Appeal No. 96-0067
Application 08/075,241
Moreover, the appellants have not simply claimed mapping in
general. Instead, a particular manner of mapping is required.
According to claim 1, each node of the second data structure maps
to at least one node at a single hierarchical level of the first
data structure. As can be seen in the appellants' Figure 5, all
map linkages originating from a node of graph 200 lead to nodes
occupying the same level of hierarchy in tree 220. The examiner
has not accounted for this feature of the invention, which has
not been conceded by the appellants (Br. at 8, lines 21-28).
We see this deficiency as another reversible error.
It is further noted that claim 1 recites an interface means
for encapsulating the first and second data structures from the
inquiring applications. The examiner states (answer at 3) that
Liang discloses an interface means for encapsulating, citing
Liang's column 6, line 45. In the context of the appellants'
invention, encapsulating data structures means having symbolic
constructs, implemented by physical layers at lower levels of
abstraction, which can be specially tailored to suit particular
applications. See specification, page 13, lines 22-31, page 17,
lines 7-13, page 18, lines 21-28. A data hiding function is
implemented thereby to limit the amount of data accessed by each
application. See specification, page 17, lines 11-13. The
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