Appeal No. 1997-1632 Page 2
Application No. 08/138,555
key therein. The lockboxes of a large real estate board can number in the tens of
thousands, (Spec. at 67), and are distributed over thousands of square miles. (Paper
No. 33 at 3.) As houses are sold or newly listed for sale, moreover, the lockboxes are
relocated. Keys for the lockboxes can also number in the tens of thousands. (Spec.
at 67)
Data programmed in the lockboxes and keys include lists of keys to be locked
out, dates on which specific keys are to expire, and hours that certain lockboxes are to
be inaccessible. Conventionally, the lockboxes and keys were returned to a board’s
central office for programming and reprogramming such instructions. (Paper No. 33
at 3.) Alternatively, portable programming units were used to reprogram the lockboxes
and keys in the field. (Id.)
The invention equips electronic lockboxes and keys with a radio receiver. The
receiver permits a memory in each unit to be updated with new data modulated onto a
radio frequency (“RF”) signal. Consequently, board-wide changes, e.g., changes of
lockout lists and access codes, and changes targeted to specific units, e.g., disabling a
particular key, can be implemented without returning the lockboxes or keys to a central
office or taking programming units into the field.
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