Appeal No. 2005-1234 Page 7
Application No. 09/749,752
additional step, as the radioactive isotope the same as or similar to the
radioactive isotope used as the marker is used for printing the ID information to
the test piece 1.” See also id. at 31-32 (“the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 is
capable of storing the ID information peculiar to the test piece 1, i.e., the encoded
form of the management information of the test piece 1 . . . as the ID information
has been printed on the test piece 1 by the printing device 53 using the
radioactive isotope the same as the one used as the marker. Accordingly, the ID
information stored on the stimulable phosphor sheet 30 may be detected
concurrently with the information concerning the positions of the hybridized
probes stored on the same stimulable phosphor sheet 30.”).
We have considered the portions of the specification that describe the use
of a photomultiplier tube without the use of a stimulable phosphor sheet. Page
24 of the specification teaches “[i]n addition, fluorescent dye . . . may be used in
place of the radioactive isotope . . . as the marker to mark the target substance.
In that case, the PMT can detect the direct information from the test piece without
the use of the stimulable phosphor sheet by projecting stimulating light capable
of stimulating the fluorescent dye directly onto the test piece 1.” See also, id. at
33.
The above passage, however, only makes reference to the marker to
mark the target substance. As opposed to the passages that refer to the use of a
stimulable phosphor sheet, it makes no reference to the management
information. Thus, we do not find that a photomultiplier serves the two functions
required by the claim limitation “means for obtaining information concerning the
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