Appeal No. 2004-0746 Page 7
Application No. 09/163,588
specifically teach that the user requests is for a specific or particular vehicle, i.e.,
the request identifying one of the vehicles and a location. Bolger, on the other
hand, discloses a user responsive transit system, wherein a user requests
information about a specific vehicle of a plurality of fleet vehicles. Based on the
user request, a central dispatch controller accesses a database and receives
information about the requested vehicle. As shown in figure 7, there are provided
a request terminal location (95), a destination location (96) coupled to a service
request. As set forth in the specification, the system according to Bolger activates
in response to service requests from users. See for example column 3. Thus, it
would have been obvious to one skilled in the art at the time of the invention to
be motivated to modify the teachings of Ross by incorporating the features from
the user responsive transit system of Bolger because such modification will
improve "flexibility and efficiency" of the system.
The appellant argues (brief, pp. 20-28) that the subject matter defined in the
independent claims under appeal (i.e., claims 1, 13, 23, 31, 39, 45, 49 and 53) is not
suggested by the combined teachings of Ross and Bolger.5 We agree.
While the examiner is correct that Bolger discloses a user responsive transit
system, the examiner is not correct that Bolger teaches that a user requests information
about a specific vehicle of a plurality of fleet vehicles. Instead, Bolger teaches that a
user/passenger transmits a service request to a central dispatch controller that
receives the request and automatically dispatches the most efficient vehicle to service
the request. As such, Bolger would not have made it obvious at the time the invention
5 The test for obviousness is what the combined teachings of the references would have
suggested to one of ordinary skill in the art. See In re Young, 927 F.2d 588, 591, 18 USPQ2d 1089, 1091
(Fed. Cir. 1991) and In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 425, 208 USPQ 871, 881 (CCPA 1981).
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