Appeal No. 2001-1481
Application No. 09/088,976
start time to be shorter than the second period of time.
With regard to independent claim 4, we find nothing in Saito
about a start time period of a second period of time from the
start time of a first specified time being changed based on the
first period of time.
There is no indication in Saito that the degree of movement
of the lens barrel may be varied as it approaches a target
position. As explained by appellant, at page 4 of the reply
brief, the “pairs of waveforms of the Saito patent are for moving
the object in opposite directions, not for manipulation of rise
and fall times, and certainly not for varying the degree of
movement of the object in each of several steps of movement of
the object in the same direction as achieved by the present
invention.” While we agree with this statement as a
distinguishing feature of the instant disclosed invention, we do
not find any language in instant claim 1 which brings out this
distinguishing feature of the instant invention. However, we
find that this feature is brought out, albeit somewhat broadly,
in the last paragraph of independent claim 4.
Accordingly, since we find that each and every limitation of
instant claim 1, as broadly claimed, is disclosed by Saito, but
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