Appeal No. 2002-2086
Application 09/010,396
Delay as a Bound for RC Trees with Generalized Input Signals,
IEEE Trans. on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and
Systems, Vol 16, No. 1, January 1997, p. 96 (discussing Rki); L.
van Ginneken, Buffer Placement in Distributed RC-tree Networks
for Minimal Elmore Delay, IEEE Int'l Symposium on Circuits and
Systems, Vol. 2, May 1990, p. 866 (discussing Rki) (both
references of record). If this is not the meaning intended by
appellants, it must be shown what meaning would be given by one
of ordinary skill in the art. The min-cut algorithm of Li has
nothing whatsoever to do with overlapping wires even under the
examiner's interpretation. Accordingly, we conclude that the
examiner has failed to establish a prima facie case of
obviousness. The rejection of claims 23-26 is reversed.
Requirement
In any further prosecution, either by request for rehearing
or by further prosecution before the examiner, in addition to
explaining how the claims define over Li, appellants are required
to explain how the limitations, "wherein calculation of the
interconnect delay comprises determining a first delay that
accounts for a contribution of a direct path between the driver
and the sink and determining a second delay that accounts for a
contribution of a portion of the net that does not include the
direct path to the interconnect delay" (claim 1) and "wherein
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