Ex Parte Brown

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 4, 2013

11617634 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 4, 2013)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARKOFFICE
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.
11/617,634 12/28/2006 DAVID LAWRENCE BROWN 110595.00005/CAM920060161 4469
67046 7590 09/04/2013
HOLLAND & KNIGHT
10 ST. JAMES AVENUE
BOSTON, MA 02116-3889
EXAMINER
FIELDS, BENJAMIN S
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
3684
MAIL DATE DELIVERY MODE
09/04/2013 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 DAVID LAWRENCE BROWN
____________________

Appeal 2011-009933
Application 11/617,634
Technology Center 3600
____________________

Before BIBHU R. MOHANTY, MEREDITH C. PETRAVICK, and
NINA L. MEDLOCK, Administrative Patent Judges.

MEDLOCK, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL
Appeal 2011-009933
Application 11/617,634

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STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellant appeals under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from the Examiner’s final
rejection of claims 1, 3-8, 10-12, 14-16, and 18-24. We have jurisdiction
under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).

STATEMENT OF THE DECISION
We REVERSE.1

BACKGROUND
Appellant’s invention relates to ecommerce processes and, more
particularly, to multi-user ecommerce processes (Spec., para. [0001]).
Claim 1, reproduced below, is representative of the subject matter on
appeal:
1. A method comprising:
maintaining, on a first computing device, consumer
identification and billing information concerning a user, the
first computing device distinct from at least one merchant
computing device;
maintaining, on a second computing device, a directory
of ecommerce merchants, each ecommerce merchant
corresponding to the at least one merchant computing device,
the second computing device being distinct from the at least
one merchant computing device;
interfacing, via a distributed computing network, the first
computing device and the second computing device;
generating, on the second computing device, a list of
goods/services provided by one or more ecommerce merchants
within the directory of ecommerce merchants;

1 Our decision will make reference to Appellant’s Appeal Brief (“App.
Br.,” filed March 14, 2011) and Reply Brief (“Reply Br.,” filed May 31,
2011) and the Examiner’s Answer (“Ans.,” mailed March 28, 2011).
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enabling the user to select one or more goods / services
from the list of goods / services;
facilitating an order of the selected goods / services from
the one or more ecommerce merchants to the user using the
consumer identification and billing information maintained on
the first computing device;
interfacing, via the distributed computing network, the
first computing device, with an information resource located on
the second computing device, wherein the information resource
maintains information, accessible by the first computing device,
that at least partially defines the goods/services offered for sale
by the selected ecommerce merchant;
generating, on the first computing device, an information
screen including the information that at least partially defines
the goods/services offered for sale by the selected ecommerce
merchant; and
generating, on the first computing device, a supplemental
information screen that requests information from the user
specific to a selected good/service.

THE REJECTION
The following rejection is before us for review:
Claims 1, 3-8, 10-12, 14-16, and 18-24 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C.
§ 103(a) as being unpatentable over Li (US 2005/0065881 A1, pub. Mar. 24,
2005) in view of Kight (US 7,240,031 B1, iss. Jul. 3, 2007) and further in
view of Ganesan (US 7,302,411 B2, iss. Nov. 27, 2007).

ANALYSIS
Independent claim 1 and dependent claims 3-7, 20, 23 and 24
We are persuaded that the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 1 under
35 U.S.C. § 103(a) by Appellant’s argument that none of the cited references
discloses or suggests “generating, on the first computing device, a
supplemental information screen that requests information from the user
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specific to a selected good/service,” as recited in claim 1 (App. Br. 6-11 and
Reply Br. 4-5).
The Examiner cites the Abstract and column 4, line 1 through
column 5, line 59 of Ganesan as disclosing this feature (Ans. 5-6, 14, and
18). However, we find nothing in the cited portions of Ganesan that
discloses or suggests generating a supplemental information screen that
requests information from the user specific to a selected good/service, as
called for in claim 1.
Ganesan discloses a system and method for transmitting information,
e.g., billing information, via a network to a network user, and describes that
multiple information identifiers, each associated with information to be
directed to a network user, are received and stored by the system. A notice
of availability of the information and one of the information identifiers are
transmitted to the network user. Only after the user views the information
associated with the transmitted information identifier, another information
identifier is transmitted to allow the network user to view the information
associated with the other information identifier (Ganesan, Abstract).
Ganesan describes at column 4, line 1 through column 5, line 59, on
which the Examiner relies, that in one embodiment, the first information
identifier is a hyperlink to a first network address storing supplemental
information (e.g., special announcements, promotional offers, regulatory
notices, and notices associated with the network user’s account) that the
biller wants the network user to view before viewing bill detail information
and the second information identifier is a hyperlink to a second network
address that stores detailed billing information for the user (Ganesan, col. 4,
ll. 8-24). In this first embodiment, the Ganesan system allows a biller to
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force a network user to view the supplemental information first before
viewing bill detail information (Ganesan, col. 4, ll. 26-29), e.g., by
transmitting the second information identifier to the network user only after
receiving a notice that the user has accessed the first information (see
Ganesan, col. 4, ll. 45-55). Ganesan describes that the first information
could be bill detail information, and the second information could be
supplemental information, e.g., information which enables the user to pay
the bill, in which case the user would be required to view the bill detail
information before paying the bill (Ganesan, col. 4, ll. 30-39). However, we
find nothing in the cited portions of Ganesan that discloses or suggests
generating a supplemental information screen that requests information from
the user, as opposed to providing information to the user, let alone a
supplemental information screen that requests information from the user
specific to a selected good or service.
In view of the foregoing, we will not sustain the Examiner’s rejection
of claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a). We also will not sustain the
Examiner’s rejection of dependent claims 3-7, 20, 23 and 24.
Independent claims 8, 12 and 16 and dependent claims 10, 11, 14, 15, 18,
19, 21 and 22
Independent claims 8, 12, and 16 include language substantially
similar to claim 1. Therefore, we will not sustain the Examiner’s rejection
of claims 8, 12, and 16 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) for the same reasons as set
forth above with respect to claim 1. We also will not sustain the rejection of
claims 10, 11, 14, 15, 18, 19, 21 and 22, each of which ultimately depends
from one of claims 8, 12, and 16.

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DECISION
The Examiner’s rejection of claims 1, 3-8, 10-12, 14-16, and 18-24
under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) is reversed.

REVERSED

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