Appeal No. 2001-0594
Application No. 08/929,153
“by changing at least one signal line of the bus from a first
voltage level to a second voltage level while the bus clock is
inactive, in response to the wake-up event detected by the second
integrated circuit.”
The examiner explains that this is an “inherent” feature of
Walsh [answer-page 10] because a “wakeup line would trigger the
bus to switch back to a normal operation mode.” But Walsh does
not even show that the bus has a clock and data in and data out
signal lines and that both signal lines and the clock are
inactive when the bus is placed in a reduced power consumption
state. The examiner surmises [answer-page 10] that Figure 5 of
Walsh shows a bus containing a series of signal lines and that
“if the bus 104 is placed in the reduced power consumption state
such as idle state or sleep state or off state,” then “some” of
those signal lines will be inactive and “some will be remained
active.” Thus, even the examiner seems to admit that it is
unclear which, if any, of the bus signal lines will be inactive
during a reduced power consumption state. It is improper to base
an anticipation rejection under 35 U.S.C. 102 on speculation.
Accordingly, appellant has made a reasonable argument that
“Walsh fails to teach utilizing a signal line of a bus to signal
existence of a wake-up event and changing the bus to a normal
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