Appeal No. 97-3423
Application 08/336,134
The foregoing TechEncylopedia discussion suggests that
Swindler's docking system necessarily includes software like
Card Services and Socket Services for configuring the hardware
so that the notebook computer can communicate with all of the
hardware components in the docking system, which clearly
constitutes "customizing a hardware configuration . . . for
optimum performance," as required by each of the independent
claims. Furthermore, the fact that Swindler's PCMCIA slots7
are provided to permit insertion of one or two cards into the
notebook computer after the notebook computer has been docked
in the docking station (col. 11, lines 29-33) implies that the
software is capable of accommodating the addition of new
hardware (e.g., a modem) by the user.
In the absence of any proof of noninherency, we are
constrained to affirm the § 102 rejection of independent
7Because we are relying on the TechEncyclopedia
discussion entry to show that software like Card Services and
Socket Services is inherently part of Swindler's docking
system, our reliance on TechEncyclopedia is consistent with
the basis of the rejection, which is anticipation by Swindler.
See In re Samour, 571 F.2d 589, 562, 197 USPQ 1, 4 (CCPA 1978)
(the PTO, in making a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102 on a
single prior art reference that discloses every material
element of the claimed subject matter, can properly rely on
additional references for that purpose).
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