Appeal No. 2003-1177
Application No. 09/510,054
Appellant argues that Schultz derives the weighted metadata
independently of indexing and uses it only to rank search results
after the query is made (brief, page 3). Appellant specifically
argues that the metadata fields of the relied-upon document
records of Schultz are generated outside of indexing and the
ranked lists of documents are generated using the relied-upon
metadata itself (brief, pages 3 & 4). Appellant further points
out that while Meyerzon discloses modifying an otherwise
unweighted document stream prior to inputting it to an indexing
engine, the modification adds or removes documents from the index
instead of inputting weighted metadata to the indexing engine
(brief, page 4; reply brief, page 2).
In response, the Examiner argues that the document themes in
the ranked document list of Schultz are the same as the claimed
elements of metadata (answer, page 5). The Examiner further
asserts that this document data stream may be combined with
Meyerzon to modify the content of document data stream before
sending it to an index engine (id.).
In rejecting claims under 35 U.S.C. § 103, the Examiner
bears the initial burden of presenting a prima facie case of
obviousness. See In re Rijckaert, 9 F.3d 1531, 1532, 28 USPQ2d
1955, 1956 (Fed. Cir. 1993). In considering the question of the
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