Ex Parte Rankin et alDownload PDFBoard of Patent Appeals and InterferencesJan 27, 201010101331 (B.P.A.I. Jan. 27, 2010) Copy Citation UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE ____________ BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES ____________ Ex parte PAUL J. RANKIN and DAVID C. YULE ____________ Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 Technology Center 2400 ____________ Decided: January 27, 2010 ____________ Before LANCE LEONARD BARRY, HOWARD B. BLANKENSHIP, and THU A. DANG, Administrative Patent Judges. BARRY, Administrative Patent Judge. DECISION ON APPEAL STATEMENT OF THE CASE The Patent Examiner rejected claims 1-20. The Appellants appeal therefrom under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a). We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b). Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 2 INVENTION A communications system comprises a beacon (10) storing a portion of available data (20) and having access to all of the available data over a first network (60). The beacon (10) is arranged to communicate with a client terminal (30) over a second network (35, 40) to supply data from said stored portion (20) of available data. The client terminal (30) has access to all of the available data (70) over a third network (80, 90). Upon a request by the client terminal (30) for data of the available data not within the stored portion (20), a network is selected from the first network (30) and the third network (80, 90) in dependence on one or more predetermined criteria, the requested data being accessed over the selected network. (Spec. 18.) ILLUSTRATIVE CLAIM 11. A data supply method for supplying data to a client terminal comprising: maintaining a beacon storing a portion of available data and having access to all of the available data over a first network; communicating between the beacon and the client terminal over a second network to supply data from the stored portion of available data and information to access all of the available data; the method further comprising the steps of: upon request by the client terminal for data of the available data not within the stored portion, selecting a network from the first network and a third network in dependence on one or more predetermined criteria; and, accessing the requested data over the selected network. Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 3 PRIOR ART Sim 2003/0031176 A1 Feb. 13, 2003 (Filed May 17, 2001) Johnson 2002/0129123 A1 Sept. 12, 2002 (Filed Nov. 2, 2001) REJECTION Claims 1-20 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as being unpatentable over Sim and Johnson. CLAIM GROUPING 37 C.F.R. § 41.37(c)(1)(vii) follows in pertinent part. When multiple claims subject to the same ground of rejection are argued as a group by appellant, the Board may select a single claim from the group of claims that are argued together to decide the appeal with respect to the group of claims as to the ground of rejection on the basis of the selected claim alone. Notwithstanding any other provision of this paragraph, the failure of appellant to separately argue claims which appellant has grouped together shall constitute a waiver of any argument that the Board must consider the patentability of any grouped claim separately. Here, the Appellants argue claims 1-20, which are subject to the same ground of rejection as a group. (App. Br. 4-13.) Therefore, we select claim 11 as the sole claim on which to decide the appeal of the group. ISSUE The Examiner finds that Figure 1 of Sim anticipates a first network and second network. (Ans. 9.) He also finds that "Sim on page 2, Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 4 paragraphs 9-10 describes web caching process through a cache server . . . in which a client can obtain the information from the origin server on the internet when the information being requested is not readily available on the cache server." (Id. at 9-10.) The Appellants argue that "[b]ecause there is only one network over which the invention of Sim operates, Sim lacks any teaching of a second network over which a beacon and a client terminal communicate . . . ." (App. Br. 7.) They also argue that "[t]he Sim reference also lacks any teaching or disclosure of supplying information to either of the end-user, application servers 721-724 or VCFS 702 to access all of the available data." (Id.) Therefore, the issue before us is whether the Appellants have shown error in the Examiner's findings that Sim teaches or would have suggested a first network providing a beacon with access to all of the available data and a second network by which the beacon and a client can communicate information to access all of the available data. LAW The question of obviousness is "based on underlying factual determinations including . . . what th[e] prior art teaches explicitly and inherently . . . ." In re Zurko, 258 F.3d 1379, 1383 (Fed. Cir. 2001). "'A prima facie case of obviousness is established when the teachings from the prior art itself would appear to have suggested the claimed subject matter to Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 5 a person of ordinary skill in the art.'" In re Bell, 991 F.2d 781, 783 (Fed. Cir. 1993) (quoting In re Rinehart, 531 F.2d 1048, 1051 (CCPA 1976)). FINDINGS OF FACT ("FFS") 1. Figure 1 of Sim follows. The reference explains that "FIG. 1 is an illustration of caching methods of content delivery." (¶ 0053.) 2. In Sim "[a] client user at browser 104 in Local Area Network (LAN) 108 desiring to obtain data available from origin server 100 enters the Universal Resource Locator (URL) address of the desired data into browser 104." (¶ 0009.) "The request is forwarded to cache appliance 102, which is an HTTP (Hyper Text Transport Protocol) proxy server in this illustration." (Id.) Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 6 3. "Proxy server (i.e., cache appliance) 102 processes the request received from client at browser 104 and searches its cache (i.e., memory) for the requested data, if the data is not available in its cache, proxy server 102 forwards the request to origin server 100 via network router 101." (¶ 0010.) "Origin server 100 services the request and forwards the requested data to cache appliance 102. Upon receipt of the data, cache appliance 102 may save the data in its local cache memory and also forwards it to browser 104." (Id. at ¶ 0011) 4. The Appellants' Figure 1 follows. "Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a beacon network illustrating one embodiment of the [Appellants'] invention . . . ." (Spec. 4.) Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 7 5. The Appellants read the claimed first network on the connection labeled as item 60 in their Figure 1. (Spec. 18.) 6. The Appellants read the claimed second network on the connection labeled as item 35 and the area labeled as item 40 in their Figure 1. (Id.) ANALYSIS Figure 1 of Sim shows caching methods of content delivery. (FF 1.) More specifically, the Figure shows a browser 104, a proxy server (i.e., cache appliance) 102, and an origin server 100. (Id.) Figure 1 also shows a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol ("TCP/IP") connection between the proxy server and the origin server. (Id.) It is uncontested that the proxy server teaches the claimed beacon, and that the origin server stores all available data. Therefore, we find that the TCP/IP connection constitutes a first network providing a beacon with access to all of the available data. We note that the reference's TCP/IP constitutes a first network the same way as the connection labeled as item 60 in the Appellants' Figure 1 (FF 4) embodies the claimed first network (FF 5.) In Sim, a client browser 104 desiring to obtain data from the origin server enters the URL address of the desired data into the browser 104. (FF 2.) The request is forwarded to the proxy server/beacon. (Id.) If the requested data are not available in its cache, the proxy server/beacon forwards the request to the origin server. For its part, the origin server 100 services the request and forwards the requested data to the proxy server, which also forwards it to the client browser 104. (FF 3.) Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 8 Figure 1 shows that the client browser's request with its URL address is forwarded to the proxy server via LAN (i.e., local area network) A. (FF 1.) Because the client browser sends the request with its URL address to obtain data from the origin server (FF 2), we find that these constitute information to access all of the available data. We further find that LAN A constitutes a second network by which the beacon and a client can communicate information to access all of the available data. We note that the reference's LAN A constitutes a first network the same way as the connection labeled as item 35 and the area labeled as item 40 in the Appellants' Figure 1 (FF 4) embodies the claimed first network (FF 6.) CONCLUSION Based on the aforementioned facts and analysis, we conclude that the Appellants have shown no error in the Examiner's findings that Sim teaches or would have suggested a first network providing a beacon with access to all of the available data and a second network by which the beacon and a client can communicate information to access all of the available data. DECISION We affirm the rejection of claims 1-20. No time for taking any action connected with this appeal may be extended under 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1). See 37 C.F.R. § 1.136(a)(1)(iv). AFFIRMED Appeal 2009-001508 Application 10/101,331 9 erc PHILIPS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & STANDARDS P.O. BOX 3001 BRIARCLIFF MANOR NY 10510 Copy with citationCopy as parenthetical citation