Appeal 2007-2169
Application 10/068,369
“computer” is a device used for computing (see Webster’s New World
Dictionary, Third College Edition, 1988, p. 286).
3. Kawan discloses a smart card with a microprocessor. Col. 3, ll. 25-
47. (See also Fig. 1; “a credit card-sized plastic card embedded with
microcomputer 6 [see Fig. 1] having memory to set up and securely store at
least one merchant loyalty register,” col. 4, l. 67 – col. 5, l. 3.) A loyalty
program application can be stored in the card’s memory. See col. 2, ll. 40-
44; col. 5, ll. 19-21 (referring to Fig. 2); col. 5, ll. 46-47; and col. 6, ll. 9-11.
A user’s transaction information can also be stored on the smart card
microcomputer. Col. 2, ll. 23-26. The card can be inserted at a terminal at,
for example, a point of sale, to update the loyalty points that accumulate in
the smart card upon completing each merchant transaction. Col. 6, ll. 40-55.
C. Principles of Law
Claim construction
“The Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) determines the scope of
claims in patent applications not solely on the basis of the claim language,
but upon giving claims their broadest reasonable construction ‘in light of the
specification as it would be interpreted by one of ordinary skill in the art.’
In re Am. Acad. of Sci. Tech. Ctr., 367 F.3d 1359, 1364 [70 USPQ2d 1827,
1830] (Fed. Cir. 2004).” Phillips v. AWH Corp., 415 F.3d 1303, 1316, 75
USPQ2d 1321, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2005).
Obviousness
“Section 103 forbids issuance of a patent when ‘the differences
between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such
that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the
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