Appeal No. 2003-0494
Application No. 09/176,012
implemented with an information provider that is capable of communicating with a
telephone. Step a) of claim 15 contains a similar limitation, that “the brief command can
be produced using the keypad of a mobile phone.”
The examiner states, on page 4 of the answer, that Honda discloses, “using a
user data processing system (e.g. MT1) to prepare a query profile”. Appellants argue,
on pages 13 and 14 of the brief, that a data processing system is separate from a
telephone and contains greater functionality then a phone. We are not convinced by the
appellants’ argument. The term “data processor” is not defined in the claims or the
specification. The plain meaning of the term is “the handling of information by electronic
machine in accordance with strictly defined system procedures.”4 This definition is
consistent with the appellants’ specification. However, it is broader then either a PC, as
suggested by appellants on page 12 of the brief, or a machine with a full function
keyboard, as suggested by appellants on page 13 of the brief. Thus, we find the scope
of the claim limitation of a data processor in claim 15 is broad enough to encompass an
electronic machine for handling information.
In the statement of the rejection, on page 2 of the brief, the examiner equates
Honda’s mobile telephone terminal MT1 to the data processing system and the base
station to the information supplier. We agree with the examiner’s rationale. We find that
Honda teaches that the mobile telephone terminal MT1 can operate in several modes.
In one mode, MT1 can operate as a mobile telephone the user can enter an abbreviated
4 Definition taken from Random House College Dictionary, Revised Edition,1982.
-9–
Page: Previous 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007