Ex Parte PucketteDownload PDFPatent Trial and Appeal BoardSep 19, 201611999845 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 19, 2016) Copy Citation UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE 111999,845 12/06/2007 112877 7590 09/21/2016 Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP Trimble Navigation Limited Mailstop: IP Docketing - 22 1100 Peachtree Street, Suite 2800 Atlanta, GA 30309 FIRST NAMED INVENTOR Robert Puckette 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. TRMB-1415.CON 1167 EXAMINER GREENE, SABRINA LETICIA ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2172 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 09/21/2016 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): ipefiling@kilpatricktownsend.com j lhice@kilpatrick.foundationip.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte ROBERT PUCKETTE Appeal2015-006314 Application 11/999 ,845 Technology Center 2100 Before ROBERT E. NAPPI, CATHERINE SHIANG, and SCOTT B. HOWARD, Administrative Patent Judges. HOW ARD, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL Appellant1 appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a Final Rejection of claims 1-3 and 5-7, which constitute all of the claims pending in this application. Claim 4 has been cancelled. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We reverse. 1 Appellant identifies Trimble Navigation Ltd. as the real party in interest. App. Br. 1. Appeal2015-006314 Application 11/999 ,845 THE INVENTION The disclosed and claimed invention is directed to a direct digital drive audio system and method. Abstract. Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. An audio method comprising: obtaining an audio sample; determining a drive status associated with said audio sample; driving a speaker cone with a digital signal in accordance with said drive status, wherein said speaker is driven from two digital signals permitting both negative and positive differential signals to be applied to the speaker. REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner as evidence in rejecting the claims on appeal is: Kishigami Brennan Bonglovi us 5;909;496 US 2004/0093099 Al US 2009/0105858 Al REJECTIONS June 1; 1999 May 13, 2004 Apr. 23, 2009 Claims 1-3 and 5-7 stand rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Brennan in view of Kishigami and Bonglovi. Final Act. 2-6. ANALYSIS The Examiner has the burden of establishing a prima facie case of obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 1445 (Fed. Cir. 1992). That burden requires the Examiner to demonstrate that the 2 Appeal2015-006314 Application 11/999 ,845 references used in rejecting the claims on appeal under§ 103(a) are available as "prior art" under 35 U.S.C. § 102. Here, the Examiner relies upon Bonglovi as a reference in rejecting all of the claims on appeal. However, the Examiner does not demonstrate that Bonglovi is available as "prior art" under 35 U.S.C. § 102. Specifically, Bonglovi is not qualified as "prior art" under pre-AIA § § 102( a) or (b) because Bonglovi was published on April 23, 2009, which is after the effective filing date of the instant Application, namely May 5, 2004.2 Bonglovi is also not available as prior art under pre-AIA § 102( e) because Bonglovi's earliest potential filing date is February 7, 2006, which is after the effective filing date of the instant application. Accordingly, we hold that the Examiner has failed to carry the burden of establishing a prima facie case of obviousness of the subject matter recited in claims 1-3 and 5-7 within the meaning of 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). DECISION For the above reasons, we reverse the Examiner's decisions rejecting claims 1-3 and 5-7. REVERSED 2 The instant application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. Application 10/839,954, which was filed on May 5, 2004. Spec. 1. 3 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation