Appeal 2007-0223
Application 09/752,090
Group 6 - claims 52, 63, and 74
Representative claim 52 recites "said performing quality management
functions includes: identifying potential problems relating to a supplier;
alerting affected collaborative sources of said potential problems; notifying
management; and collaborating with said supplier associated with said
potential problems for determining a resolution; and generating a problem
report."
The Examiner finds these limitations taught at column 9, line 20 to
column 13, line 12, and column 8, lines 1-37 of Aycock. Appellants argue
that there is no teaching of any notification to management, much less a
notification of potential problems (Br. 16).
The issue is whether Appellants have shown that the Examiner erred
in concluding that the combination of Aycock and Gervais discloses or
suggests the limitations of claim 52.
The Examiner has not specifically described how the teachings of
Aycock or Gervais correspond to the limitations of claim 52. While it may
be that a system and method for qualifying suppliers will identify potential
problems and the buyer will work with the supplier to resolve the problem,
we do not find these limitations disclosed in Aycock or Gervais. Aycock
does go on to additional analysis if a supplier is not automatically approved
in step 32 of Figure 1, but it does not appear that this is based on potential
problems. It does not appear that the combination of Aycock and Gervais
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