Appeal No. 2006-2332
Application No. 09/751,610
The examiner relies on the following references:
Epstein 4,093,870 Jun. 6, 1978
Li 5,058,132 Oct. 15, 1991
M. Morris Mano (Mano), Computer Engineering Hardware Design 130-32, Prentice-Hall,
Inc. (1988).
Claims 1-3, 20-24, 26-29, 31-37, 39-45, 47, and 48 stand rejected under 35
U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Li, Epstein, and Mano.
We refer to the Final Rejection (mailed Apr. 28, 2005) and the Examiner’s
Answer (mailed Mar. 13, 2006) for a statement of the examiner’s position and to the
Brief (filed Jan. 9, 2006) and the Reply Brief (filed May 11, 2006) for appellant’s position
with respect to the claims which stand rejected.
OPINION
Based on appellant’s arguments in the Brief, we will select claim 20 to decide the
appeal from the rejection that is applied against all of the claims. See 37 CFR
§ 41.37(c)(1)(vii).
The examiner finds that Li describes a circuit (Fig. 2) for dividing an input clock
signal into N (N=5) clock signals having a relative phase separation of 360/2N, the
circuit including a phase lock loop circuit 102 in the general arrangement as claimed.
The examiner further finds that Li describes a Johnson counter (114; Fig. 2) comprised
of five flip-flops to make up five stages, referring to column 5, lines 50 through 64 of Li.
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