Appeal No. 2004-1426
Application No. 10/038,346
nowhere does Suman or Blaker teach or suggest “selecting the closer
service provider to provide the maintenance service when the closer
service provider is within a predetermined distance from the current
location of the vehicle,” as claim 129 recites. Similarly, nowhere does
Suman or Blaker teach or suggest selecting the “closest” service provider
“to the current location of the vehicle” to provide the maintenance service
when the closest service provider is “within a predetermined distance from
the current location of the vehicle,” as claims 137 and 146 recite. For
instance, when the claimed invention is applied to the above example the
closer S1 would be selected provided that D < a predetermined distance
(e.g. 5 miles), where D represents the distance of S1 from the current
location of the vehicle. By contrast, in Suman or Blaker the closer S1 is
selected provided that X > DTE, where X represents the distance of S2
from the current location of the vehicle, and DTE varies from exit to exit on
the highway when the subroutine 650 is applied, which cannot be
predetermined.
Further, Appellant argues on page 5 of the brief:
[t]he claimed invention, represented by claims 129, 137 and 146, requires
that the selected service provider for providing the maintenance service
satisfy two conditions, namely, (1) closest to the current location of the
vehicle, and (2) within a predetermined distance from the current location
of the vehicle. Thus, the nearest repair facility selected in Ross, at best
satisfies condition (1) only, and as agreed by the examiner, Ross does not
disclose that “the closer service provider is selected when the current
vehicle position is within a predetermined distance”.
In response, the examiner states, on pages 3 and 4 of the answer:
Shuman teaches in columns 33-36, specifically column 34, lines 59-65,
that the closer service provider (S1) is selected when the closer service
provider is within a predetermined distance (a distance less then the range
of the vehicle) and the second service provider (S2) is at a distance
greater then the range of the vehicle (distance to empty). In the Suman
invention, the predetermined distance is the range of the vehicle
determined by the processor to be the distance to empty, the maximum
distance the vehicle can continue without running out of fuel. As seen in
figure 43 of Suman, this distance is calculated beforehand, i.e.
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