Appeal No. 2004-0007 Page 2
Application No. 09/844,105
numerical representations of the levels of charges trapped in the memory cells in which
the value related information is stored (specification, page 12). As more fully explained
in U.S. Pat. No. 5,644,636, issued to appellant on July 1, 1997 and incorporated by
reference into the present application, previous levels of trapped charges for the
memory cell and the total number of write cycles applied to the memory cell, known as
the history of the memory cell, contribute to the pattern of the trapped charges in
memory cells. Thus, the pattern of the trapped charges in memory cells of a memory
array will vary randomly with each programming event, even when the same memory
cell is programmed with the identical data (see column 4, lines 9-17 of the Fernandez
patent). This stored reference fingerprint can then be compared with the pattern of
trapped charges in the memory cells of the portable card when the card is presented for
use in a transaction. If the stored and actual reference fingerprints do not match, the
transaction will be refused. Appellant’s system “protects against counterfeiting and
provides for a high level of confidence in the integrity of the data without the need for
complicated and expensive communications systems to verify each individual
transaction” (specification, page 6). A copy of the claims under appeal is set forth in the
appendix to the appellant's brief.
The examiner relied upon the following prior art references of record in rejecting
the appealed claims:
Johnson 5,598,474 Jan. 28, 1997
Yamaguchi et al. (Yamaguchi) 6,314,196 Nov. 6, 2001
(filed Mar. 7, 1997)
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