Appeal No. 1997-4463
Application 07/988,712
The Examiner admits that Revesz does not disclose
outputting information at a rate corresponding to the
utilization rate, but reasons (EA5-6):
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in
the art at the time of the invention to output the
information at a rate that corresponds to the rate at
which the information is used because such a scenario is
well known in the art and the logical method (if related
product information is centrally stored); and this
scenario offers no patentably distinct feature over the
prior art. If the related product information were
exclusively stored in central storage the rate control
system claimed would be inherent because certainly the
information delivery rate from the central storage would
need to be controlled before outputted to the user. If
not, the audible message would not be a desired smooth,
intelligible sound.
In effect, the Examiner has dismissed the output rate
limitation as obvious by reasoning that it was a "well known"
and "logical" method and because it would be "inherent" in any
central storage system to provide continuous messages, without
providing any prior art evidence. The Examiner presents no
evidence that "reading out of a message . . . at a rate for
each site which depends on an information utilization rate for
each site" was well known. While there may be many examples,
it is the Examiner's duty to at least state what those
examples are so that Appellant can challenge them.
"Assertions of technical facts in areas of esoteric technology
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