Appeal No. 1998-0824
Application No. 08/621,767
connected to prevent passage of the current through the second
current generator when the output power transistor is not
conducting, said control circuitry being controlled by a
voltage at said driving node of said output power transistor.
The Examiner argues that Takahashi teaches and discloses the
main concept of using an output signal which is an input
signal to an associate stage to prevent unnecessary current
within a certain section of the circuit when the section is no
longer required for operation. The Examiner points us to
Figure 5 of Takahashi which shows output N12 of inverter 16
being fed back to control element of transistor 14. See page
5 of the Examiner's Answer. The Examiner argues that it would
have been obvious to one skilled in the art to use the basic
concepts taught and disclosed by Takahashi to place a
transistor/switch in the current path of the second current
generator 12 shown in Figure 6 of the prior art submitted by
the Appellants. See page 6 of the Examiner's Answer.
Appellants argue that the Examiner initially used
impermissibly the Appellants' inventive teachings that the
current consumption in the driver circuit may be intolerable
for certain applications as the basis for selectively
5
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