Appeal No. 2003-1873
Application 09/281,420
location and does not get communicated. The only limitation on
the “merge function code” is that it must merge responses to said
query into a form that can be communicated in a distributed
network environment.
We find that Bishop teaches a query at column 1, line 12, in
the form of survey question data. We find that Bishop teaches
merge function code for generating merged question data at column
2, lines 60-64, by merging responses collected in response to the
survey. We also find that Bishop teaches that any data can be
communicated over a network at column 3, lines 14-18. Therefore,
since the survey and its merge responses are data, they are in a
form that can be communicated in a distributed network
environment.
Claim 24, is of very broad scope and we are of the opinion,
upon an analysis of claim 24 and a review of the references, that
the rejection is free of reversible error. It is well settled
that limitations in claims drawn to structure reciting only the
manner of operation or intended use of the claimed structure or
parts thereof are not of patentable significance in the claims.
The manner or method in which a machine is to be utilized is not
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