Appeal 2007-1704
Application 09/942,131
detector elements that even approximates the specifically claimed range of
“approximately 3 to 100 individual detector elements,” a limitation which is
present in each of the appealed independent claims. Appellants point out
that, in contrast to the claimed “approximately 3 to 100 individual detector
elements,” Dukor, the primary reference relied upon by the Examiner,
discloses a 64x64 detector array, i.e., an array having 4,096 individual
detector elements.
After reviewing the disclosure of Dukor in light of the arguments of
record, we are in general agreement with Appellants’ position as stated in
the Briefs. The Examiner’s stated position (Answer 3, 4, 11, and 12)
recognizes that Dukor does not disclose the claimed detector array having
“approximately 3 to 100 individual detector elements.” Nevertheless, the
Examiner contends that the claimed number of approximately 3 to 100
detector elements is a mere obvious variation of the 4,096 element array
disclosed by Dukor. According to the Examiner (id., at 12), “[i]t is well
known to adjust the number of detector elements based upon the desired
resolution/object size.”
We find the record before us, however, to be totally devoid of any
evidence to support the Examiner’s conclusion. The Examiner has directed
attention to column 6, lines 26-30 of Dukor which, according to the
Examiner (Answer 4), teaches that the size of a detector array is dependent
upon desired resolution. We do not find in this cited passage, or elsewhere
in Dukor, any such teaching. The cited passage from Dukor merely
describes the size of the pixels in the detector array in correspondence to
examined cell size, not a suggestion to base the number of detector array
elements on desired resolution.
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