Appeal No. 2006-3120
Application No. 09/944,695
actually made by appellant have been considered in this decision. Arguments
which appellant could have made but chose not to make in the briefs have not
been considered and are deemed to be waived [see 37 CFR
§ 41.37(c)(1)(vii)(2004)].
Initially, we note that appellant has not separately argued independent
claims 1, 12, 19, and 29, but instead has argued the independent claims (along
with their respective dependent claims) as a group. Accordingly, we will select
the broadest independent claim – claim 12 – as representative. See 37 CFR
§ 41.37(c)(1)(vii).
Regarding the independent claims, the examiner's rejection essentially
finds that Mazzagatte teaches a secure printing method utilizing encryption with
every claimed feature except for specifically describing encrypting the document
to be printed using a public key. The examiner cites DeBry as teaching
encrypting a document to be printed with a symmetric key, and encrypting the
symmetric key with a public key. The examiner notes that the encrypted
document in DeBry is sent to the printer along with the key in order to decrypt the
public key and thereby decrypt the document for printing. The examiner finds
that, in view of DeBry, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the
art at the time of the invention to encrypt the document in Mazzagatte with a
public key prior to transmission to the printer to prevent unauthorized printing and
spoofing [answer, pages 4-20].
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