Appeal No. 96-0529
Application 07/981,207
the reading of table information off of a sheet having a table printed thereon wherein the table
information includes “positions and lengths of ruled lines” in the table.
The examiner cites Tanaka, Figures 13a-13h and lines 32-40 of column 8, and reports that the
table information in Tanaka “includes all information needed to recreate tabular lines (ruled lines)”
[answer-page 3, right-hand column at the bottom of the page].
While we would agree with the examiner that Tanaka’s disclosure may be broadly construed to
cover the storage of information regarding tables on a sheet of paper wherein that information is
encoded in a bar code, Tanaka clearly does not store information regarding the tabular lines, per se. It
appears that the examiner has confused the storage of information in the table, in Tanaka, with
information about the table as in the instant claimed invention.
The instant claimed invention clearly calls for the table information stored to include “positions
and lengths of ruled lines.” Even assuming, arguendo, that the storage of “positions” of the lines of a
table is broadly taught by Tanaka, there is clearly no suggestion in Tanaka, nor has the examiner
convincingly pointed to anything therein, related to the storage of table information including “lengths of
ruled lines,” as claimed.
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