Appeal No. 1998-1696
Application No. 08/562,197
wire, received by said slave multiplexer and connected to said
at least two internal analog telephone subscriber lines
thereby increasing the internal preexisting line capacity
without physically adding additional lines internally”
[emphasis ours], as claimed. Clearly, as shown in Fry’s
Figure 4, even given the examiner’s interpretation of box 22
as the “master multiplexer” and box 23 as the “slave
multiplexer,” there does not exist, in Fry, the functional
connection recited by claim 15. The interior preexisting
conventional two conductor telephone wire would appear to be
shown, in Fry, as lines 20' and 21'. Yet, these lines are not
located intermediate the master multiplexer and the slave
multiplexer, as claim 15 would require. Also, the functional
connection recited in the last paragraph of claim 15 makes it
clear that the slave multiplexer subscriber line unit is
within the subscriber’s premises because the slave multiplexer
is downstream from the interior preexisting telephone wire
relative to the master multiplexer.
Since Fry is deficient in these specifically claimed
limitations and we find no logical reason, within the meaning
of 35 U.S.C. § 103, to modify Fry in any way so as to arrive
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