Appeal No. 2003-1473
Application No. 09/336,649
Additionally, the primary and the secondary buses 17 and 19 are
joined as a single bus in the simplex mode when switches 50 are
closed (col. 9, lines 8-12 and Figure 13) whereas the buses are
physically and electrically separate in the duplex mode when
switches 50 are open (col. 9, lines 17-20 and Figure 14).
Therefore, logic 42 control the number of available channels by
switching between a simplex and a duplex mode, at best, by
connecting and disconnecting the primary and the secondary buses
17 and 19. This is also a switching function instead of what
Appellant has described as reproducing the signal on the next
section of a cable representing the function of a repeater.
Thus, assuming, arguendo, that it would have been obvious to
combine IBM TDB with Pascarella, as held by the Examiner, the
switches that connect and disconnect the two buses would still be
different from the claimed repeater imposed between the first and
the second buses. Accordingly, as the Examiner has failed to set
forth a prima facie case of obviousness, we do not sustain the 35
U.S.C. § 103 rejection of claims 1-8 over the combination of IBM
TDB with Pascarella.
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