Appeal 2007-1094
Application 09/844,976
provided no special definition of "digital over-the-air electronic content" in
the Specification.
Thus, under a reasonable interpretation of claim 1 the cable headend
of Hendricks may receive certain electronic content from the satellite and
separately generate different digital over-the-air electronic content to be
transmitted to the user during the vertical blanking interval of an analog
broadcast signal using the VBI teachings of Kim. As claimed, the subject
matter of claim 1 reads on Hendricks in view of Kim.
Even if the "electronic content" received by the terrestrial over-the-air
broadcast center and also received by the user appliance is the same as the
"digital over-the-air electronic content" generated during a vertical blanking
interval of an analog broadcast signal by the terrestrial over-the-air broadcast
center, claim 1 still reads on Hendricks in view of Kim. Our findings above
indicate that Hendricks receives signals from a satellite, and the same signals
are manipulated and transmitted to the set top terminal of the subscriber over
various possible transmissions systems. Hendricks teaches that an analog
signal could be used to transmit signals to the subscriber, and the VBI
teachings of Kim would improve the efficiency of that transmission.
Regarding claim 2, the plain language of the claim merely requires the
"over-the-air broadcast center" to be "coupled to" a "stratospheric platform."
We decline Appellant's invitation to import limitations from the
Specification into the claim. As our findings above indicate, Hendricks
teaches a cable headend coupled to a satellite. Also, the term "stratospheric
platform" is broad enough that a skilled artisan would recognize that a
satellite could be a stratospheric platform.
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