Appeal No. 1997-4018
Application No. 08/668,716
telephone line to connect the local and remote facsimile
machines and also an exclusive line between the local
facsimile machine and the computer.
As to the first argument, Lin states (column 12, lines
14-25) that the communication between the local and remote fax
machines is rare because the computer is "directly
communicable with the remote fax machines. . . . However,
with the two functions of (E)[fax machine to central office],
and (F)[central office to fax machine], if the computer has
trouble, the fax machine can still work independently to
communicate with the remote facsimile stations." If the
computer has difficulty communicating directly with the remote
fax machine, and the local fax machine is to make the
communication, the computer must instruct the local fax
machine as to the desired correspondence. Accordingly, Lin
actually does suggest the interposition of a facsimile machine
between the computer and a remote facsimile machine, albeit
only under certain circumstances.
Regarding the second argument, however, we find no
suggestion of an exclusive line between the local fax machine
and the computer. In Lin's system, communication between the
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