Appeal No. 2007-0384
Application No. 09/681,784
3. SABA SOFTWARE WITH COLLEGEBYTES
Claims 10, 17, and 19 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as obvious
over Saba’s software in view of CollegeBytes.com, as disclosed in
CommonPlaces.2 The Examiner states that “Saba Software’s learning
management system does not expressly teach . . . [a]cquiring or selling
learning solutions in an online auction format” (Answer 10). However, the
Examiner argues that “Collegebytes.com (1999) teaches a computer-based
system that sells textbooks via an online auction format” (id.). The
Examiner concludes that it would have been “obvious to one of ordinary
skill in the art at the time of invention to combine the teachings of Saba
Software and collegebytes.com to create a system and method to sell
learning solutions via an online auction format for the advantages of an
efficient marketplace” (id.). In addition, the Examiner argues that “the
ability to auction off learning solutions does not affect the competency
assessment aspects of the claims; therefore, such an auctioning service is
effectively a value added service that enhances the experience of a user by
allowing him/her to quickly and conveniently plan as much of his/her
learning experience as possibl[e] in a single interface or environment” (id. at
14).
As indicated in CommonPlaces, CollegeBytes.com is an Internet Hub
for college audiences. CollegeBytes.com includes online auction
capabilities that allow users to “buy and sell everything from dorm furniture
to textbooks to musical instruments to computers.” We conclude that one of
2 “CommonPlaces, in Agreement with Reuters Health Information, to Offer
Free Access to Health News Via CollegeBytes.com,” Business Wire (1999).
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