Ex Parte Chwalek et al - Page 4



          Appeal No. 2005-0284                                                        
          Application No. 10/035,902                                                  

          the recited function.  Since Hawkins expressly teaches that the             
          volume of each ink droplet can be controlled with the frequency             
          of activation, the printer of Hawkins is capable of controlling             
          the emission of adjacent ink droplets such that they are not both           
          of large volume.  Furthermore, we agree with the examiner's                 
          reasoning that Figures 1a and 1b of Hawkins depict diagonally               
          adjacent nozzles that do not simultaneously emit droplets of                
          large volume.  Claim 1 on appeal does not exclude adjacent                  
          nozzles that are adjacent in the diagonal direction.                        
               We now turn to the examiner's rejection of claim 2, which              
          requires that "the nozzle array is linear" (emphasis added).                
          While it cannot be gainsaid that the examiner correctly states              
          that "[a] diagonal line is linear" (page 7 of Answer, second                
          paragraph), claim 2 requires a linear array of nozzles, not                 
          simply nozzles aligned in a line.  Moreover, the Hawkins                    
          reference cited by the examiner provides evidence that one of               
          ordinary skill in the art would not interpret the nozzles of                
          Hawkins as being part of a linear array.  Hawkins discloses that            
          "[r]egardless of the type of inkjet printer technology, it is               
          desirable in the fabrication of inkjet printheads to space                  
          nozzles in a two-dimensional array rather than in a linear array"           
          (column 2, lines 10-13).  Hence, it would appear that one of                

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