Appeal No. 2006-0329
Application 09/839,037
Cusack discloses a web-integrated inventory management (WIM)
system for managing dynamic and widely distributed inventories of
perishable materials such as biological samples (col. 1, lines 9-12;
col. 1, line 66 - col. 2, line 2). Sample providers enter their
samples into a central website database and manage their sample
inventory through the WIM system, and sample buyers search that
database (col. 2, lines 19-42).2
In response to the appellants’ argument that Muhme does not
disclose a processor configured to selectively communicate with a
customer client and a supplier client via a computer network (brief,
page 10), the examiner argues that Muhme’s base station and ID tags
are designed to track and monitor inventory into and out of a
facility, and that the base station communicates remotely with
another party in the facility when an unauthorized removal is
detected (answer, pages 3-4). That response by the examiner does
not explain where Muhme discloses the limitation argued by the
appellants. The examiner further argues that “any distinction
between a supplier/owner and customer client is blurred by the fact
2 The examiner does not rely upon Nelson for any of the
limitations in claim 14 (answer, page 9).
4
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