Ex Parte KITAKAMI et al - Page 5




          Appeal No. 1998-1658                                                        
          Application 08/343,876                                                      

          USPQ 247, 254 (CCPA 1967) ("This court has uniformly followed               
          the sound rule that an issue raised below which is not argued in            
          this court, even if it has been properly brought here by a reason           
          of appeal, is regarded as abandoned and will not be considered.             
          It is our function as a court to decide disputed issues, not to             
          create them."); In re Wiseman, 596 F.2d 1019, 1022, 201 USPQ 658,           
          661 (CCPA 1979) (arguments must first be presented to the Board             
          before they can be argued on appeal).                                       

          Claim interpretation                                                        
               Initially, claims 1 and 8 do not appear to define the                  
          direction of the principal axis of the magnetic anisotropy with             
          respect to the running direction of the recording medium.                   
          Appellants' figures 1A and 1B show the "normal direction" and               
          "reverse direction" with respect to the inclination of the                  
          principal axis of magnetic anisotropy.  However, the limitation             
          "run in a normal direction with respect to said magnetic                    
          recording medium" in claim 1 is not defined and can be                      
          interpreted broadly as the direction of the head relative to the            
          tape during normal recording and/or reproducing.  Similarly, the            
          limitation "normal running direction of said recording medium" in           
          claim 8 is not defined and can be interpreted broadly as the                
          direction of the recording medium relative to the head during               
          normal recording and/or reproducing.  That is, it is known that             

                                        - 5 -                                         





Page:  Previous  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14  15  Next 

Last modified: November 3, 2007