Appeal 2007-3141
Application 10/696,894
1 But even if arguendo Pusic did not itself suggest delivery option as a variable,
2 both Pusic and Hsieh clearly convey to one of ordinary skill computing postal costs
3 based on the variables that affect the cost. Both Pusic and Hsieh describe weight
4 as one of those variables, and each explicitly recites one of destination and delivery
5 option. Thus, a person of ordinary skill would have immediately recognized that
6 all three elements may be parameters in postal cost computations and included all
7 three in any such computation as a result. “A person of ordinary skill is also a
8 person of ordinary creativity, not an automaton.” KSR at 1742.
9 As to whether one of ordinary skill would have combined Pusic and Hsieh,
10 both are directed towards postal machines that automatically compute postal costs
11 (FF 03&06). Pusic describes the advantages of applying its printing technique to
12 any postal meter such as Hsieh’s (FF 07&08). Thus, Pusic itself provides the
13 suggestion to combine its teachings with Hsieh.
14 The Appellants also contend that none of the references display at least two
15 selectable delivery options (Appeal Br. 9:First full ¶).
16 Hsieh displays physical multiple selectable keys for delivery options and also
17 has a visual computer display (FF 04). One of ordinary skill in the art was
18 knowledgeable of graphic representations of such keys, along with the information
19 that selecting each key implied, at the time of the invention. One of ordinary skill
20 was also aware that relying on such graphic representations could reduce hardware
21 costs, increase reliability, and make updating their programming more efficient.
22 Thus, displaying selectable delivery options with costs and the cost for a selected
23 option would have been no more than a combination of familiar elements that
24 yielded predictable results and accordingly would have been obvious, see KSR at
25 1739.
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