Appeal No. 2002-1475 Page 10
Application No. 09/370,935
one or more remote locations by a motor vehicle auction company.
The process allows on-line participation and provides
participants with access to auction related data (col. 1, lines
6-13). In the prior art, prior to the auction, laser discs
storing information about the specific vehicles to be auctioned
are physically delivered to the dealer terminal locations. In
response to host computer commands, the dealer terminals are
prompted to retrieve the data about the vehicle being auctioned.
Then the bidding begins (col. 1, lines 43-50). The system allows
the dealer or other remote user to sign on to a host network from
the user’s PC, through a remote access server. An SQL server
attached to the host computer contains a relational database of
auction data and responds to information queries initiated by the
user (col.2, lines 3-9). Berent further discloses (col. 3, line
66 through col. 4, line 4) that “[t]he electronic motor vehicle
auction and auction information system of this invention provides
interactive on-line services to remote users who may enter
queries about vehicle sale information, sale schedules, auction
pricing, and vehicle stock availability, and who may ‘bid’ for
vehicles electronically against other users.” Users access the
system through a PC 2, via modem 3, to remote access servers,
through an X.25 protocol (col. 4, lines 10-31). A local
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Last modified: November 3, 2007