Appeal No. 2002-2174
Application No. 09/263,166 Page 17
as Johnson does not disclose a member information computer or
database, we are not persuaded by the examiner's assertion
(answer, page 8) that these features are inherent in Johnson.
Accordingly, the rejection of claim 16, and claims 17-20,
dependent therefrom, under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) is reversed.
We turn next to claim 21. Appellants assert (brief, page
27) that Johnson does not disclose the claimed specific one or
more consumer characteristics that an incentive depends on, and
that claim 21 specifies the location of the consumer on the
network. We find that claim 21 recites that "one of the consumer
characteristics on which the at least one message characteristic
is dependent is the particular location on the network." From
the teachings of Johnson that network switching schemes may
identify route originating points (col.5, lines 19-23) we find
that consumer characteristics include the consumer's location on
the network. Accordingly, we are not persuaded by appellants
that the limitations of claim 21 are not met by Johnson. The
rejection of claim 21 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(b) is therefore
affirmed.
We turn next to claim 22. Claim 22 recites "displaying a
second set of one or more parameters of the particular incentive
on the display device of the consumer computer." Appellants note
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