Appeal 2007-2169
Application 10/068,369
application is resident only on the smart card, not on a front end computer
integrated into a point of sale terminal.” Br. 7.
The issue is whether Appellants have shown that the Examiner erred
in holding the combination of Wong and Kawan would have rendered the
subject matter of claim 1 obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the
time of the invention on the ground that there is no teaching of loyalty
information stored in a front-end computer at the point of sale.
B. Findings of Fact
The record supports the following findings of fact (FF) by a
preponderance of the evidence.
1. Claim 1 calls for “a point of sale terminal including a front-end
computer” for storing loyalty rules and user data.
2. The Specification gives no special meaning to the term “front-end
computer.” See Specification, p. 7, paras. [029]-[030], referring to Fig. 7.
The Specification describes the front-end computer as a device that captures
user and transaction data and holds a copy of the loyalty rules and terminal
data relating to the point-of-sale terming to which it belongs. Specification,
p. 7, para. [029]. According to the Specification, “the front-end computer 77
[see Fig. 7] is coupled to a point-of-sale terminal computer 78 for
information exchange and control. . . . The front-end computer 77 and
point-of-sale terminal computer 78 can be integrated into the same physical
unit or they can be realized by way of two separate devices.” Specification,
p. 7, para. [029]. Accordingly, “front-end” computer refers to a device or
devices located at the point of sale. The ordinary and customary meaning of
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