Ex Parte Glasgow et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 28, 2016

12638513 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 28, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
12/638,513 12/15/2009
83719 7590 09/28/2016
AT & T Legal Department - FKM
AT & T LEGAL DEPARTMENT,
ATTN: PATENT DOCKETING ROOM 2A-207
BEDMINSTER, NJ 07921
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Jay Oliver Glasgow
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
ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.
2009-1016 (40147/15801) 5208
EXAMINER
SHIAU, SHEN C
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2174
MAILDATE DELIVERY MODE
09/28/2016 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 JAY OLIVER GLASGOW and PRECIA CARRAWAY
Appeal2015-002899
Application 12/638,513
Technology Center 2100
Before CARL W. WHITEHEAD JR., ADAM J. PYONIN and
SHARON PENICK, Administrative Patent Judges.
WHITEHEAD JR., Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Appellants are appealing the Final Rejection of claims 1--4 and 6-20
under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a). Appeal Brief 3. We have jurisdiction under 35
U.S.C. § 6(b) (2012).
We affirm.
Introduction
The invention is directed to a "feed system for an address book
comprising a news feed module and a sales feed module." Specification 3.
Representative Claim (disputed limitations emphasized)
1. A feed system, comprising:
a memory storing a set of instructions; and
Appeal2015-002999
Application 12/638,513
a processor executing the set of instructions to perform operations,
compnsmg:
accessing current news sources to find related current news articles as
a function of data in an address book;
accessing current sales sources to find related current sales items as a
function of the data in the address book;
forwarding the current news articles and the current sales items to the
address book; and
modifYing the address book to include a representation of the current
news articles and the current sales items.
Rejection on Appeal
Claims 1--4 and 6-20 stand rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a)
as being unpatentable over by Bamford (U.S. Patent Application Publication
Number 2008/0276164 Al; published November 6, 2008) and various
embodiments disclosed by Bamford.
ANALYSIS
Rather than reiterate the arguments of Appellants and the Examiner,
we refer to the Appeal Brief (filed August 20, 2014), the Reply Brief (filed
January 20, 2015), the Answer (mailed November 19, 2014) and the Final
Rejection (mailed May 27, 2014) for the respective details. We have
considered in this decision only those arguments Appellants actually raised
in the Briefs.
We have reviewed the Examiner's rejections in light of Appellants'
arguments that the Examiner has erred. We adopt as our own (1) the
findings and reasons set forth by the Examiner in the action from which this
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Appeal2015-002999
Application 12/638,513
appeal is taken and (2) the reasons set forth by the Examiner in the
Examiner's Answer in response to Appellants' Appeal Brief, except where
noted.
Appellants argue:
Bamford does not disclose or suggest any "current news articles"
or "current sales items," as recited in claim 1. Therefore,
Bamford does not disclose or suggest "accessing current sales
sources to find related current sales items as a function of the data
in the address book," "forwarding one of the current news
articles and the current sales items to the address book," and
"modifying the address book to include a representation of the
one of the current news articles and the current sales items," as
recited in claim 1.
Appeal Brief 5-6 (citations omitted).
The Examiner finds, "It would have been obvious to combine the
various embodiments disclosed by Bamford with the motivation to provide
better user experience and improvements to the access to real-time data
feeds on the world-wide web (Paragraph 9)." Final Rejection 5. The
Examiner further finds:
Because data is still data, the different types of data content will
not prevent or affect the processor to execute the instructions to
access the data source to retrieve the data feed and to display the
data feed in the address book. Also, Bamford discloses various
types of data feeds are possible.
Final Rejection 5.
We agree with the Examiner's findings that utilizing a processor to
access data sources to retrieve and employ current news articles and current
sales items is well within the purview of one of ordinary skill in the art, in
view of Bamford, for the reasons set forth. See KSR Int 'l Co. v. Teleflex
Inc., 550 U.S. 398, 418 (2007) ("[T]he [obviousness] analysis need not seek
out precise teachings directed to the specific subject matter of the challenged
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Appeal2015-002999
Application 12/638,513
claim, for a court can take account of the inferences and creative steps that a
person of ordinary skill in the art would employ."). We sustain the
Examiner's obviousness rejection of claims 1--4 and 6-20.
DECISION
The Examiner's obviousness rejections of claims 1--4 and 6-20 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)(l )(iv). See 37
C.F.R. § 41.50(±).
AFFIRMED
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