Appeal No. 2002-2179
Application No. 08/839,861
Claim 12
Brickell relates to emergency radio beacons. According to the reference, prior
art emergency beacons normally transmitted a homing signal continuously. The
beacon battery was thus susceptible to discharging prematurely. Col. 1, l. 60 - col. 2, l.
13. In Brickell’s improvement, a user terminal transmits an approximate position signal
to initiate a search mission. The user terminal then transmits a continuous wave
homing beacon, but only in response to radio reception of a homing beacon activation
command which indicates that a search team is nearby. The user terminal thus
conserves battery power. Col. 2, l. 60 - col. 3, l. 2.
The examiner finds that Brickell meets the terms of instant claim 12 because,
inter alia, the user terminal enters a low power mode by waiting to receive the signal
from the search team before transmitting the homing beacon. Appellants argue that the
Brickell system does not enter a low power mode subsequent to the emergency call
because the reference teaches at column 4, lines 59 through 61 that the user terminal
may require 7.5 minutes of measurement time in order to calculate its position.
According to appellants, a mode which takes 7.5 minutes to determine a user terminal
position is not a low power mode. Appellants further argue that Brickell does not
disclose that the user terminal enters a low power mode after sending the “help”
message. Appellants assert there is nothing in Brickell which indicates that waiting for
a homing beacon is a low power mode compared to normal operation. (Brief at 11-12.)
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