Ex Parte Hayward et al

Patent Trial and Appeal BoardAug 29, 2014

12795114 (P.T.A.B. Aug. 29, 2014)

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. 12/795,114 06/07/2010 Justin Hayward 2005-0442 CON 1344 83658 7590 08/29/2014 AT & T Legal Department - WS Attn: Patent Docketing Room 2A-212 One AT & T Way Bedminster, NJ 07921 EXAMINER LAPAGE, MICHAEL P ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2886 MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE 08/29/2014 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 JUSTIN HAYWARD, ANDREW B. LEWIS, and STUART RUSSELL ____________ Appeal 2012-009559 Application 12/795,114 Technology Center 2800 ____________ Before ADRIENE LEPIANE HANLON, CATHERINE Q. TIMM, and JAMES C. HOUSEL, Administrative Patent Judges. FRANKLIN, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134 from the Examiner's rejection of claims 28–46. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6. This case is related to Appeal No. 2012-009206 (S.N. 12/775,582). Appeal Br. 2. We have considered the present case along with related Appeal No. 2012- 009206. Appeal 2012-009559 Application 12/795,114 2 STATEMENT OF THE CASE Claim 28 is representative of the subject matter on appeal and is set forth below (with text in bold for emphasis): 28. A method comprising: launching into a medium a first pair of electromagnetic waves comprising a first electromagnetic wave and a second electromagnetic wave having a common pulse width, a frequency of the first electromagnetic wave being different than a frequency of the second electromagnetic wave; and sampling a first signal associated with a scattering by the medium of the first pair of electromagnetic waves based on the common pulse width by extracting phase information including complex signals corresponding to a plurality of fixed locations along the medium. The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on appeal is: Henning US 4,653,916 Mar. 31, 1987 Dakin GB 2 222 247 A Feb. 28, 1990 Greene US 2004/0145798 A1 Jul. 29, 2004 THE REJECTION Claim 28–46 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Henning in view of Dakin further in view of Greene. ISSUE Did the Examiner err in determining that the applied art suggests the claimed subject matter, in particular, the aspect of claim 28 “by extracting phase information including complex signals corresponding to a plurality of fixed locations along the medium”1? 1 The remaining independent claims 35 and 41 recite similar features. Appeal 2012-009559 Application 12/795,114 3 We answer this question in the affirmative and REVERSE. Because this case involves the very same issue addressed in related Appeal No. 2012-009206, and involves the same rejection as in related Appeal No. 2012-009206 (obviousness rejection applying the same references), we refer to our analysis as set forth in related Appeal No. 2012- 009206, and reverse the rejection in the instant case for the same reasons. The decision of the Examiner is reversed. REVERSED sl