Ex Parte Kootstra

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Aug 22, 2012

11105088 (B.P.A.I. Aug. 22, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________________

BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
____________________

Ex parte LEWIS STEPHEN KOOTSTRA
____________________

Appeal 2010-004561
Application 11/105,088
Technology Center 2100
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Before ALLEN R. MacDONALD, TREVOR JEFFERSON,
and LARRY J. HUME, Administrative Patent Judges.

MacDONALD, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL

Appeal 2010-004561
Application 11/105,088

2
STATEMENT OF CASE
Introduction
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a rejection of claims
31-62. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).

Exemplary Claims
Exemplary claims 31 and 49 under appeal read as follows (emphasis
added):
31. A memory device, comprising:
at least one memory array, each memory array having multiple
buffers being coupled to an input data bus and to an output data bus,
each buffer being dynamically selectable as a read buffer or a write
buffer;
a controller operable to control read and write operations from
and to the at least one memory array; and
wherein the controller receives a command word containing at
least a first command and a second command and executes the first
and second commands during a same cycle.

49. A method for accessing a memory having at least one
memory array, the method comprising:
transferring first data from a first location of a first memory
array to a first buffer coupled to the first memory array during a first
cycle;
transferring second data from a second location of the first
memory array to a second buffer coupled to the first memory array
during a second cycle; and
reading the first data from the first buffer during the second
cycle.

Appeal 2010-004561
Application 11/105,088

3
Rejections on Appeal 1
The Examiner rejected claims 31-62 under 35 U.S.C. 112, first
paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the
specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the
relevant art that the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had
possession of the claimed invention.
Appellant’s Contentions
1. Appellant contends that the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 31
under 35 U.S.C. § 112 because the specification supports the use of each of
caches a and b as both a read buffer and a write buffer. (App. Br. 8-11).
2. Appellant contends that the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 49
under 35 U.S.C. § 112 because (a) “the simultaneous operation described
by paragraph [0048] requires” the operation recited in claim 49; and
(b) “FIG. 10 and paragraphs [0061]-[0068] discuss bank commands and read
commands occurring during the same cycle, which also supports the
operation sequence recited by claim 49.” (App. Br. 12).

Issue on Appeal
Did the Examiner err in rejecting claims 31-62 under 35 U.S.C.
§ 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description
requirement?

1 Separate patentability is not argued for claims 32-48 and 50-62.
(App. Br. 7).
Appeal 2010-004561
Application 11/105,088

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ANALYSIS
We have reviewed the Examiner’s rejections in light of Appellant’s
numerous arguments (Appeal Brief and Reply Brief) that the Examiner has
erred.
We disagree with Appellant’s conclusions. We adopt as our own
(1) the findings and reasons set forth by the Examiner in the action from
which this appeal is taken and (2) the reasons set forth by the Examiner
in the Examiner’s Answer in response to Appellant’s Appeal Brief.
(Ans. 4-9). We concur with the conclusions reached by the Examiner.

CONCLUSIONS
(1) The Examiner has not erred in rejecting claims 31-62 under
35 U.S.C. § 112, first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written
description requirement.
(2) Claims 31-62 are not patentable.

DECISION
The Examiner’s rejections of claims 31-62 are 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)(1)(iv).

AFFIRMED

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