Appeal 2006-2328
Application 10/131,049
incoming separated sync signals were missing or corrupted, and then
concluding that it would have been obvious to provide such a countdown
circuit. Appellant challenges the Examiner's finding by stating that no art was
applied2 and denying that there was any noise problem to solve. "Assertions
of technical facts in areas of esoteric technology must always be supported by
citation to some reference work recognized as standard in the pertinent
art . . . ." Ahlert, 424 F.2d at 1091, 165 USPQ at 420. If properly challenged,
the examiner must provide evidence. MPEP § 2144.03. The Examiner's
finding of motivation is not supported by evidence and cannot be sustained.
In addition, the Examiner's finding that reference horizontal
synchronizing signals are produced because of missing signals due to noise
and/or corruption is incorrect and, thus, the conclusion that one skilled in the
art would have been motivated to modify Arai to include vertical countdown
circuitry to protect the vertical signal from noise and/or corruption is also
2 A traverse of a finding of Official Notice requires more than just a
statement that the fact is not shown in a reference. A "traverse" is "[a] formal
denial of a factual allegation in the opposing party's pleading," Black's Law
Dictionary (7th ed. 1999). That is, a traverse is similar to answering the
factual allegations in a complaint in a civil action. Cf. Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)
("A party shall . . . admit or deny the averments upon which the adverse party
relies. If a party is without knowledge or information sufficient to form a
belief as to the truth of an averment, the party shall so state and this has the
effect of a denial."). An applicant may traverse a finding of Official Notice
by simply averring that "those of ordinary skill in the art were not aware of
[the fact]" or that "applicant is without any knowledge or information as to
whether those of ordinary skill in the art were aware of [the fact]."
- 18 -
Page: Previous 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Next
Last modified: September 9, 2013