Appeal 2007-1647
Application 10/631,841
a coupling ratio between a capacitance value of said large
capacitor and a capacitance value of a parasitic capacitor
coupled between said bias node and a ground reference point is
approximately equal to a unity value such that a biasing voltage
at said biasing node follows said lower supply voltage to
minimize effects of a ground noise signal between the lower
supply voltage and the ground reference point.
(Independent claims 1, 12, 23, and 33).
The Appellant disagrees. Appellant contends that the concept of a
coupling ratio is not new in the art. Appellant asserts that the coupling ratio
of the instant invention approaches a maximum value of unity (1) as the
magnitude of the capacitance of the large capacitor (CHC) increases relative
to the capacitance of the parasitic capacitor (Cp). Thus, Appellant contends
that an artisan would clearly recognize a large coupling value as any value
that approached unity (1) (Br. 16).
The Examiner agrees with Appellant that the coupling ratio is easily
derived as CR = CHC/(CHC + CP) (Answer 8, ¶3). The Examiner further
agrees that “it is clear that if the large capacitor CHC is much larger than the
parasitic capacitor Cp then the coupling ratio CR will [approach] 1.” (Id.)
Nevertheless, the Examiner finds the original Specification (including the
claims) failed to describe the coupling ratio of CR = CHC/(CHC + CP) as
approximately a unity value (1), i.e., where the value of the large capacitor
CHC is much larger than the value of parasitic capacitor Cp, such that the
coupling ratio CR approaches one (Id.).
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