Appeal No. 1999-1796
Application 08/705,149
it's in the self refresh test mode" (emphasis added).
Appellant argues (Br6; see also arguments at RBr4):
Kang fails to disclose a self refresh test mode
controller, or any other circuitry, that modifies self
refreshing operations during a self refresh test mode in
response to control signals received from an external
device, as required by Appellant's claim 30. Instead,
Kang discloses a refresh control circuit 22 and refresh
address counter 24 that ignore signals from external
devices during self refresh. (See Kang, col. 4, lns.
29-39). Therefore, claim 30 is not anticipated by Kang.
The Examiner responds that nothing at column 4, lines 29-39,
discloses or suggests that elements 22 and 24 ignore signals
from external devices during self refresh (EA5), without
responding to the argument about modifying self refreshing
operations.
It is implicit in Kang that the self refresh operation
mode is not affected by external signals until the self
refresh operation mode has been completed. The Examiner has
not offered any explanation of what operation can be
influenced by an external signal during the self refresh
operation. In any case, however, claim 30 recites "in
response [to the control signals], modifying self refreshing
operations of the semiconductor device while it's in the self
refresh test mode." This does not require modifying
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