Appeal No. 1998-0659
Application No. 08/264,527
under 35 U.S.C. § 103. We do not sustain the rejection
of claims 10, 12 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
II. NEW GROUNDS OF REJECTION
We make the following new grounds of rejection for claim
12 under 35 U.S.C. § 103, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.196(b). The
new grounds of rejection are based on Matsushima taken with
Shannon, for reasons other than given by the Examiner.
New grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103
Claim 12 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious
over Matsushima and Shannon.34
All of the claimed elements of the claimed apparatus are
written in means-plus-function language. Except for the claim
subparagraphs directed to transducer means and ultrasonic
modulator means, the remaining subparagraphs all recite a
means for performing a specified function without the recital
of structure to perform the claimed function. See 35 U.S.C. §
112, Para. 6 (1994); Cole v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 102 F.3d
524, 531, 41 USPQ2d 1001, 1006 (Fed. Cir.), cert. denied 522
34We note that although both Matsushima and Shannon were
applied by the Examiner against this claim under a 35 U.S.C.
§ 103 rejection, Appellants did not present any 35 U.S.C. §
112, sixth paragraph, analysis or present any arguments of
"non-equivalence" thereunder.
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