Appeal No. 2005-0171
Application No. 10/064,380
structure disclosed in Appellants’ specification, i.e., a
structure, as illustrated in Appellants’ Figure 2, in which one
capacitor terminal connects to a coil terminal and the other
capacitor terminal connects to a driver terminal. We agree with
Appellants that the Examiner has failed to provide any evidence,
other than the mere opinion, that the structure disclosed by the
Buchele reference is an equivalent to the claimed coupling means.
As asserted by Appellants, the capacitor 160 in Buchele,
which is merely connected across the DC power source 170 for the
driver 110, cannot be reasonably interpreted as providing a
coupling of the capacitor 160 to coil 190. Further, It is
further our opinion that, even assuming arguendo that the
capacitor connecting structure of Buchele could be interpreted as
performing the claimed coupling function set forth in means-plus-
function format, the Examiner has failed to meet the burden of
showing how such structure is equivalent to Appellants’ disclosed
structure in the specification. In this regard, the disclosure
of the Buchele reference simply does not provide the factual
basis necessary to support a finding that the capacitor and its
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