Appeal 2006-3245
Application 10/383,224
THE REJECTIONS
The Examiner relies upon the following as evidence of unpatentability:
Hirvonen US 5,206,640 Apr. 27, 1993
Article on “tide” downloaded from Encyclopedia Britannica Online, 29
November 2004 (“Tide Article”).
The following rejections are before us for review.
1. Claims 1-3, 6-8, and 10 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §102(b) as
anticipated by Hirvonen.
2. Claims 4, 5, and 9 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103(a) as obvious in view
of Hirvonen.
ISSUE
Appellants contend Hirvonen does not teach or suggest incorporating a
presentation of time into at least one input data component (Br. 9), treating time as
a periodic variable (Br. 10), or making the features of the presentation of time
"periodic, continuous, and unambiguous within a period of the at least one element
with periodic time-dependent behaviour" (Br. 12). The Examiner found that
Hirvonen teaches incorporating a presentation of time, i.e., the diurnal and monthly
tidal variations, into at least one input data component, i.e., sea water level, where
the tidal variations in sea water level are essentially sinusoidal, and thus are
periodic and continuous, and where the tidal variations are unambiguous
depending on the defined length of the “period” (Answer 4, 7). The issue before us
is whether Appellants have shown that the Examiner erred in finding that Hirvonen
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