Ex Parte Wolfe et al

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Sep 20, 2016

13856282 (P.T.A.B. Sep. 20, 2016)

UNITED STA TES p A TENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE
13/856,282 04/03/2013
7055 7590 09/22/2016
GREENBLUM & BERNSTEIN, PLC
1950 ROLAND CLARKE PLACE
RESTON, VA 20191
FIRST NAMED INVENTOR
Jerry WOLFE
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.
P49077 3630
EXAMINER
HARRISON, CHANTE E
ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER
2619
NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE
09/22/2016 ELECTRONIC
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.
Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the
following e-mail address( es):
gbpatent@gbpatent.com
greenblum.bernsteinplc@gmail.com
PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)
UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
Ex Parte JERRY WOLFE, ANDREW FOUST, COLLEEN MCCLELLAN,
STEPHEN DEANGELIS, JASON GLAZIER, and SAMIR ROHATGI
Appeal2015-003341
Application 13/856,282
Technology Center 2600
Before JEFFREY S. SMITH, BETH Z. SHAW, and
AARON MOORE, Administrative Patent Judges.
SHAW, Administrative Patent Judge.
DECISION ON APPEAL
Appellants seek our review under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) of the
Examiner's Final Rejection of claims 1-26, which represent all the pending
claims. App. Br. 2. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.
INVENTION
The invention is for a visual representation of a flavor profile. See
Spec. p. 1, 11. 7-8, p. 4, 11. 4--5.
Appeal2015-003341
Application 13/856,282
Claim 1 is illustrative and is reproduced below:
1. A method of generating a visual representation of a flavor profile,
compnsmg:
obtaining preference information representing flavor preferences of a
user with respect to each of a plurality of flavor categories;
determining, using a microprocessor, a length of a plurality of
graphical elements, each graphical element being assigned to one of the
flavor categories, based on the preference information corresponding to the
respective flavor category, wherein the length of each graphical element
indicates the relative preference for a flavor category with respect to the
other flavor categories; and
disposing on a computer generated display screen the plurality of
graphical elements each having a display length determined by the
determining, the disposing positioning the plurality of graphical elements
around a circle such that each of the graphical elements has a portion of an
external boundary in contact with an external boundary of the circle at a
contact point and such that each of the graphical elements protrudes from the
contact point away from the circle in accordance with the determined display
length.
REJECTIONS
The Examiner rejected claims 1-26 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being
anticipated by Yong-Yeol Ahn et al., "Flavor network and the principles of
food pairing," December 15, 2011 ("Ahn"). Ans. 2---6.
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Appeal2015-003341
Application 13/856,282
ANALYSIS
We have reviewed Appellants' arguments in the Briefs, the
Examiner's rejection, and the Examiner's response to the Appellants'
arguments. We concur with Appellants' conclusion that the Examiner erred
in finding that Ahn discloses "determining, using a microprocessor, a length
of a plurality of graphical elements, each graphical element being assigned
to one of the flavor categories, based on the preference information
corresponding to the respective flavor category, wherein the length of each
graphical element indicates the relative preference for a flavor category with
respect to the other flavor categories," as recited in claim 1.
As identified by Appellants, Ahn describes generating a flavor
network in which ingredients that are found most commonly in the recipe
database are shown as a larger circle, as compared to ingredients that are
found less commonly, which are shown as a smaller circle. App. Br. 6; Ahn
Fig. 2. We find no description in the cited portions or Figures of Ahn,
however, regarding determining a length of a plurality of graphical elements,
wherein the length indicates the relative preference for a flavor category.
Thus, we disagree with the Examiner's finding that Ahn discloses
"determining, using a microprocessor, a length of a plurality of graphical
elements, each graphical element being assigned to one of the flavor
categories, based on the preference information corresponding to the
respective flavor category, wherein the length of each graphical element
indicates the relative preference for a flavor category with respect to the
other flavor categories," as recited in independent claim 1, and as similarly
recited in independent claims 7, 13, and 19.
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Appeal2015-003341
Application 13/856,282
Accordingly, we do not sustain the Examiner's anticipation rejection
of claims 1-26.
DECISION
We reverse the rejections of claims 1-26.
REVERSED
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