Appeal No. 2002-0501 Page 3
Application No. 08/556,427
draining an excess of said mixed signal charges.
Claims 1, 3-6, 8-10, 12 and 13 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
obvious over U.S. Patent No. 5,491,512 ("Itakura"); U.S. Patent No. 5,036,397
("Nagabusa"); and U.S. Patent No. 5,486,859 ("Matsuda").
OPINION
Rather than reiterate the positions of the examiner or the appellant in toto, we
address the point of contention therebetween. Admitting that "the combination of
Itakura '512 and Nagabusa '397 does not explicitly . . . drain[] an excess of the mixed
signal charges," (Examiner's Answer at 5), the examiner asserts, "Matsuda '859
teaches that it is conventionally well-known in the art to use 'a drain' . . . for draining an
excess of unnecessary charges (see col. 8, lines 5-10 and lines 30-63 of Matsuda '859;
where the steps draining of an excess of unnecessary charges are taught)." (Id. at 9.)
Admitting that "Matsuda discloses a drain for draining an unnecessary charge," (Reply
Br. at 1), the appellant argues, "[n]owhere in the Matsuda is it disclosed or suggested to
drain only an excess charge from a horizontal register. To the contrary, Matsuda drains
all unnecessary charges into a drain." (Id. at 1.) In addressing the point of contention,
the Board conducts a two-step analysis. First, we construe the claims to determine
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