Appeal No. 1997-1632 Page 12
Application No. 08/138,555
data thereto via the aforementioned RF transmission. Claim 80 does not require using
modulation in the RF transmission.
Claim 2 of Larson teaches remotely programming a key by transferring a lockout
list thereto. Specifically, “[t]he method of claim 1 . . . further includes: providing, over
telephone lines, lockout list data representative of keys that are to be locked out;
coupling said lockout list data to a key. . . .” Col. 56, ll. 5-6. Claim 2 only mentions
using wired connections, viz., the aforementioned telephone lines.
Tolson, however, teaches that persons skilled in the art would have been
motivated to substitute RF connections for such wired connections. Specifically,
“[w]hile wire paths are shown . . ., it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that
energy paths E may equally well be of any other suitable nature, such as . . . a radio
signal. . . .” Col. 4, ll. 53-56. Because wireless devices are easier to move than wired
devices – there are no wires to disconnect and reconnect – such a substitution would
have facilitated repositioning Roland’s subcontrollers and terminal controllers, which
would have advanced the primary reference’s goal of “provid[ing] a complete facility
security system that is flexible. . . .” Col. 1, ll. 20-21. Consequently, we find that the
prior art as a whole would have suggested combining teachings of the references to
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