Appeal No. 1999-2666 Page 7
Application No. 08/565,584
it would require the person to stop, “click on” the
right button, menu etc., read and understand the
appropriate help message, and the resume the game.
In addition, the appellants asserts that Lanier teaches away
from providing help information automatically. In Lanier, the
user is provided with help only when assistance is requested
by the user. The appellants assert (reply brief, page 3) that
if a user does not request help, Lanier system
assumes that the user does not need help and
stores historical information only after a user
has requested help. Therefore, Lanier’s system
would not operate in its intended fashion if the
help information was provided “automatically”.
Thus, Lanier’s help system actually teaches away
from providing advice data automatically.
The appellants further assert (reply brief, page 4) that
the examiner appears to be engaging in impermissible hindsight
to achieve the appellants’ claimed invention. The appellants
state (id.)that
Okada would not have been motivated to use the
click-on, pull down menu system of Lanier or any
other help system because Okada had already provided
a user with arrows that were adequate to let the
player know what to do to achieve success for the
disclosed game. (underlining original).
We find that help system of Lanier provides assistance to
a user, when requested (col. 2, lines 1-5). The assistance is
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