Application No. 08/434,898
concluding that it would have been obvious to save power in batteries used in
oceanographic data collection systems by employing a wake-up detector. The examiner
then extends this reasoning to conclude that since it would have been obvious to include a
wake-up detector in the Murdock-Echert combination, it would have been obvious to have
two-way communication since a signal must be sent to the instrument with the wake-up
detector in order to activate the wake-up detector. For their part, appellants contend that
Schultz constitutes nonanalogous art and it is inapplicable to the present invention.
Assuming, arguendo, that Schultz constitutes analogous art because it deals with a
pressure transducer and pressure is one of the items sensed in the oceanographic arts
[see column 1, line 19 of Murdock], we still do not agree that the combination of the three
references makes the instant claimed subject matter obvious within the meaning of 35
U.S.C. § 103.
Claim 8 requires a master “modem” and a slave “modem.” This is what enables the
two-way communication in the instant invention. We do not find such modems in the
applied prior art. While appellants admit, in the background section of the specification,
that transceivers were known to be used in oceanographic data collection systems, and
transceivers are clearly two-way communicators, the admitted transceivers collect, or
receive, data from the subsurface instruments and then transmit
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