Ex parte IRVIN R. STRAUSS, et al. - Page 6




          Appeal No. 96-1534                                                          
          Application 07/888,991                                                      


          The examiner has made an effort to read claim 28 on the                     
          disclosure of Li [answer, pages 6-8], a procedure which we highly           
          recommend.  Notwithstanding the examiner’s assertion of how Li              
          anticipates all the limitations of claim 28, appellants argue               
          that Li fails to disclose any of the steps recited in substeps              
          (b)(1)- (b)(3) [reply brief, pages 11-14].  We find ourselves in            
          agreement with appellants.                                                  
          Appellants correctly point out that Li has nothing to do                    
          with the manner in which records are accessed after a query has             
          been made.  Li simply relates to a graphical interface which                
          assists the user in visualizing how a range of values of a record           
          field relates to the total range of values of that field.  The              
          user can visualize the range between two values of a field, but             
          Li does not indicate how the records are to be accessed once the            
          query has been set by the user.  Thus, Li cannot anticipate the             
          accessing steps recited in claim 28.                                        
          We also note that the examiner has determined that                          
          substeps (b)(1) and (b)(2) are always possible within Li, and               
          since the selection is effectively an OR condition, claim 28 is             
          thereby satisfied [answer, page 7].  This rejection was made                
          before the claim was amended to read “any one of,” and, as noted            
          above, the examiner has not addressed the significance of this              

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