Appeal No. 2005-0823
Application No. 10/300,895 Page 47
as from high sales volumes. However, we find from the textbook
Computer Networks and Their Protocols3, by D.W. Davies, et al,
© 1979, by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., that network congestion is
defined in part as "[t]he condition of a communications network
beyond the limit of the traffic which it can readily handle,
where there is a reduced quality of service" (page 461). We
further find from the textbook that "[t]he relationship between
offered load and network throughput for a network subject to
congestion is shown in Figure 4.7. As the offered load increases
up to the point of onset of congestion the throughput increases
uniformly with offered load. As congestion becomes noticeable
the rate of increase of the throughput falls." From the
disclosure of the prior art that ticket issuance is reported to
the airlines, and the disclosures of Brice and the textbook, we
find that the prior art suggests that the rate of reporting,
i.e., the rate of transmission, is dependent upon the traffic in
the network as well as the volume of sales of travel tickets.
Accordingly, the rejection of claims 2 and 3, and claims 14, 15,
38, 39, 50 and 51 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) is affirmed.
3 Pertinent pages from the Textbook are enclosed with our decision.
Page: Previous 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Next
Last modified: November 3, 2007