Appeal No. 2003-1146
Application No. 09/595,249
Therefore, according to the examiner, the estimate-related specifications exist
simultaneously with the actual print job specifications in Freedman [answer, pages 17-
19]. Appellant responds that there is no preexisting production data in Freedman, and
therefore, step (b) is completely absent from Freedman and the comparison of step (d)
cannot be formed. Appellant also asserts that the examiner’s correlations of the
template to actual print job specifications and the rules with the estimate-related
specifications are incorrect [reply brief, pages 1-4].
Before the merits of this rejection can be determined, one must understand
exactly what is being claimed. Claim 1 essentially recites the comparison of estimated-
related specifications of the job quote with actual print job specifications which are
determined from analyzing the production data. Since these terms do not have explicit
or implicit meanings, we look to the specification for help in understanding these terms.
The production data is the actual contents that a client wishes to have printed and is
stored in an electronic document. A print job is also the product desired by the client,
and actual print job specifications refer to this production data [specification, page 5].
Therefore, the claimed actual print job specifications represent the actual specifications
of the product desired by the client as represented in an electronic document. The job
quote is defined as the specifications that describe the desired print job, and these
specifications are also stored in an electronic file [Id.]. This definition appears to
suggest that the job quote is the product that the company plans to print based on the
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