Appeal No. 2003-2057
Application No. 09/201,865
length coding for a discrete cosine transform (DCT) bit region. (Brief at 7-8.)
Appellants argue there is no disclosure or suggestion in the reference for reversible
variable length coding the bit regions “selected from the variable-length coded bit
regions according to a predetermined priority for recovery,” in the language that
appears in all the independent claims.
The examiner responds by reiterating that the skilled artisan would recognize
that Figure 31 of Nagai represents reversible variable length coding because such
coding is used for error detection and correction. The examiner further relies on
material in the “Background of the Invention” section of Nagai as evidence in support of
the finding. (Answer at 6-7.)
We are persuaded by appellants, for the reasons advanced in the briefs, that the
instant rejection fails to establish a case for prima facie obviousness. We find no
disclosure or suggestion in Nagai for the above-noted feature argued by appellants.
Figure 31 of Nagai, upon which the rejection appears to principally rely for the relevant
suggestion, is described at column 24, lines 10 through 29 of the reference. Since
Nagai expressly describes reversible variable length coding elsewhere in the reference
(e.g., cols. 34-36), Nagai would, in our estimation, expressly describe the operation of
Figure 31 in the same terms, if such coding were to be implied by the figure.
Moreover, even if the figure were to be presumed to disclose or suggest reversible
variable length coding, there would still be insufficient guidance to suggest applying the
-4-
Page: Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007