Appeal 2007-1308
Application 10/097,398
1 Thus, the issues pertinent to this appeal are
2 • Whether the rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) as obvious over Eldering
3 and Zaltman is proper (Br. 4-9).
4 o Whether the art applied shows or suggests the specific combination of
5 the elements found in the claims from the two references (claim 1; Br.
6 4-9).
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8 FACTS PERTINENT TO THE ISSUES
9 The following Findings of Fact (FF), supported by substantial evidence, are
10 pertinent to the above issues.
11 01. The Examiner describes how the elements of claim 1 are met by the
12 combined teachings of Eldering and Zaltman (Answer 3-5).
13 02. The Appellants do not contend that the combined teachings of
14 Eldering and Zaltman do not meet claim 1, but only that “[t]here is no
15 analysis showing why the combination would be considered desirable.”
16 (Br. 6).
17 03. The Appellants also contend, however, that
18 the present invention is directed to a specific combination of
19 computer based functionalities which allow a test product to be
20 evaluated compared to reference products under simulated
21 market conditions which include exposure to a pre-determined
22 rate of exposure to market stimuli, and where the results
23 generated from some components are fed into other components
24 to further generate the desired market data. Neither the
25 Eldering patent nor the Zaltman et al. patent reaches these
26 features either alone or in combination.
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Last modified: September 9, 2013