Appeal No. 2004-2043
Application 09/312,919
a soft key operable by a user and providing unlocking signals to
the electronic lock.
Appellants’ specification at page 2, line 10, through page
3, line 9.
Claim 1 is representative of the claimed invention and is
reproduced as follows:
1. In a key for an electronic lock, the lock having a
physical interface with which the key is designed to mechanically
interact, an improvement wherein the key is a general purpose
personal digital assistant device that has been modified to
provide a physical interface for interacting with the physical
interface of the lock and has a display capable of displaying at
least characters and of displaying a soft key operable by a user,
said device being adapted to provide unlocking signals to the
lock, wherein the functionality of an electronic key is provided
with that of a personal digital assistant.
References
The references relied on by the Examiner are as follows:
Karasawa et al. (Karasawa) 4,786,900 Nov. 22, 1988
Bosley 5,014,049 May 7, 1991
Hitchcock 5,050,207 Sept. 17, 1991
The references cited by the Board are as follows:
Yokozawa 4,534,012 Aug. 6, 1985
Bard et al. 5,793,032 Aug. 11, 1998
2
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