Appeal 2007-2173
Application 09/682,701
2. The only reference to “value chain” in the Specification states, “a
computer-implemented method for generating cost estimates includes
defining a cost estimate for a product wherein the product comprises at
least one component, and outputting a value chain for the product by
component and supplier tier wherein the value chain includes a picture
and pricing information for the at least one component.” (Specification 3-
4:¶0013) (emphasis added). This statement in the Specification simply
reiterates the claim language without providing any further explanation
or definition of “value chain.”
3. The term “value chain” appears have a meaning within the business art
that is inconsistent with the use of the term in the claims. For example,
several business texts and dictionaries provide definitions of “value
chain” that encompass a sequence of activities and/or a value-added
analysis that occurs from product design through product distribution and
service.1
1 Definitions of “value chain” in the business art include:
1) “[A] supply chain analyzed in terms of how much value is added during the
various stages from, e.g. purchase of raw materials to sale of finished product.”
http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561534405/value_chain.html
2a) the sequence of business activities by which, in the perspective of the end user,
value is added to products or services produced by an organization; 2b) the
sequence of activities a company performs in order to design, produce, market,
deliver, and support its product or service. The concept of the value chain was first
suggested by Michael Porter in 1985, to demonstrate how value for the customer
accumulates along the chain of organizational activities that make up the final
customer product or service. Porter describes two different types of business
4
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