Appeal No. 1997-2158 Page 7
Application No. 08/234,239
Similarly, claims 9 and 12-16 each specifies in pertinent part
the following limitations:
storage means ... for storing a set of
information defining data of a plurality of
characteristic forms that are indicative of
invalidity;
means ... for testing for the presence of data
of any of the characteristic forms, in the item of
data, and generating a validity signal indicative of
whether data of any of the characteristic forms has
been detected in the item of data ....
The appellants’ specification defines the limitations as
follows.
Information defining the characteristic forms of
data indicative of the file's validity or invalidity
is stored at the file server. These characteristic
forms may indicate whether the file contains
unwanted data, such as a virus, or whether it has
been authorized for or barred from use. For a
virus, for example, the characteristics may indicate
the form of data characteristic of the virus such as
instructions found at the start of the file
(typically "jump" instructions) or elsewhere in the
file, which for some viruses may appear in any
sequence. (Spec. at 7-8.)
Reading the claims in light of the specification, we interpret
the limitations as reciting the testing of a computer program
or file for the presence of instructions that are
characteristic of a computer virus such as jump instructions.
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