Appeal No. 1999-2269
Application 08/558,517
subcode recorded on a CD thereby to vary a servo loop gain” (column 1, lines 57 through
59), and that “the gain of the servo loop is switched on the basis of the type (size) of the
loaded disc judged by the CPU 5 on the basis of subcode decoded by the subcode
decoder 4" (column 6, lines 24 through 27). No matter what the form of the encoded data
on the disc disclosed by Ando, it represents the diameter of the disc. Appellant’s
argument (brief, page 4) that the encoded data in Ando is surrogate data rather than the
diameter itself is perplexing inasmuch as Ando’s diameter data is disclosed in infinitely
more detail than appellant’s so-called diameter data. Stated differently, if a skilled artisan
would know how to store encoded diameter data on a disc based upon appellant’s
sparsely disclosed and claimed invention, then surely the skilled artisan would know that
Ando’s disclosure is directed to encoded diameter data stored on a disc. In re Fox, 471
F.2d 1405, 1407, 176 USPQ 340, 341 (CCPA 1973). Ando describes an alternative
embodiment (column 6, line 38 through column 7, line 3) wherein gain of the servo loop is
not switched based on disc diameter. Appellant’s arguments (brief, pages 6 and 7) to the
contrary notwithstanding, the examiner did not rely on this alternative embodiment in Ando
to reject the claims on appeal.
Akashi, like Ando, clearly discloses (translation, page 3) that “the servo gain . . . is
automatically switched according to the diameter of CDS,” and that this is accomplished
by detecting “the size (diameter) of the CD that is placed on the spindle hub that is driven
by the spindle motor.” Akashi explains (translation, pages 6 and 7) that “[a]ccording to the
optical disc playback apparatus of the present invention, the diameter of an optical disc is
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