Appeal 2006-2232
Application 10/242,188
maximum gain. If this goal is not achieved and the signal is 111 and the
present gain is maximum gain, the gain is changed to the minimum gain.
Kovtun describes a automatic gain control (AGC) which monitors the
amplitude of an output signal 18 and adjusts the gain to keep the maximum
amplitude within a certain range (Kovtun, col. 4, ll. 7-9). The Kovtun ACG
is used in the environment of an ECG machine. Kovtun discloses that in
this environment, the amplitude or gain of the output of the ECG machine
must be controlled so that changes not related to the condition of the heart
do not cause variations that are not indicative of cardiac function and
thereby make interpretation by a physician more difficult (Kovtun, col. 2, ll.
7-23). These changes not related to the condition of the heart amount to an
unwanted signal or noise. Kovtun teaches that when this change in the gain
is controlled manually by the physician, it detracts the physician’s attention
away from the patient (Kovtun, col. 2, ll 22-23).
PRINCIPLES OF LAW
Two criteria have evolved for determining whether prior art is
analogous: (1) whether the art is from the same field of endeavor, regardless
of the problem addressed, and (2) if the reference is not within the field of
the inventor's endeavor, whether the reference still is reasonably pertinent to
the particular problem with which the inventor is involved. In re Clay, 966
F.2d 656, 658-59, 23 USPQ2d 1058, 1060 (Fed. Cir. 1992). See also In re
Deminski, 796 F.2d 436, 442, 230 USPQ 313, 315 (Fed. Cir. 1986); In re
Wood, 599 F.2d 1032, 1036, 202 USPQ 171, 174 (CCPA 1979). Common
sense is used to decide which field a person of ordinary skill in the art would
reasonably expected to look for a solution to the problem. In re Kahn, 441
F.3d 977, 986, 78 USPQ2d, 1329, 1335 (Fed, Cir. 2006).
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