Appeal No. 2002-0067 Page 7
Application No. 08/721,921
absence of an abnormal connection of an IFL cable can be detected in the indoor
unit." Col. 6, ll. 35-40 (emphasis added). Na's circuit then indicates at the indoor unit
that the malfunction has occurred. Specifically, "[s]ince the presence or absence of the
abnormal connection of the IFL cable can be easily identified indoors by using an
LED, it is possible to detect abnormal parts quickly at the time when an abnormality
occurs in the system, thereby saving time for repairing the malfunction." Id. at ll. 50-55.
Although modifying Na's outdoor unit to detect and identify an abnormal
connection of the IFL cable may be possible, the examiner shows no objective evidence
(e.g., a reference) that abnormal connections were detected or identified anywhere but
indoors. To the contrary, the sole reference cited and applied by the examiner, Na,
detects and identifies abnormalities indoors. Specifically, a "low-frequency signal
transmitted from the indoor unit is fed back from the outdoor unit to the indoor unit via
the RX cable, to then detected [sic]. Thus, the presence or absence of an abnormal
connection of an IFL cable can be detected in the indoor unit." Col. 6, ll. 35-40
(emphasis added). "[T]he presence or absence of the abnormal connection of the IFL
cable can be easily identified indoors by using an LED. . . ." Id. at ll. 50-52.
Nor does the examiner show any objective evidence of the desirability of his
proposed modification. Absent such evidence, his conclusion that the modification
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