Ex Parte Fratti

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Dec 31, 2012

11103815 (P.T.A.B. Dec. 31, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
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
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE FIRST NAMED INVENTOR ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
11/103,815 04/12/2005 Roger A. Fratti 23 8779
7590 12/31/2012
Ryan, Mason & Lewis, LLP
90 Forest Avenue
Locust Valley, NY 11560
EXAMINER
TRAN, TRANG U
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2422
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
12/31/2012 PAPER
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.
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
____________

Ex parte ROGER A. FRATTI
____________

Appeal 2010-001728
Application 11/103,815
Technology Center 2400
____________

Before CARL W. WHITEHEAD, JR., ERIC S. FRAHM, and
ANDREW J. DILLON, Administrative Patent Judges.

DILLON, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s
rejections of claims 1-21. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The present invention addresses a “power-on interval” of digital
televisions, which is described as follows:
Specifically, when first turned on, the display screens of such
flat-panel TV receivers may remain blanked (e.g., black) for
several seconds after application of power, and the audio often
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Application 11/103,815

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remains muted during this period as well. The delay in
presenting the audio and video signals is generally required in
order for the TV receivers to perform certain initialization
functions, such as, for example, loading video buffers in the TV
receivers, video decoding, surge protection, etc.”
Spec., p. 1, ll. 12-17. In prior systems, an indicator light changes to show
whether a television is under a standby mode, a power-on interval, or an
operative mode. If the light is not within view, the length of the power-on
interval can cause the user to mistakenly think that a remote controller’s ON
command was not received and, in turn, to re-press the on-off button and
thereby unwantedly turn off the television. Spec., p. 1, l. 25 – p. 2, l. 2. To
address this problem, the present invention audibly indicates that the power-
on interval is underway. Spec., p. 2, ll. 11-16.
Claim 1 is illustrative, with a key disputed limitation emphasized:
1. A circuit for audibly indicating at least one state of a
television receiver, the circuit comprising:
memory operative to store at least one audio file; and
a controller coupled to the memory, the controller being
operative, in response to a control signal indicative of the
television receiver receiving a power-on command, to forward
the at least one audio file to an audio indicating device
associated with the television receiver during a power-on
interval of the television receiver for audibly indicating the at
least one state of the television receiver.
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The Examiner relies on the following references as evidence of
unpatentability:

Hailey
Lee
Kerman
US 5,502,496
US 5,528,316
US 5,659,366
Mar. 26, 1996
Jun. 18, 1996
Aug. 19, 1997

THE REJECTIONS
The Examiner rejected claims 1-4, 6-14, and 17-21 under 35 U.S.C. §
102(b) as anticipated by Kerman.1 Ans. 3-8.
The Examiner rejected claims 5 and 15 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as
unpatentable over Kerman and Lee. Ans. 8-9.
The Examiner rejected claim 16 under § 103(a) as unpatentable over
Kerman and Hailey. Ans. 9-10.

KERMAN
Kerman discloses “[a] notification system for television receivers
including a visible alarm and/or an audible alarm that is activated when a
certain event occurs.” Kerman, abstract. In Kerman’s notification process, a
message is detected within a broadcasted signal and stored to a memory
during the standby mode. Kerman, col. 5, ll. 16-21; col., 6, ll. 36-41. The
message is displayed “when the television receiver is turned on.” Kerman,
col., 6, ll. 36-41. A corresponding visual and/or audio notification alarm is

1 Throughout this opinion, we refer to the Appeal Brief filed March 30, 2009
(“App. Br.”) and the Examiner’s Answer mailed July 7, 2009 (“Ans.”).
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presented to the user upon the message’s detection and storage; that is,
regardless of whether the receiver is turned on. Kerman, col. 3, ll. 30-35;
col. 5, ll. 16-21; col. 6, ll. 40-49.

ISSUE
Based upon our review of the record, the arguments proffered by
Appellant, and the findings of the Examiner, we address the following issue:
Under § 102, has the Examiner established that Kerman’s
notification system forwards an audio file to an audio indicating
device during a “power-on interval,” as required by claim 1?

ANALYSIS
As reflected by reproduced claim 1 (see emphasis) and the issue
statement, Appellant argues that Kerman’s cited notification system does not
forward an audio file to an audio indicating device during a power-on
interval, as claimed. Appellant argues in part:
In the case of a digital television receiver (DTV), the display
may not be powered up for several seconds after initiating a
power-on command. See, e.g., present specification; page 1,
lines 10-17. “During this time period, there is often no, or an
inadequate, indication to a viewer regarding the power-on state
of the TV ...” Id. at lines 17-19. The notification system taught
by Kerman does not remotely address this problem to which the
claimed invention is directed.
App. Br. 6.
The Examiner finds that Kerman’s standby and operative modes occur
within a power-on interval and that Kerman’s user notification system, by
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way of presenting the audio alarm during these modes, forwards an audio
file during a power-on interval. Ans. 10-13. In making this finding, the
Examiner interprets “power-on interval” as meaning merely that “portions of
the receiver … are active and operating at full power.” Ans. 13.
We disagree with Appellant’s argument insofar that claim 1 does not
require an audible indication of a television’s power-on state. Rather, claim
1 requires an audible indication of an unspecified “state of the television
receiver,” i.e., any type of state.
However, we agree with Appellant’s argument insofar that the
Examiner failed to apply Appellant’s intended meaning of “power-on
interval.” See In re American Academy of Science Tech Center, 367 F.3d
1359, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (An applicant “may demonstrate an intent to
deviate from the ordinary and accustomed meaning of a claim term by
including in the specification expressions of manifest exclusion or
restriction, representing a clear disavowal of claim scope.” (citations and
quotations omitted)). Particularly, the Examiner failed to recognize
Appellant’s clear intention to limit the invention’s “power-on interval” to a
duration between television activation (i.e., pressing an on-button) and
initialization (i.e., readiness to play the audio and visual components of a
programming signal). The limited scope of the “power-on interval” is
expressed as follows:
These flat-panel TV receivers, including liquid crystal display
(LCD) TVs, plasma TVs, digital TVs (DTVs), etc., commonly
exhibit an undesirable delayed response time when power is
first applied. Specifically, when first turned on, the display
screens of such flat-panel TV receivers may remain blanked
(e.g., black) for several seconds after application of power, and
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the audio often remains muted during this period as well. The
delay in presenting the audio and video signals is generally
required in order for the TV receivers to perform certain
initialization functions, such as, for example, loading video
buffers in the TV receivers, video decoding, surge protection,
etc. During this time period, there is often no, or an inadequate,
indication to a viewer regarding the power-on state of the TV
(e.g., whether the TV receiver is on or off).
Spec., p. 1, ll. 10-19. The limited scope of the “power-on interval” is further
expressed as follows:
The power-on interval can be defined herein as a period of time
beginning just after application of power to the TV receiver
(e.g., about 100 milliseconds (ms) after receiving a power-on
command) and lasting for a certain duration (e.g., a few
seconds). It is to be understood that the present invention is not
limited to a particular start time of the power-on interval, nor is
the power-on interval limited to any particular duration. In fact,
the present invention contemplates that the power-on interval
may be selectively controlled (e.g., start time and/or duration)
as a function of certain characteristics of the TV receiver and/or
certain viewer configurable attributes.
Spec., p. 3, ll. 19-26. And, the limited scope of the “power-on interval” is
even further expressed as follows:
As previously stated, the power-on interval during which the
audible indication is presented preferably begins just after
application of power to the DTV receiver 100, such as, for
example, about 50-100 ms after depressing a “POWER” button
of the DTV receiver or corresponding remote control device,
and lasts for a certain duration (e.g., a few seconds).
Preferably, the start of the power-on interval is within a
response time of a typical viewer, such as less than about 100
ms after depressing the “POWER” button on the DTV receiver
or corresponding remote control device. The duration of the
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power-on interval may be substantially matched to a duration
of, for example, a “warm-up” period of the LCD 114 in the
DTV receiver 100, an initialization procedure performed by the
DTV receiver, or some alternative reference timing of the DTV
receiver, which may be specified, at least in part, by the viewer.
Spec., p. 5, ll. 13-22.
Though the above excerpts state that the power-on interval can be
adjusted, they unequivocally manifest an intention to limit the invention’s
power-on interval to a time period occurring between a television’s
activation and initialization. Given this limited scope, the Examiner erred in
finding that Kerman’s standby and operative modes are executed within a
power-on interval.2
Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we reverse the § 102 rejection of
independent claim 1 over Kerman. Because the Examiner repeats the same
error for independent claims 19-21 and the remaining dependent claims, we
also reverse: (i) the § 102 rejection of claims 2-4, 6-14, and 17-21 over
Kerman; (ii) the § 103 rejection of claims 5 and 15 over Kerman and Lee;
and (iii) the § 103 rejection of claim 16 over Kerman and Hailey.

ORDER
The Examiner’s decision rejecting claims 1-21 is reversed.

REVERSED

2 Our holding reflects no determination of whether it would have been
obvious to forward an audio file of Kerman’s alarm in response to the
television being turned on (e.g., in concurrence with displaying the message)
and, in turn, during a power-on interval.
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