Appeal No. 2000-2188 Page 5
Application No. 09/063,050
With respect to the rejection of claims 7 and 8 under the
second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, Appellants argue that the
claims require an externally applied clock signal supplied from a
“clock signal generator” (brief, pages 5 & 6). Appellants
further point out that the relationship between the clock signal
generator and the voltage generator is apparent as the claims
recite that the “externally applied clock signal is received from
a clock signal generator” and “communicates with the voltage
generator” (brief, page 6). Appellants also rely on Figures 4
and 7 to assert that the “externally applied clock signal” comes
from outside the depicted circuit (brief, page 8 and reply brief,
page 3).
In response, the Examiner indicates that the externally
applied clock signal of claim 7 is interpreted as “the output of
the clock signal generator [that is] being related to the output
of the voltage generator.” The Examiner concludes that the clock
signal is not an externally applied signal and cannot communicate
with the voltage generator (answer, page 5).
Analysis of a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 112, second
paragraph, should begin with the determination of whether claims
set out and circumscribe the particular area with a reasonable
degree of precision and particularity; it is here where
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007