Ex Parte O et al

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Feb 28, 2007

09814010 (B.P.A.I. Feb. 28, 2007)

The opinion in support of the decision being entered today was not written 1
for publication and is not binding precedent of the Board 2
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UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 4
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BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS 7
AND INTERFERENCES 8
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Ex parte PATRICK THOMAS O'CONNOR and DONALD REX BOYS 11
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Appeal 2007-0609 14
Application 09/814,0101 15
Technology Center 3600 16
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Decided: February 28, 2007 19
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Before: HUBERT C. LORIN, STUART S. LEVY, and ROBERT E. 22
NAPPI, Administrative Patent Judges. 23
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LEVY, Administrative Patent Judge. 25
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27
ORDER REMANDING TO THE EXAMINER 28
29
STATEMENT OF CASE 30
Applicants appeal from a final rejection of claims 35 and 36 under 35 31
U.S.C. § 134 (2002). We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b) (2002). 32

1 Application filed March 20, 2001. Applicants claim the benefit under
35 U.S.C. § 120 of application 09/323,599, filed June 1, 1999. The real
party in interest is Patrick Thomas O’Connor and Donald Rex Boys.

Appeal 2007-0609
Application 09/814,010

2
The Examiner rejected claims 35 and 36 under 35 U.S.C. § 103(a) 1
(2004). 2
Claim 35 is representative of the claims under appeal and reads as 3
follows: 4
35. An Internet-enabled appointment and reservation service 5
system, comprising: 6
7
an Internet-connected appointment/reservation server executing 8
first software; and 9
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one or more subscribing businesses to the service, the 11
businesses each having an internet-connected appliance executing 12
second software; 13
14
wherein the appointment server, through the first software, 15
presents to browsing clients an interactive interface enabling the 16
clients to select individual ones of the subscribing businesses, and 17
once a subscribing business is selected displays to the selecting client 18
an interactive appointment/reservation schedule to select an 19
appointment or reservation with the business, wherein the 20
appointment server updates the appointment/reservation schedule at 21
the server for each business as browsing clients make 22
appointments/reservations, wherein the appointment/reservation 23
server periodically provides updated appointment schedules to the 24
subscribing businesses which are displayed by the second software 25
interactively, allowing the subscribing businesses to further update the 26
appointment reservation schedules and to return them to the 27
appointment/reservation server, which updated versions then becomes 28
the interactive schedules displayed to browsing clients. 29
Appeal 2007-0609
Application 09/814,010

3
The prior art relied upon by the Examiner in rejecting the claims on 1
appeal is: 2
DeLorme US 5,948,004 Sep. 7, 1999 3
Cummings, Jr. US 6,345,260 B1 Feb. 5, 2002 4
5
From our review of the record, we find that the application is not in 6
condition for decision on appeal for the reasons which follow. Accordingly, 7
we remand the application to the Examiner to take appropriate action. 8
9
ISSUE 10
A page is missing from the Examiner's Answer. 11
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FINDINGS OF FACT 13
14
The Examiner's Answer includes pages numbered 1-7 and 9 15
(excluding the Appendix). Page 9 has been renumbered "8" in ink. 16
However, the language at the end of page 7 does not correlate with the 17
language at the top of page 9 (renumbered in ink as "8"). 18
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ANALYSIS 20
From the inconsistent language bridging the bottom of page 7 and the 21
top of page 9, which had been renumbered as "8," we conclude that a page is 22
missing from the Examiner's Answer. Correction is required. 23
Appeal 2007-0609
Application 09/814,010

4
This remand to the examiner pursuant to 37 CFR § 41.50(a)(1) 1
(effective September 13, 2004, is not made for further consideration of a 2
rejection. Accordingly, 37 CFR § 41.50(a)(2) does not apply. 3
4
REMAND TO THE EXAMINER 5
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CENTRAL COAST PATENT AGENCY, INC. 11
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WATSONVILLE, CA 95076 13