Appeal No. 1998-3394
Application 08/405,964
the teachings of Cox and Sidekick to use a questionnaire-style
format to simplify user input to discrete questions and reduce
the complexity of the programming required for the input data
module. Although the Examiner finds that "prompting the user
with questions for input data is [sic, was] well known in the
art" (FR5; EA5), the obviousness conclusion does not rely on
this finding. In any case, the Examiner provides no factual
evidence to support the finding and the finding is not of the
kind which is appropriate for Official Notice. Cf.
In re Knapp-Monarch Co., 296 F.2d 230, 232, 132 USPQ 6, 8
(CCPA 1961) (judicial notice only appropriate when the
proposition at issue is supported by common knowledge or
capable of instant and unquestionable demonstration);
In re Eynde, 480 F.2d 1364, 1370, 178 USPQ 470, 474 (CCPA
1973) (court will not take judicial notice of the state of the
art); In re Ahlert, 424 F.2d 1088, 1091, 165 USPQ 418, 420
(CCPA 1970) ("[a]ssertions of technical facts in areas of
esoteric technology must always be supported by citation to
some reference work recognized as standard in the pertinent
art").
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