Appeal No. 2002-0501 Page 5
Application No. 08/556,427
second unnecessary signal charges generated in said second edge portion in said
horizontal register during a horizontal blanking period, . . . and draining an excess of
said mixed signal charges." (Emphasis added.) Claims 1 and 10, the other
independent claims, include similar limitations.
The ordinary meaning of the adjective "excess" is "more than the usual, proper,
or specified amount." Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary 432 (1990). Giving
the limitations its ordinary meaning, the claim requires draining only the portion of
mixed, unnecessary signal charges that exceeds the usual, proper, or specified
amount. This meaning is consistent with the appellant's specification, which discloses
that mixed signal charges "exceeding the allowable value are discharged into the drain
region. . . ." (Spec. at 13.)
Obviousness Determination
Having determined what subject matter is being claimed, the next inquiry is
whether the subject matter would have been obvious. "In rejecting claims under 35
U.S.C. Section 103, the examiner bears the initial burden of presenting a prima facie
case of obviousness." In re Rijckaert, 9 F.3d 1531, 1532, 28 USPQ2d 1955, 1956
(Fed. Cir. 1993) (citing In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445, 24 USPQ2d 1443, 1444
(Fed. Cir. 1992)). "'A prima facie case of obviousness is established when the
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