Ex parte VENABLE et al. - Page 14




          Appeal No. 1998-1389                                      Page 14           
          Application No. 08/553232                                                   

               We find that Smith is directed to (col. 1, lines 6-10) a               
          document management system for creating, distributing,                      
          producing and managing various types of multi-component                     
          documents.  Smith utilizes (col. 1, lines 60-65 and col. 2,                 
          lines 54-63) an object- oriented approach wherein data is                   
          stored in self-contained programmatic structures that also                  
          contain procedures for manipulating the data.  A document is                
          decomposed into logical components which are stored as                      
          discrete objects that are accessed, organized, and manipulated              
          through a database management system (DBMS).  The objects are               
          assembled into an integrated whole when the document is to be               
          printed or displayed.  In addition (col. 3, lines 36-45),                   
          objects are broadly classified as logical and layout objects.               
          A logical object defines the relationship between different                 
          portions of content.  Layout objects specify the distribution               
          of content within the logical object, and define physical                   
          locations on a page or within a document.  The physical                     
          structures to which layout objects correspond are shown in                  
          Figure 4 (col. 15, lines 24-30).  Layout objects may include                
          pages 32, frame 36, blocks 38, and content 40.  Logical                     
          objects can contain attributes specifying locational                        








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