In re Mouttet

• Decision Date: 26 June 2012
• Docket Number: No. 2011–1451.,2011–1451.
• Citation: 686 F.3d 1322,103 U.S.P.Q.2d 1219
• Parties: In re Blaise Laurent MOUTTET.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Federal Circuit

686 F.3d 1322

103 U.S.P.Q.2d 1219

In re Blaise Laurent MOUTTET.

No. 2011–1451.

United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.

June 26, 2012.

Blaise Laurent Mouttet, of Arlington, Virginia, pro se.

Raymond T. Chen, Solicitor, United States Patent and Trademark Office, of Alexandria, Virginia, for appellee. With him on the brief were Lynne E. Pettigrew and Kristi L.R. Sawert, Associate Solicitors.

Before PROST, O'MALLEY and REYNA, Circuit Judges.

REYNA, Circuit Judge.

Mr. Blaise Laurent Mouttet (“Mouttet”) appeals the decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (“Board”) affirming the rejection of all pending patent claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). Substantial evidence supports the Board's factual determinations, and we agree with the Board's conclusion that Mouttet's claimed invention would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art. We therefore affirm.

I. Background

A. Mouttet's Patent Application

On April 3, 2006, sole inventor Mouttet submitted utility patent application No. 11/395,232 (“the '232 application”) entitled “Crossbar Arithmetic Processor.” It discloses a computing device for processes such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division using nanoscale materials in a crossbar array.¹ Specifically, Mouttet claimed in representative ² claim 1:

1. A computing device comprising:

at least one crossbar array including a first set of N conductive parallel wires (N=2) forming a set of columns and a second set of M conductive parallel wires (M=2) forming a set of rows, and formed so as to intersect the first set of conductive parallel wires, wherein intersections are formed between the first and second sets of wires forming MxN crosspoints wherein each of the crosspoints is programmable so as to be in a relatively high conductive state representative of a binary value 1 or a relatively low conductive state representative of a binary value 0;

a programming unit configured to program the crosspoints to have one of the relatively high conductive state or the relatively low conductive state so that at least one column of the crossbar array stores a bit pattern representative of a programmed numerical value;

an input unit configured to provide a bit pattern representative of an input numerical value to the columns of the crossbar array; and

a post-processing unit configured to convert analog signals output from each of the rows of the crossbar array into digital output bit patterns and configured to combine the digital output bit patterns so as to form a resultant bit pattern representative of an output numerical value,

wherein the output numerical value is mathematically dependent on both the programmed numerical value and the input numerical value.

Ex Parte Mouttet, No. 2009–010041, 2011 WL 1131338, at *1, 2011 Pat.App. LEXIS 15036, at *1–2 (B.P.A.I. Mar. 29, 2011).

Mouttet's crossbar array consists of two intersecting sets of conductive parallel wires. At the wire junctions, or “crosspoints,” a thin film material or molecular component acts as a bridge between the wires. The resistance of the thin film material or molecular component between the intersecting wires may be altered by controlling the voltages applied to individual wires in the first and second sets. By altering the resistance, each crosspoint can be programmed to be in a high resistance (low conduction) state or low resistance (high conduction) state. The two states can represent the binary values “0” and “1” and thus store digital data. For example, Mouttet's Figure 2b from the '232 application, below, illustrates the internal structure of a 3x8 crossbar array with various crosspoints in either state after programming:

Image 1 (2.23" X 3.62") Available for Offline Print

Figure 2b depicts binary values 00001001, 00000111, and 00000011, which in the base 10 number system represent the numerals 9, 7, and 3.

Mouttet's claimed computing device adds other input and output units to the central crossbar array. As shown in Figure 1 of the '232 application, reproduced below, an input unit 103 and a program unit 102 provide the necessary voltage to the array of crossbar wires 101, altering the resistance at the crosspoints:

Image 2 (4.36" X 3.76") Available for Offline Print

By altering the conductive states of the crosspoints, input unit 103 and program unit 102 provide the crossbar array with bit patterns (a series of “0”s and “1”s) representative of numerical values. Post-processing unit 105 converts the analog signals from each of the rows of the crossbar array 101 into digital output bit patterns representative of numerical values, for example, the sum of the values provided by the input unit 103 and program unit 102.

B. Prior Art

The examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) rejectedall twenty of Mouttet's pending claims under § 103(a) as unpatentable over a publication by Shamik Das ³ (“Das”) and four prior art patents: U.S. Patent Nos. 4,633,386 (filed Apr. 6, 1984) (“Terepin”), 5,249,144 (filed Sept. 29, 1989) (“Falk”); 6,693,821 (filed June 28, 2001) (“Hsu”), and 6,867,996 (filed Aug. 29, 2002) (“Campbell”). The only relevant references for purposes of this appeal are Falk, Das, and Terepin. See infra nn. 4 & 5.

1. Falk

Falk, a patent issued September 28, 1993, discloses a programmable computing device for performing arithmetic and logic operations. See Abstract; id. at col.1 ll.7–11. Falk's central circuit component consists of a crossbar array having two intersecting sets of parallel optical channels, or simply put, crossed paths of light. Id. at col.1 ll.35–39; col.6 ll.39–42. Figure 1 of Falk illustrates an example of a 4x4 optical crossbar circuit:

Image 3 (3.78" X 3.63") Available for Offline Print

In Figure 1, the crossbar array has two sets of inputs. Id. at col.3 ll.38–51. Input 100 from channel 1 and input 200 from channel 2 are light sources that have been turned on so as to beam light along optical paths 101 and 201.Id. at col.3 ll.38–46. The intensity of light at each intersecting region along the crossbar's optical paths (e.g., 300–302) represents a particular logic state. Id. at col.1 ll.39–42; col.3 ll.46–51. The examiner determined, on the basis of these disclosures, that Falk teaches an optical crossbar array for its principle arithmetic/logic unit.

Figure 13 shows the larger computing device that encapsulates the optical crossbar array as arithmetic unit 133,id. at col.5 ll.48–51 (“arithmetic unit 133 ... is implemented as per FIGS. 1–4”):

Image 4 (4.91" X 4.45") Available for Offline Print

Falk's crossbar arithmetic unit 133 receives inputs from reordering tables 131 and 132.Id. at col.6 ll.39–48. Inputs from 131 and 132 are configured to send signals along lines 161-165, providing inputs to crossbar arithmetic unit 133 and programming the device to perform the desired arithmetic operation. Id. at col.5 l.67–col.6 l.46; col.6 ll.55–61. Crossbar arithmetic unit 133 produces a set of outputs 170 based on the logic states at the crossbar intersections. Id. at col.6 ll.46–52. Outputs 170 are further processed at unit 134 to represent the result of the arithmetic operation at output 180.Id.

2. Das

Das, a 2005 publication cited by Mouttet in the '232 application, discloses nanoprocessor systems integrated on the molecular scale. “By integration on the molecular scale,” Das explains generally, “we mean the basic switching devices, as well as the wire widths and the pitch dimensions (i.e., spacing between the centers of neighboring wires), all will measure only a few nanometers—the size of a molecule—in the computer systems of interest here.” Das at 481.

Das specifically discloses a nanoscale crossbar array with molecular switches. Das's Figure 17.1 depicts structures of one or a few molecules, sandwiched between intersecting wires at the junctions of a crossbar array:

Image 5 (5.99" X 2.63") Available for Offline Print

“Fig. 17.1 ‘Crossbar’ array of nanowires with molecular devices at junctions.”

Das at 483. Das explains that the electrical behavior of the molecular-scale structures at each junction can act as a switch with two states: a high-conductance “on” state and a low-conductance “off” state. Id.;see also id. at 484 & fig.17.2. This “allows the ‘programming’ of a junction into one of two states. Such bistable switches are essential components of any computing system.” Id. at 483. On the basis of these disclosures, the examiner determined that Das teaches molecular switches on a nanoscale crossbar array capable of being programmed into high resistance or low resistance states, thereby constructing functional circuits that can be used to build larger processor systems. Id.

3. Terepin

Terepin, a patent issued December 30, 1986, is entitled “Digital Signal Processor.” The examiner determined that Terepin teaches the use of analog-to-digital (“A/D”) converter capable of converting analog signals to digital bit patterns. Terepin, col.3 ll.22–27.

C. Examiner Rejection and Board Decision

The examiner found that Falk taught all of Mouttet's recited limitations in representative claim 1 except for (1) a crossbar array implemented with electrical wires rather than optical light paths, (2) crosspoints with programmable states based on electrical conductivity rather than optical intensity, and (3) conversion of analog signal outputs to digital output bit patterns in the post-processing unit. Ex parte Mouttet, 2011 WL 1131338, at *1–2, 2011 Pat.App. LEXIS 15036, at *3–4. The examiner relied on Das to teach the missing crossbar array using wires and crosspoints that are programmable to have electrical conductive states, and on Terepin to teach a component converting analog signals to digital bit patterns. The examiner thus rejected claims 1, 2, 6–12, and 16–20 of the '232 application under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over Falk, in view of Das and Terepin.⁴ Mouttet appealed to the Board under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a).

On March 29, 2011, the Board affirmed the examiner's...