Appeal No. 1998-1915 Page 5
Application No. 08/670,123
established when the teachings from the prior art
itself would appear to have suggested the claimed
subject matter to a person of ordinary skill in the
art." In re Bell, 991 F.2d 781, 782, 26 USPQ2d
1529, 1531 (Fed. Cir. 1993) (quoting In re Rinehart,
531 F.2d 1048, 1051, 189 USPQ 143, 147 (CCPA 1976)).
With these principles in mind, we consider the patentability
of the following groups of claims:
• claims 11-18
• claims 9 and 10.
Claims 11-18
The examiner asserts, "the AC frequency of Yamashita et
al. starts at 250Hz and then over an interval of time that
includes part of the 'DC lighting period' when the lamp
remains lit and also activated the frequency of the
alternating current applied to the lamp is increased from the
250 Hz value or zero frequency value to a value that is around
500 Hz and this is all done in accordance with lapse of time
...." (Examiner's Answer at 9.) The appellant argues,
"Yamashita et al merely teaches providing a low frequency AC
supply to a lamp 'before the activation' and a high frequency
AC supply 'after the activation.'" (Appeal Br.
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