Appeal No. 1998-1114 Application 08/353,254 OPINION Appellant argues (Br8) that the combination of Yaezawa and Wong fails to teach or suggest the limitations of claim 13 that (1) a comparator sets the RS flip-flop when the output from the key memory and the output from the input register coincide, and (2) the RS flip-flop turns a three-state buffer into a high-impedance state or cancels the high-impedance state. The Examiner breaks limitation (2) into three parts: (2) Yaezawa does not disclose the use of a tri-state buffer; (3) Yaezawa does not disclose controlling the tri-state buffer with the output of the R-S flip-flop; and (4) Wong does not disclose controlling a tri-state buffer with a flip-flop (EA7). We also find that the combination of Yaezawa and Wong does not teach or suggest the input register connected to the same terminal as a three-state buffer; however, since this limitation is not argued, it will not be further addressed. See 37 CFR § 1.192(c)(8)(iv) (1996) ("For each rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103, the argument shall specify the errors in the rejection and, if appropriate, the specific limitations in the rejected claims which are not described in the prior art - 5 -Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 NextLast modified: November 3, 2007