Appeal No. 1998-0626
Application No. 08/593,114
suggests that it is well known in the art to point
to the recently saved element (or element to be
changed)(abstract, lines 8-15, [i.e.], the pointers
can be used to indicate changes to a selected group
of elements or to modify only to a selected element
(character image)). It would have been obvious to
one of ordinary skill in the art to provide the
graphics data structure of Doyle et al. with the
means to point to the current saved element as
taught by Zimmerman, in order to reduce the number
of location[s] where changes have to be made and
reducing the amount of memory needed to store[] the
changes in state elements, by only recording the
changes in the state elements of the state elements
being modif[ied]. [Answer-pages 4 and 5.]
We note that claim 5 recites:
saving in the memory system a graphics state
object including for each of said plurality of state
elements a pointer to a most recently saved instance
of that state element; [emphasis added]
Although the Examiner contends this is suggested by Zimmerman
in the abstract, we can find no such suggestion of a most
recently saved state element or something equivalent thereto.
On pages 5 through 7 of the brief, Appellant argues that
Doyle fails to disclose several of the elements recited in
claim 5. For example, Appellant argues Doyle is “composed of
various nodes that are linked together by pointers” (brief-
page 5), and that a “reference node” may point to multiple
other nodes. “Nevertheless a reference node is not the same
5
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