TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED

Patent Trials and Appeals BoardMay 18, 2021

2020003231 (P.T.A.B. May. 18, 2021)

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. 15/975,582 05/09/2018 Michael Uwe SCHLENKER TI-78957 1848 23494 7590 05/18/2021 TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INCORPORATED P O BOX 655474, MS 3999 DALLAS, TX 75265 EXAMINER SEVEN, EVREN ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER 2812 NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE 05/18/2021 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): uspto@ti.com PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07) UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD Ex parte MICHAEL UWE SCHLENKER, STEFAN HERZER, and KONRAD WAGENSOHNER Appeal 2020-003231 Application 15/975,582 Technology Center 2800 Before CATHERINE Q. TIMM, N. WHITNEY WILSON, and SHELDON M. McGEE, Administrative Patent Judges. TIMM, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 134(a), Appellant1 appeals from the Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1–20. See Final Act. 1. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). We REVERSE. 1 “Appellant” refers to “applicant” as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.42. Appellant identifies the real party in interest as Texas Instruments Incorporated. Appeal Br. 2. Appeal 2020-003231 Application 15/975,582 2 CLAIMED SUBJECT MATTER The claims are directed to an integrated circuit with a set of serially- connected resistors. See, e.g., claims 1, 10, and 17. All the claims require a pin electrically coupled to an output port of a current source (claims 1 and 17) or recite that the current source provides a second current to the pin (claim 10). Claim 1, reproduced below, is illustrative of the claimed subject matter: 1. An integrated circuit comprising: a source comprising an output port; a set of serially-connected resistors electrically coupled to the output port of the source; a comparator comprising a first input port, a second input port, and an output port; a set of switches, each switch in the set of switches comprising a first terminal electrically coupled to the first input port of the comparator, and a second terminal electrically coupled to the set of serially-connected resistors; a current source comprising an output port electrically coupled to the second input port of the comparator; and a pin electrically coupled to the output port of the current source. Appeal Br. 11 (Claims Appendix) (emphasis added). Appeal 2020-003231 Application 15/975,582 3 REFERENCES The prior art relied upon by the Examiner is: Name Reference Date Dempsey US 2017/0331489 A1 Nov. 16, 2017 Charles WO 2015/047839 A1 Apr. 2, 2015 Agarwal OP-Amp Comparator Circuit Working and Its Applications, www.elprocus.com/op- amp-comparator- circuit-working- application 2013 REJECTIONS Claims 1–5, 7–13, and 15–20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal in view of Dempsey. Final Act. 2. Claims 6 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over Agarwal and Dempsey in view of Charles. Final Act. 7. OPINION The claims are directed to an integrated circuit. As a first matter, there is a dispute between the Examiner and Appellant as to the meaning of integrated circuit. We agree with Appellant that “integrated circuit” has an established meaning in the art and that, as evidenced by the Specification, Appellant is using the term in accordance with its ordinary and accepted meaning in the art. An integrated circuit is “a circuit of transistors, resistors, and capacitors constructed on a single semiconductor wafer or chip, in which the components are interconnected to perform a given function.” Dictionary.com/browse/integrated-circuit (accessed May 11, 2021). Appeal 2020-003231 Application 15/975,582 4 Appellant shows the typical integrated circuit chip encapsulated in a package in Figure 1. Appellant’s integrated circuit package includes a pin. As shown in Figure 1, pin 104 extends from package 102 to electrically couple integrated circuit 200 to external resistor 106. The Examiner finds that Agarwal describes an inverting comparator circuit that inherently has “some pin between R1 and R2.” Final Act. 3 (bolding omitted). The only structure Agarwal depicts between R1 and R2 is a node. Appellant contends that the node is not a pin as it is not configured to interface with any component that is external to Agarwal’s testing circuit. Appeal Br. 8. The Examiner does not respond. Ans. 3–7. Given that the Examiner has not identified a structure within Agarwal that is a “pin” as that term is understood in the art of integrated circuit packages, i.e., a structure connecting the integrated circuit with an external component, and the Examiner has not provided sufficient technical reasoning to support the finding of inherency, we determine that Appellant has identified a reversible error in the Examiner’s finding of inherency, which, in this case, is necessary to make out a prima facie case of obviousness. The Examiner’s application of Charles does not remedy the deficiency. CONCLUSION The Examiner’s decision to reject claims 1–20 is REVERSED. Appeal 2020-003231 Application 15/975,582 5 DECISION SUMMARY Claim(s) Rejected 35 U.S.C. § Reference(s)/Basis Affirmed Reversed 1–5, 7–13, 15–20 103 Agarwal, Dempsey 1–5, 7–13, 15–20 6, 14 103 Agarwal, Dempsey, Charles 6, 14 Overall Outcome 1–20 REVERSED