Appeal No. 2005-2572
Application No. 10/268,809
response to the induced voltage. Accordingly, Ludeke
et al. does not teach or suggest emitting an RF field
in the vicinity of the medical instrument in response
to the photocurrent using a resonant circuit disposed
on the medical instrument as set forth in claim 4
[reply brief, page 6].
Although the appellant’s portrayal of the Lüdeke method is
accurate, the claim language in question is so broad that it
nonetheless reads on this method. In this regard, the appellant
does not dispute the examiner’s ostensibly reasonable
determination (see page 3 in the answer) that Lüdeke’s optically
controllable transistor 34 constitutes an optoelectrical
converter which converts the light signal transmitted thereto
by the optical control lead 36 to a photocurrent. By the
appellant’s own admission, the optical control signal simply
switches the resonant circuit on and off. Hence, the
photocurrent generated by the optical control signal functions
to switch the resonant circuit on and off. It therefore follows
that the resonant circuit emits an RF field in the vicinity of
the medical instrument “in response to the photocurrent” as
broadly recited in claim 4.
Thus, the appellant’s position that the subject matter
recited in claim 4 distinguishes over that disclosed by Lüdeke
8
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