Appeal No. 1998-3394
Application 08/405,964
(Sidekick, p. 2, lines 30-31) serve to prompt a user to
provide data based on a specific category or topic area.
Appellant argues that prompts in a questionnaire-style
format for specific topic areas perform significant
organizational and planning functions not served by simply
providing the user with the option to select from icons,
point-and-click options, drag-and-drop, and simple pop-up and
pull-down menus of the existing art (Br10). With the existing
art, as evidenced by Sidekick, organization and planning must
be done by the user, which requires a mental step that some
people are not capable of performing (Br10). It is argued
that there is no support for the Examiner's assertion that
icons, point-and-click options, drag-and-drop, and simple
pop-up and pull-down menus serve as prompts to provide data
(Br12).
A "menu" is defined as: "(1) A list of options
displayed to the user by a data processing system, from which
the user can select an action to be initiated." IBM
Dictionary of Computing (10th ed., McGraw-Hill, Inc. 1993).
A "prompt" is defined as: "(1) A visual or audible message
sent by a program to request the user's response. . . . (3) A
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