Ex Parte Torgerson et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

May 31, 2016

12739076 (P.T.A.B. May. 31, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
121739,076 04/21/2010
22879 7590 06/02/2016
HP Inc.
3390 E. Harmony Road
Mail Stop 35
FORT COLLINS, CO 80528-9544
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Joseph M. Torgerson
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.
82239743 7602
EXAMINER
BISHOP, JEREMY S
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2863
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
06/02/2016 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):
ipa.mail@hp.com
barbl@hp.com
yvonne.bailey@hp.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex parte JOSEPH M. TORGERSON,
TRUDY BENJAMIN, and KEVIN BRUCE
Appeal2014-007243
Application 12/739,076
Technology Center 2800
Before ADRIENE LEPIANE HANLON, CATHERINE Q. TIMM, and
JAMES C. HOUSEL, Administrative Patent Judges.
HANLON, Administrative Patent Judge.
uECISION ON APPEAL
A. STATEMENT OF THE CASE
The Appellants filed an appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from a final rejection
of claims 1-13, 19, and 20. Claims 14--18 are also pending but have been
withdrawn from consideration. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We AFFIRM.
Representative claims 1 and 9 are reproduced below from the Claims
Appendix of the Appeal Brief dated February 6, 2014 ("App. Br."). The
limitations at issue are italicized.
1. An inkjet print head, comprising:
Appeal2014-007243
Application 12/739,076
a plurality of data signal lines wherein each of the plurality of
data signal lines supplies in~et control voltages and non-volatile
memory cell random access addresses;
an inkjet nozzle array having a plurality of nozzles wherein
each nozzle in the array communicates with a data signal line from the
plurality of data signal lines; and
a non-volatile attribute memory cell array wherein each
memory cell in the array is accessed through a data signal line from
the plurality of data signal lines shared with the nozzle array.
App. Br. 14 (emphasis added).
9. A method of using an inkjet print head having a nozzle array
and a corresponding attribute non-volatile memory cell array,
compnsmg:
accessing a nozzle in the nozzle array through a data signal
line wherein the nozzle in the nozzle array is controlled by a variable
voltage supplied through the data signal line;
converting data on the data signal line into a random access
address;
addressing a memory cell in the attribute memory array
through the random access address; and
performing one of a read and a write of the memory cell using
random access addresses converted by a data to address converter
from the data signal line from the plurality of data signal lines shared
with the nozzle array into a plurality of random access address lines
wherein a total number of the plurality of random access address lines
is equal to 2N wherein N is equal to a total number of the plurality of
data signal lines.
App. Br. 15 (emphasis added).
The claims on appeal stand rejected as follows:
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Appeal2014-007243
Application 12/739,076
(1) claims 1--4, 8-10, 19, and 20 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated
by Hu (US 7,198,348 B2, issued April 3, 2007) ("Hu"); 1
(2) claims 5 and 11-13 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Hu
in view of Edelen et al. (US 2007/0236519 Al, published October 11, 2007)
("Edelen 519");
(3) claim 6 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Hu in view of
Kim (US 7 ,242,607 B2, issued July 10, 2007) ("Kim"); and
(4) claim 7 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as unpatentable over Hu in view of
Edelen et al. (US 7,311,385 B2, issued December 25, 2007) ("Edelen 385").
B. DISCUSSION
The Appellants summarily argue that Hu does not teach:
accessing a nozzle in the nozzle array through a data
signal line wherein the nozzle in the nozzle array is controlled
by a variable voltage supplied through the data signal line;
converting data on the data signal line into a random
access address;
addressing a memory cell in the attribute memory array
through the random access address
as recited by independent claim 9.
App. Br. 11 (emphasis added); see also Reply Br. 8 (emphasis added). 2
1 The Examiner omitted claims 9, 10, 19, and 20 from the statement of the rejection
in both the Final Office Action dated November 4, 2013 ("Final") and the
Examiner's Answer dated April 24, 2014 ("Ans."). Final 5; Ans. 2. The
Examiner, however, addressed claims 9, 10, 19, and 20 in the body of the rejection.
Final 6-8; Ans. 3-5. On appeal, the Appellants recognize that claims 9, 10, 19,
and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) as anticipated by Hu. App. Br. 8.
Therefore, the Examiner's omission of claims 9, 10, 19, and 20 from the statement
of the rejection is harmless error, and the statement of the rejection has been
corrected accordingly.
2 Reply Brief dated June 10, 2014.
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Appeal2014-007243
Application 12/739,076
The Examiner finds Hu discloses a method of using an inkjet print head
having a nozzle array and a corresponding attribute non-volatile memory cell array
(Figure 2B) comprising, inter alia:
[1] accessing a nozzle in the nozzle array through a data signal
line wherein the nozzle in the nozzle array is controlled by a variable
voltage supplied through the data signal line (figure 1 element 110,
column 4 lines 56 - 59);
[2] converting data on the data signal line into a random access
address (figure 1 element 106); [and]
[3] addressing a memory cell in the attribute memory array
through the random access address (column 5 lines 1 - 11) ....
Ans. 4.
More specifically, the Examiner finds the step of converting data on the data
signal line into a random access address in Hu comprises:
latching a plurality of data signals into a shift register (figure 2B
elements 202, 204, 206, 208, and 210) wherein each latched signal has
a corresponding data signal line; applying data from the plurality of
data signai iines as converted by the shift register to the memory ceU
array; and reading an attribute memory cell in the memory cell array
at a random access address defined by the data signal lines (column 5
line I -column 6 line 3) [as recited in Appellants' claim 10].
Ans. 4--5.
The Appellants do not direct us to any error in the Examiner's findings of
fact. App. Br. 11. Thus, we adopt the Examiner's findings of fact and sustain the
§ 102(b) rejection of claims 9 and 10.
As for independent claims 1 and 19, the Appellants argue that "Hu does not
teach, 'a plurality of data signal lines wherein each of the plurality of data signal
lines supplies inkjet control voltages and non-volatile memory cell random access
addresses."' App. Br. 11. Rather, the Appellants argue Hu discloses that control
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Appeal2014-007243
Application 12/739,076
lines can be power supply lines or address supply lines. App. Br. 9 (citing Hu, col.
3, 11. 59---62). 3
The Appellants' argument fails to consider the Examiner's undisputed
findings with respect to claim 9, namely that Hu converts data (i.e., a variable
voltage) on a data signal line into a random access address.
In the Reply Brief, the Appellants argue, for the first time on appeal, that
Ru's fuse cannot include a non-volatile memory cell random access address.4
Reply Br. 6; see also Hu, col. 5, 11. 31-33 ("In an embodiment of the present
invention, the memory unit 230 includes a fuse or a low-power resistor less than
0.3 W.").
The Appellants' new argument will not be considered on appeal. The
argument was not raised in the Appeal Brief and is not responsive to an argument
raised in the Examiner's Answer. Moreover, the Appellants have failed to show
good cause why the argument could not have been raised in the Appeal Brief.
37 C.F.R. § 41.41(b)(2) (2014).5
In sum, the § 1 02 (b) rejection of claims 1--4, 8, 19, and 2 0 is sustained for
the same reasons we sustained the § 102(b) rejection of claims 9 and 10.
As for the remaining claims on appeal, the Appellants indicate that
dependent claims 5-7 stand or fall with the patentability of independent claim 1
3 Hu discloses that "[t]he control lines can use the existing address lines or power
supply lines in the print head for reading the input signals of the identification
codes." Hu, col. 3, 11. 59-62 (emphasis added).
4 The Examiner finds "the term 'non-volatile memory cell random access address'
in its most basic form is a signal supplied to a system that causes a particular
structure to be accessed." Ans. 11. The Appellants do not direct us to any error in
the Examiner's finding.
5 Applicable to all appeals in which a notice of appeal is filed on or after January
23, 2012.
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Application 12/739,076
and dependent claims 11-13 stand or fall with the patentability of claim 9. App.
Br. 11-12. Therefore, the§ 103(a) rejections of claims 5-7 and 11-13 are also
sustained.
C. DECISION
The decision of the Examiner is affirmed.
No time period for taking any subsequent action in connection with this
appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(l).
AFFIRMED
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