Appeal No. 2003-0750
Application 09/310,650
arranged semantical units “which are similar across hierarchies,”
a feature present in each of independent claims 56 and 109.
After reviewing the Nagao reference in light of the
arguments of record, we are in general agreement with Appellants’
position as expressed in the Briefs. The Examiner, while
recognizing the absence of any explicit disclosure as to the
structure of the nodes or semantic units of the knowledge
database in Nagao, nevertheless suggests that the claimed feature
that such semantic units are arranged to be “similar across
hierarchies” is inherent in Nagao. In the final Office action
(page 20, Paper No. 12), the Examiner asserts that, since Nagao
fails to mention any structural distinction between the different
nodes or links across the hierarchical node structure, the
similarity of such nodes or links would be inherent. We find
no evidence on the record, however, that this conclusion would
necessarily follow.
We also recognize that the Examiner in the “Response to
Argument” portion of the Answer has expanded the stated position
relevant to the issue of inherency in Nagao of the claimed
“similar across hierarchies” feature. The Examiner asserts
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