Appeal No. 2004-0731 Page 2
Application No. 09/957,059
BACKGROUND
Appellants' invention relates to a nonreusable cellular
telephone. An understanding of the invention can be derived from
a reading of exemplary claim 12, which is reproduced as follows:
12. A cellular phone which is nonresettable and permanently
rendered inoperative after the expiration of a predetermined
period of calling time, comprising:
(a) a remaining time indicator provided with a
preprogrammed, one-time predetermined period of calling time
deductible from the cellular phone during cellular
communications; and
(b) a microprocessor operative to control the operation of
the cellular phone and (i) monitor the amount of time remaining
of said predetermined period of calling time, (ii) allow the user
to initiate and end calls and start and stop the deduction of the
calling time so as to allow the user to make an initial call and
one or more additional calls without regard to when said initial
call was made and until said predetermined period of calling time
is used up, and (iii) permanently disable the cellular phone once
said one-time predetermined period of calling time has been used
up such that the cellular phone is permanently rendered
inoperative and incapable of any further use.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Norimatsu 5,438,612 Aug. 1, 1995
Rodriguez 5,983,091 Nov. 9, 1999
(filed Jan. 25, 1995)
Crossley GB 2 262 685 A Jun. 26, 1993
(United Kingdom Patent Application)
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