Appeal No. 2000-1703
Application No. 08/963,545
pair would be equivalents to the disclosed system” (answer, page
4). The Examiner further reasons (id.) that:
Thus, the exclusive use of a RF signal would be a known
alternative to the embodiment descri[b]ed. Furthermore,
the use of repeaters or relays to extend range in RF
system is verily well known in the art. Therefore,
having a first non-master node repeat signals to a
second non-master node (the security system for
example) in order to extend the range of the master
node without requiring additional transmission power.
Appellants argue that Gutzwiller provides no suggestion or
desirability of implementing a wireless building network having
the master and the non-master nodes, as set forth in claim 20
(brief, page 4). Appellants rebut the Examiner’s conclusion of
obviousness by pointing out that the Examiner’s assertion that a
radio relay could be implemented, is without support and is based
on hindsight (brief, page 5). In particular, Appellants argue
that Gutzwiller’s home controller (master node) is permitted to
provide information directly to all nodes in the network and
thus, teaches away from using a radio relay (id.). Appellants
also assert that Gutzwiller fails to provide an enabling
description of any hardware configuration or protocols for
implementing the network as suggested by the Examiner (brief,
page 6). Specifically, Appellants point out that the Examiner
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