Ex Parte Canchi et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 30, 2016

13781352 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 30, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO.
131781,352
121651 7590
John D. Henkhaus
FILING DATE
02/28/2013
10/04/2016
7052 Santa Teresa Blvd
#203
San Jose, CA 95139-1348
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Sripathi Vangipuram Canchi
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450
www .uspto.gov
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
HGST.P075 3366
EXAMINER
WONG,KINC
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2688
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
10/04/2016 ELECTRONIC
Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
john.henkhaus@comcast.net
johnd.henkhaus@gmail.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte SRIPATHI VANGIPURAM CANCHI,
JOHN THOMAS CONTRERAS, SAURABH DEORAS,
SAMIR Y. GARZON, and REMMELT PIT
Appeal2015-006238
Application 13/781,352
Technology Center 2600
Before ELENI MANTIS MERCADER, NATHAN A. ENGELS, and
ALEX S. YAP, Administrative Patent Judges.
MANTIS MERCADER, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appeal2015-006238
Application 13/781,352
STATEMENT OF CASE
Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from a rejection of claims 1-
20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.
THE INVENTION
The claimed invention is directed to an interface voltage control (IVC)
operating point determination in a hard disk drive. A series of input voltages
are applied to a slider and head-disk spacing signals are monitored. Based
on the relation between the spacing signal values and the series of input
voltages, the IVC operating point is identified. Abstract.
Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject
matter:
1. A hard-disk drive, comprising:
a head slider comprising a read/write head and an
embedded contact sensor (ECS );
a magnetic-recording disk rotatably mounted on a
spindle;
a voice coil motor configured to move the head slider to
access portions of the magnetic-recording disk; and
an electronic component configured for:
applying a series of input voltages to said head slider,
monitoring a head-disk spacing signal for each of said
series of input voltages,
identifying an interface voltage control (IVC) operating
point voltage based on the relation between said head-disk
spacing signals and said series of input voltages, and
storing a representation of said IVC operating point
voltage in said hard-disk drive.
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Appeal2015-006238
Application 13/781,352
REFERENCES
The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on
appeal is:
Bonin et al. US 6,876,509 B2 Apr. 5, 2005
THE REJECTION
The Examiner made the following rejection:
Claims 1-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C § 102(b) as being
anticipated by Bonin.
ANALYSIS
Appellants argue, inter alia, that Bonin does not disclose applying, or
sweeping through, a series of input voltages to the slider, nor does Bonin
disclose identifying the IVC operating point voltage based on the relation
between the head-disk spacing signals and the series of input voltages as
required by claim 1 (App. Br. 8).
We agree with Appellants' argument. The Examiner wrongly
matches Bonin's serial input voltages of the voltage divider of Figure 8 to
the "series of input voltages" (Ans. 2-3) because serial input voltages are not
tantamount to a series of input voltages. We agree with Appellants'
assessment of the plain meaning of the term "series" as "a number of things
or events that ... happen one after the other" (Reply Br. 2) and a series of
voltages is not the same as serial voltages.
Accordingly, we reverse the Examiner's rejection of claim 1 and for
the same reasons the rejection of claims 2-20.
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Appeal2015-006238
Application 13/781,352
CONCLUSION
The Examiner erred in finding that Bonin teaches the limitations of:
"applying a series of input voltages to said head slider" and "identifying an
interface voltage control (IVC) operating point voltage based on the relation
between said head-disk spacing signals and said series of input voltages" as
recited in claim 1.
DECISION
For the above reasons, the Examiner's rejection of claims 1-20 is
reversed.
REVERSED
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