Appeal No. 2001-0259
Application 08/725,762
collecting tube in Jung is coupled to one-half the area of the
loudspeaker, which is considered equivalent to half the number of
openings where there are an even number of openings, whereas
claim 11 recites a plurality of sound collecting openings.
The examiner (FR6) refers to column 6, lines 45-49 of Jung,
which states, in part, that "the inlet end segment(s) concentric
[sic] cover some or all of the trapezoidal cut-outs" (col. 6,
lines 47-48), and the examiner concludes that since Jung does not
limit the number of sound collecting sections, "it would have
been obvious to one skilled in the art to provide any number for
the sound collecting sections of the horn of Jung such as half
the number of the openings of the frame for a choice of listeners
preference" (FR6). That is, "some or all" describes any number
of cut-outs, from one to all of the cut-outs.
Appellant argues that the examiner's statement is a "bald
assertion" (Br10) without factual basis and that there is no
motivation to make the suggested modification (Br10). It is
argued that Jung discloses either a sound collecting horn with a
plurality of inlet segments which cover all the openings in the
frame of a speaker, or a single inlet opening which covers less
than all the openings, but does not suggest a plurality of sound
collecting openings connected to half the number of openings in
the frame of the speaker (Br11).
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