Appeal No. 1998-0427
Application No. 08/283,466
Representative independent claim 1 is reproduced as follows:
1. System for managing access to a plurality of data objects, comprising:
first means for storing information describing said plurality of data objects and for storing
information describing attributes of said plurality of data objects and for storing information describing
relationships therebetween as a separate relationship object;
second means for accepting and processing user queries on said information stored in said first
means and for generating first results data in response to said user queries;
third means responsive to said second means for generating second results data using said first
results data, said second results data including information contained in said plurality of data objects.
The examiner relies on the following references:
Crus et al. (Crus) 5,133,068 Jul. 21, 1992
Heffernan et al. (Heffernan) 5,379,419 Jan. 03, 1995
Claims 1-3 and 5-8 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) as anticipated by Heffernan.
Claim 4 stands rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as unpatentable over Heffernan in view of Crus.
Reference is made to the briefs and answer for the respective positions of appellant and the
examiner.
OPINION
At the outset, we note the broad nature of the claimed subject matter. In particular, with regard to
claim 1, information “describing” a plurality of data objects may not necessarily be different from
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