Appeal No. 2002-0034
Application 09/052,646
A similar feature is recited in independent claims 1 and 24 in
the context of eliminating the object when all the client
references to the object have been released. Correspondingly, in
independent claim 10 the object is deleted when a reference count
reaches a predetermined value. It is this feature of deleting or
eliminating the object under certain conditions that is not
taught or suggested to the artisan based upon Kwan
notwithstanding the examiner's urgings that it does teach this
feature.
As a part of Kwan's survey of the prior art in the
Introduction at column 1 at page 406 of his article, live objects
may be deleted prematurely because the respective reference
counts may be reduced to zero under certain conditions. It
appears that this is the only indication that any object is
deleted in the context of Kwan's teachings. Even in the context
of this prior art known to Kwan, objects are able to be
"reclaimed" immediately under certain conditions even though the
reference count to an object does reach zero.
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