Appeal 2006-2855
Application 09/774,727
Similarly, the claimed invention pertains to a system for enabling
retrieval of information pertaining to a user’s reputation only if the user
consents to releasing such information. Since both the claimed invention
and Coueignoux pertain to information retrieval, in particular, consent-based
retrieval of information, they are in the same field of endeavor. For this
reason alone, Coueignoux constitutes analogous art.
But even if we assume, without deciding, that Coueignoux is
somehow not in the same field of endeavor, the reference is certainly
reasonably pertinent to the inventor’s problem – namely, providing an
information retrieval system capable of transmitting certain information
pertaining to a user to requesting parties responsive to the user’s
authorization. "A reference is reasonably pertinent if, even though it may be
in a different field from that of the inventor’s endeavor, it is one which,
because of the matter with which it deals, logically would have commended
itself to an inventor’s attention in considering his problem.” In re Clay, 966
F.2d 656, 659, 23 USPQ2d 1058, 1060-61 (Fed. Cir. 1992). In our view,
Coueignoux’s fundamental teaching of releasing certain information
requested by a sender only upon the user’s consent logically would have
commended itself to the inventor’s attention in considering the problem of
transmitting reputation information responsive to the user’s authorization.
For at least these reasons, Coueignoux constitutes analogous art.
We also find ample motivation on this record to combine
Coueignoux’s teachings with Lang. Although Lang teaches providing
certain security measures (i.e., determining whether the requester is
authorized to access the requested information, enabling only selected
parties to access the information, etc.) (Lang, ¶¶ 0042, 0023-24; Fig. 7, Step
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