`
`
`UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
`United States Patent and Trademark Office
`Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS
`P.O. Box 1450
`Alexandria. Virginia 223l3-I450
`www.uspto.gov
`
`0
`
`APPLICATION NO.
`
`FILING DATE
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`FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
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`ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.
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`CONFIRMATION NO.
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`:0/459,797
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`06/l 2/2003
`
`Mark M. Leather
`
`0o100.02.0053
`
`4148
`
`29l 53
`7590
`08/28/2007
`ADVANCED mo DEVICES, INC.
`C/O VEDDER PRICE KAUFMAN & KAMMHOLZ, P.C.
`222 N.LASALLE STREET
`CHICAGO’ IL 60601
`
`HSU. JON!
`
`ART UNIT
`2628
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`MAIL DATE
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`08/28/2007
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`PAPER NUMBER
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`DELIVERY MODE
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`PAPER
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`Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.
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`The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.
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`PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
`
`U N I Fl ED 1 008
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`UNIFIED 1008
`
`
`
`Application No.
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`App|icant(s)
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`Office Action Summary
`
`10/459,797
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`Examine,
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`V
`
`LEATHER ET AL. -
`
`An Unit
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`262_8 -
`
`-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address -
`Period for Reply
`—
`
`A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE § MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS,
`WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.
`- Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a).
`In no event, however, may a reply be timely filed
`after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication.
`-
`- Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).
`Any reply. received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any
`earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).
`
`Status
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`1)® Responsive to communication(s) filed on June 7 2007.
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`2a)E] This action is FINAL.
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`2b) This action is non-final.
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`_
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`3)I:] Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters,‘ prosecution as to the merits is
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`closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11, 453 O.G. 213.
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`Disposition of Claims
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`4)E Claim(s) 1-7 10-22 24 and 25 is/are pending in the application.
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`4a) Of the above claim(s) __ is/are withdrawn from consideration.
`.
`5)|:] Claim(s) __ is/are allowed.
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`6)IZl Claim(s) 1-7 10-22 24 and 25 is/are rejected.
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`7)l:] Claim(s) _ is/are objected to.
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`8)I:] Claim(s)
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`are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.
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`Application Papers
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`9)I:l The specification is objected to by the Examiner.
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`10)I:I The drawing(s) filed on _ is/are: a)I:I accepted or b)I:I objected to by the Examiner.
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`Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).
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`Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121(d).
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`11)E] The oath or declaration is objected to by the Examiner. Note the attached Office Action or form PTO-152.
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`Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119
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`12)D Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119( )-(d) or (f).
`a)I:] All
`b)l:] Some * c)E] None of:
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`1.I:] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.
`
`2.[] Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. __
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`3.I:I Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage
`application’ from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).
`I
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`* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.
`
`Attachment(s)
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`1) E Notice of References Cited (PTO-892)
`2) D Notice of Draftsperson's Patent Drawing Review (PTO-948)
`3) E lnforrnation Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/O8)
`Paper No(s)/Mail Date 7/27/07.
`'
`U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
`PTOL-326 (Rev. 08-06)
`
`Office Action Summary
`
`4) CI Interview Summary (PTO—413)
`Papef N0(S)/M3" D819. _
`5) I:I Notice of Informal Patent Application
`6) C] Other:.
`.
`-
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`Part of Paper No./Mail Date 6707
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 10/459,797
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`_
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`Page 2
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`Art Unit: 2628
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`1
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`DETAILED ACTION
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`Information Disclosure Statement
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`1.
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`The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on July 27, 2007 was filed after the
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`mailing date of the application on June 12, 2003. The submission is in compliance with the
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`provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being
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`considered by the examiner.
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`Response to Arguments
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`2.
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`Applicant’s arguments, see pages 8-11, filed June 7, 2007, with respect to the claim
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`objection and the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections have been fully considered and are persuasive.~ The
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`objection to Claim 25 and the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections of Claims 20-22 have been withdrawn.
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`. 3.
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`Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-7', 10-22, 24, and 25 have been considered
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`but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.
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`4.
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`App1icant’s arguments, see pages 12-13, filed June 7, 2007, with respect to the
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`rejection(s) of c1aim(s) 1-5, 7, 10, 12-16, 18, 20-22, 24, and 25 under 35 U.S.C. 102(b) and
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`claims.6, 11, 17, and 19 under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) have been fully considered and_ are persuasive.
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`Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new
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`ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Perego (US006864896B2).
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`5.
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`Applicant argues that Kelleher (US005794016A) does not teach “a memory controller
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`coupled to the at least two graphics pipelines, operative to transfer pixel data between each of a
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`« first pipeline and a second pipeline and a memory” (pages 12-13).
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`In reply, new grounds of rejection are made in View of Perego.
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`Application/Control Number: 10/459,797
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`Page 3
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`Art Unit: 2628
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`6.
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`As per Claim 25, Applicant argues that Kelleher teaches that each block is square. Since
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`Kelleher does not teach any blocks that are not square, and therefore does not teach a region that
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`includes NxM number of pixels (page 14).
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`~ In reply, the Examiner points out that Claim 25 does not recite that N is not equal to M.
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`Therefore, N can be equal to M. New grounds of rejection are made in view of Perego, which
`more clearly teaches Applicant’s disclosed invention.‘ Even ifN does not equalito M, Perego
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`teaches that each region is rectangular (c. 5, 11. 23-25).
`
`7.
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`Applicant's arguments filed June 7, 2007 with respect to Claim 24 have been fully
`
`considered but they are not persuasive.
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`8.
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`As per Claim 24, Applicant argues that Kelleher discloses multiple processors 20, each of
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`which may have its own front end circuitry and a scan converter. Kelleher does not disclose a
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`first and a second scan converter both coupled to the front end circuitry (pages 13-14).
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`In reply, Examiner disagrees. Kelleher teaches first and second scan converter (update
`
`stage, Fig. 7 in 20A and 20B, Fig. 3) both coupled to front end circuitry 14 (c.8, 11. 32-c. 9, ll. 4).
`
`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
`
`9.
`
`The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the
`
`basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
`
`A person shall be entitled to a patent unless —
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`(e) the invention was described in (1) an application for patent, published under section l22(b), by another filed
`in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent or (2) a patent granted on an application for
`patent by another filed in the United States before the invention by the applicant for patent, except that an
`international application filed under the treaty defined in section 35l(a) shall have the effects for purposes of this
`subsection of an application filed in the United States only if the international application designated the United
`States and was published under Article 21(2) of such treaty in the English language.
`
`10.
`
`Claims 1-4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 20-22, and 25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. l02(e) as being
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`anticipated by Perego (US006864896B2).
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`
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`Application‘/Control Number: 10/459,797
`Art Unit: 2628
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`'
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`Page 4
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`11.
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`As per Claims 1 and 25, Perego teaches graphics processing circuit (300, Fig. 3; Col. 3,
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`11. 61-63) having at least two graphics pipelines (312) operative to process data in corresponding
`
`set of tiles of repeating tile pattern corresponding to screen locations, respective one of at least
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`two graphics pipelines operative to process data in a dedicated tile (c. 5, 11. 19-27, 38-44); and
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`memory controller (310, Fig. 3) in communication with at least two graphics pipelines (312),
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`operative to transfer pixel data between each of first pipeline and second pipeline and shared
`
`memories (314) (c. 3, 11. 65-67; c. 4, 11. 1-10, 48-65). The shared memories (314) are each part
`
`of the main memory (c. 1, 11. 44-54; c. 3, 11. 3-6), and therefore are considered to be one memory.
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`The repeating tile pattern includes a horizontally and vertically repeating pattern of regions of
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`square regions, as shown in Fig. 5 (c. 5, 11. 19-27, 38-44).
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`12.
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`As per Claim 2, Perego discloses that the square regions comprise a twddimensional
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`partitioning of memory (c. 5, 11. 19-33).
`
`13.
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`14.
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`As per Claim 3, Perego discloses that the memory is a frame buffer (c. 5, 11. 32-33).
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`As per Claim 4, Perego discloses that each of at least two graphics pipelines includes
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`front end circuitry (308, Fig. 3) operative to generate pixel data corresponding to primitive to be
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`rendered, and back end circuitry (312), coupled to front end circuitry, operative to receive and
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`process a portion of pixel data (c. 3, ll. 64-c. 4, ll. 2; c. 5, 11. 19-44). In order for the front end
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`circuitry (308) to generate pixel data, it must inherently receive Vertex data.
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`15.
`
`As per Claim 7, Perego teaches the at least two graphics pipelines (312,iFig. 3) separately
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`receive the pixel data from the front end circuitry (308) (c. 3, 11. 64-0. 4, ll. 2; c. 5, 11. 19-44).
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`Page 5
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`Art Unit: 2628
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`16.
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`As per Claim 10, Perego discloses that a first of the at least two graphics pipelines (first
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`rendering engine of 312, Fig. 3) processes the pixel data only in a first set of tiles (tiles labeled
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`“REO” in Fig. 5) in the repeating tile pattern (c. 5, 11. 23-44).
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`17.
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`As per Claim 12, Perego discloses that a second of the at least two graphics pipelines
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`(second rendering engine of 312, Fig. 3) processes the pixel data only in a second set of tiles
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`(tiles labeled "‘RE1” in Fig. 5) in the repeating tile pattern (c. 5, 11. 23-44).
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`18.
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`As per Claim 14, Claim 14 is similar to Claims 4 and 10, except that Claim 14 is for a
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`third and fourth graphics pipeline. Perego teaches four graphics pipelines (c. 5,-ll. 41-44). So
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`Claim 14 is rejected under the same rationale as Claims 4 and 10.
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`19.
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`As per Claim 20, Perego teaches a graphics processing method, comprising generating
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`1 pixel data (c. 5, 11. 19-25), which is inherently generated in response to received vertex data;
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`determining pixels within set of tiles of a repeating tile pattern corresponding to screen locations
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`to be processed by a corresponding one of at least two graphics pipelines (312, Fig. 3) in
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`response to the pixel data, the repeating tile pattern including a horizontally and vertically
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`repeating pattern of square regions, as shown in Fig. 5; performing pixel operations on the pixels
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`within the determined set of tiles by the corresponding one of the at least two graphics pipelines
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`(c. 5, 11. 19-44); and transmitting the processed pixels to a memory controller (310), wherein the
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`at least two graphics pipelines share the memory controller (c. 3, ll. 65-c. 4, ll. 25; c. 5, 11. 31-44).
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`20.
`
`As per Claim 21, Perego discloses that determining the pixels within a set of tiles of the
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`repeating tile pattern to be processed further comprises determining the set of tiles that the
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`corresponding graphics pipeline is responsible for (c. 5, 11. 19-50).
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`Page 6
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`Art Unit: 2628
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`21.
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`As per Claim 22, Perego teaches determining pixels within set of tiles of repeating tile
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`pattern to be processed comprises providing position coordinates of pixels within determined set
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`of tiles to be processed to corresponding one of at least two graphics pipelines (c.
`
`11. 19-44).
`
`Thus, it reasonably appears that Perego describes or discloses every element of Claims 1-
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`4, 7, 10, 12, 14, 20-22, and 25 and therefore anticipates the claims subject.
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`Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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`22.
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`The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code 103(a) not included in this action can be
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`‘found in a prior Office action.
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`23.
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`Claims 5, 18, and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over
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`Perego (USOO6864896B2) in View of Kelleher (USOO5794016A).
`
`24.
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`As per Claim 5, Perego is relied upon for the teachings as discussed relative to Claim 4.
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`However, Perego does not explicitly teach that at each of the at least two graphics
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`pipelines further includes a scan converter, coupled to the back end circuitry, operative to
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`determine the portion of the pixel data to be processed by the back end circuitry. However,
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`Kelleher discloses that each of the at least two graphics pipelines (20A, 20B, Fig. 3; c. 3, ll. 22-
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`23; c. 4, 11. 9-14) further includes a scan converter (update stage, Fig. 7), coupled to the back end
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`circuitry, operative to determine the portion of the pixel data to be processed by the back end
`circuitry (c. 8,11. 52-61; c. 9, 11. 1-23; c. 6, 11. 26-28).
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention by
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`applicant to modify the device of Perego so that at each of the at least two graphics pipelines
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`further includes a scan converter, coupled to the back end circuitry, operative to determine the
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`portion of the pixel data to be processed by the back end circuitry as suggested by Kelleher
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`
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`Page 7
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`Art Unit: 2628
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`because Kelleher suggests that the scan converters are needed in order to define the image data
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`as an array of pixels by calculating the pixel addresses (c. 9, 11. 1-23), as is well-known in the art.
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`25.
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`As per Claim 18, Perego does not teach a bridge operable to transmit vertex data to each
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`of the first, second, third and fourth graphics pipelines. However, Kelleher discloses a bridge
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`(38, Fig. 3) operative to transmit vertex data to each of the first (20A), second (20B), third (20C)
`and fourth (20N) graphicspipelines (c. 3, 11. 22-23; c. 4, 11. 9-14; c. 8, ll. 56-65;.c. 3, 11. 46-50).
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention by
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`applicant to modify Perego to include a bridge operable to transmit vertex data to each of the
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`first, second, third and fourth graphics pipelines as suggested by Kelleher because Kelleher
`suggests the advantage ofbeing able to convert the vertex data to pixel data in parallel, which
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`increases the eifficiency of the graphics system (c. 2, 11. 31-35; c. 8, 11. 56-65; c. 9, 11. 1-23).
`
`26.
`
`As per Claim 24, Perego teaches graphics processing circuit (300, Fig. 3; c. 3, 11. 61-63),
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`having front end circuitry (308) operative to generate pixel data in response to primitive data for
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`primitive to be rendered (c. 5, 11. 19-23); first back end circuitry (first rendering engine 312),
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`coupled to front end circuitry 308, operative to process first portion of pixel data (labeled “REO”
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`in Fig. 5) in response to position coordinates; set of tiles of repeating tile pattern are to be
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`processed by first back end circuitry, repeating tile pattern including horizontally and vertically
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`repeating pattern of square regions, as shown in Fig. 5; second back end circuitry (second
`
`rendering engine 312), coupled to front end circuitry 308, operative to process second portion of
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`pixel data (labeled “RE1” in Fig. 5) in response to position coordinates; set of tiles of repeating
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`tile pattern are to be processed by second back end circuitry (c. 3, ll. 63-c. 4, ll. _2; c. 5, 11. 19-44);
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`Application/Control Number: 10/459,797
`Art Unit: 2628
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`Page 8
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`and memory controller (310), coupled to first and second back end circuitry (312) operative to
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`transmit and receive processed pixel data (c. 3, 11. 65-67; c. 4, ll. l-53; c. 5, 11. 32-44).
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`However, Perego does not explicitly teach a first scan converter and a second scan
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`converter. However, Kelleher discloses a first scan converter, coupled between the front end
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`circuitry ('14, Fig. 3) and the first back end circuitry (update stage, Fig.4 7 in 20A, Fig. 3),
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`operative to determine which set of tiles of a repeating tile pattern are to be processed by the first
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`back end circuitry (c. 3, 11. 22-23; c. 8, 11. 33-c. 9, ll. 23), and operative to provide the position
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`coordinates to the first back end circuitry in response to the pixel data (c. 4, 11. 60-62; c. 8, 11. 52-
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`65; c. 6, 11. 36-3 8); a second scan converter, coupled between the front end circuitry and the
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`second back end circuitry (update stage, Fig. 7 in 20B, Fig. 3), operative to determine which set
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`of tiles of the repeating tile pattern are to be processed by the second back end circuitry, and
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`operative to provide the position coordinates to the second back end circuitry in response to the
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`pixel data (c. 3, 11. 22-23; c. 8, ll. 33-c. 9,11. 23; c. 4, 11. 60-62; c. 8,11. 52-65; c. 6, 11. 36-38).
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`This would be obvious for the same reasons given in the rejection for Claim 5.
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`'
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`27.
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`Claims 6 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. l03(a) as being unpatentable over Perego
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`(USOO6864896B2) in view of Furtner (USOO6778l77B1).
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`28.
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`' As per Claim 6, Perego is relied upon for the teachings as discussed relative to Claim 1.
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`However, Perego does not explicitly teach that each tile of the set of tiles further
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`comprises a 16x16 pixel array. However, Furtner describes that each tile of the set- of tiles
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`further comprises a 16x16 pixel array (c. 11, 11. 45-48, 64-65).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention by
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`applicant to modify the device of Perego so that each tile of the set of tiles further comprises a
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`Page 9
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`16x16 pixel array as suggested by Furtner because Furtner suggests that depending on the
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`number of parallel image-rendering pipelines and depending on the memory organization, the
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`optimum tile size and shape can be selected (c. 11, 11. 45-48, 64-65), and therefore it would be
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`obvious to modify the tile size to be 16x16 pixels if that would be the optimum tile size for a
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`particular number of parallel image-rendering pipelines and particular memory organization.
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`29.
`
`As per Claim 17, Perego does not teach 3"‘ and 4"‘ graphics pipelines are on separate
`
`chips. However, Furtner teaches 3” and 4”‘ pipelines are on separate chips (c. 6, 11. 47-51).
`
`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention by
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`applicant to modify the device of Perego so that pipelines are on separate chips as suggested by
`
`Furtner because Furtner suggests that this makes the system more configurable by being able to
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`easily add more graphics pipelines to increase the performance (c. 6, 11. 29-30, 42-51).
`
`30.
`
`Claims 11, 13, 15, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. l03(a) as being unpatentable over
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`Perego (USOO6864896B2) in view of Kelleher (US005794016A), further in view of Hamburg
`
`(US005905506A).
`
`Perego is relied upon for the teachings as discussed relative to Claim 10.
`
`However, Perego does not explicitly teach a scan converter. However, Kelleher discloses
`
`that the first of the at least two graphics pipelines (20A,’ Fig. 3; c. 3, 11. 22-23; c. 4, 11. 9-14)
`
`further includes a scan converter (84, Fig. 7), coupled to the front end circuitry (80, 82) and the
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`back end circuitry (c. 8, 11. 52-c. 9, ll. 23). The scan converter determines which groups of
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`blocks 52 within the graphics memory 22 are allocated to and controlled by the graphics
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`pipelines (c. 8, 11. 52-65; c. 6, 11. 26-28). The graphics memory is partitioned into a plurality of
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`pixel blocks that are tiled in the x-and y-direction of the graphics memory (c. 4, 11. 60-62).
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`I
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`. Page 10
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`'
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`Therefore, the scan converter is inherently operative to provide memory addresses or position
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`coordinates of the pixels within the first set of tiles to be processed by the back end circuitry.
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`This would be obvious for the same reasons given in the rejection for Claim 5.
`
`However, Perego and Kelleher do not explicitly teach using tile identification data to
`
`indicate which tiles are to be processed. However, Hamburg discloses a pixel identification line
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`for receiving tile identification data indicating which tiles are to be processed (c. 5, 11. 35-52).
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention by
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`applicant to modify the devices of Perego and Kelleher to include using tile identification data to
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`indicate which tiles are to be processed as suggested by Hamburg because Hamburg suggests the
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`advantage of using tile identification data to easily track the storage locations of the tile pixel
`
`data and being able to easily retrieve data for a particular image tile (c. 1, 11. 416-54).
`31.
`Claim 19 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. l03(a) as being unpatentable over l’erego
`
`(US006864896B2) and Furtner (US006778177B1) in view of Kent (US 20030164830A1).
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`Perego and Furtner are relied upon for the teachings discussed relative to Claim 17.
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`Perego teaches data includes a polygon (c. 5, 11. 19-23). Furtner teaches third and fourth graphics
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`pipelines are on separate chips (c. 6, 11. 47-51), as discussed in the rejection for Claim 17.
`However, Perego and Further do not teach creating a bounding box around the polygon
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`and each corner of the bounding box is checked against a super tile that belongs to each separate
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`_ chip and wherein if the bounding box does not overlap any of the super tiles associated with a
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`separate chip, then the processing circuit rejects the whole polygon and processes a next one.
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`However, Kent discloses that the graphics pipeline [0006] calculates the bounding box of the
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`. primitive and testing this against the VisRect. If the bounding box of the primitive is contained
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`in the other P10’s super tile the primitive is discarded at this stage [O129]. A primitive can be a
`polygon [0088]. The method used. is to calculate the distance from each subpixel sample point in
`
`the point’s bounding box to the point’s center and compare this to the point’s radius. Subpixel
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`sample points with a distance greater than the radius do not contribute to a pixel’s coverage. The
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`cost of this is kept low by only allowing small radius points hence the distance calculation is a
`
`small multiply and by taking a cycle per subpixel sample per pixel within the bounding box
`
`[Ol44]. Since the method calculates the distance from each subpixel sample point in the point’s
`
`bounding box, this must include all the comers of the bounding box. Therefore, Kent discloses
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`that the data includes a polygon and that the graphics pipeline creates a bounding box around the
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`polygon and wherein each comer of the bounding box is checked against a super tile that belongs
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`to the graphics pipeline and wherein if the bounding box does not overlap any of the super tiles,
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`then the processing circuit rejects the whole polygon and processes a next one. .
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`It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of invention by
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`applicant to modify the devices of Perego and Furtner to include a bounding box as suggested by
`Kent because Kent suggests. the advantage of processing the super tiles one at a time in order to
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`hide the page break costs [o129, 0051].
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`Conclusion
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`Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the
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`examiner should be directed to Joni Hsu whose telephone number is 571-272-7785. The
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`examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-5pm.
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`
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`Application/Control Number: 10/459,797
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`Page 12
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`Art Unit: 2628
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`JH_
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`QHAUHAN
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`SUPERVISQRY PATENT EXAMINER