Appeal No. 2001-2035
Application No. 09/071,806
Claims 2-6, 8, 9, 13, 14 and 16 stand rejected under
35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Bakhoum.
Reference is made to the briefs and answer for the
respective positions of appellant and the examiner.
OPINION
With regard to independent claims 1 and 12, even though the
claimed subject matter appears very broad in scope, each of the
claims requires a detection of a polarizing charge pattern “by a
manifested dielectrophoresis force” in accordance with a
spatially non-uniform electric field exhibited by the target
entity.
Bakhoum mentions nothing about detection “by a manifested
dielectrophoresis force” in accordance with a spatially non-
uniform electric field exhibited by a target entity. Yet, the
examiner contends that the needle in Bakhoum produces an electric
force “which is the same as the dielectrophoresis force” [answer-
page 4]. The examiner has offered no support for this
conclusion.
In response to appellant’s urging that Bakhoum does not
remotely comprise structure that enables detection of a
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