Appeal No. 2002-2238
Application No. 09/107,768
response to user input received through a control panel on the
computer. After user replacement of the failed hardware, power is
restored to the replacement device in response to user input
through the control panel. The replacement hardware is
automatically associated with the resource after power is supplied
to the replacement hardware device (Paper 7, page 2, lines 11-17).
The appellants, on the other hand, assert that claim 1
requires the removal of power from the failed hardware device, and
the supply of power to the replacement hardware device are
performed in response to user input received through a control
panel on the computer. (Appeal brief, page 5, lines 25-27). The
appellants admit that Mahalingam disclose that a slot on a PCI bus
may be powered on or off to permit a card to be replaced with a
replacement card. However, it is urged that as Mahalingam is
silent as to how this powering on and off is accomplished,
Mahalingam therefore fails to disclose each and every limitation
of claim 1. (Appeal Brief, page 6, lines 3-10).
In the Answer, the examiner takes the position that
Mahalingam inherently teaches a control panel controlling power to
the device (via software or hardware). (Examiner’s Answer, page
2, line 21 - page 3, line 2).
We note that when a examiner relies upon a theory of
inherency, the examiner must provide a basis in fact and/or
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