Ex Parte Martin et al

Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences

Jul 31, 2012

10877583 (B.P.A.I. Jul. 31, 2012)

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
____________

BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS
AND INTERFERENCES
____________

Ex parte GEOFFREY MARTIN, FRANK E. LA FETRA JR.,
RUTH ANN LIM, and JANET L. SAILOR.
____________

Appeal 2010-003343
Application 10/877,583
Technology Center 2100
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Before MAHSHID D. SAADAT, KRISTEN L. DROESCH,
and MICHAEL J. STRAUSS, Administrative Patent Judges.

STRAUSS, Administrative Patent Judge.

DECISION ON APPEAL

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Application 10/877,583

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Appellants appeal under 35 U.S.C. § 134(a) from a final rejection of
claims 1-20. We have jurisdiction under 35 U.S.C. § 6(b).
We reverse.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE
Introduction
Appellants’ invention is directed to a graphical user interface for
accessing, managing, organizing and using local and online content from a
personal computer. The graphical user interface is divided into several
modules, displayed on the display screen of the computer, some of which
contain links to content online and on the hard drive of the computer. A user
can select content by dragging and dropping a link from the desktop, another
application, or a category within the GUI whereas applications required to
access content referred to by links are launched at the time that the GUI is
launched. See Abstract.

Claim 1, which is illustrative of the invention, reads as follows:

1. A graphical user interface comprising:
a plurality of on-screen elements displayed on a display
screen of a computer system;
a plurality of user-selectable, user customizable
categories displaying user-customizable links to content on a
network and content stored in the memory of said computer
system and wherein an application for accessing each instance
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of the content is automatically launched concurrently with
initiating of said graphical user interface; and
a media player for launching said content automatically
when one of said links is dragged and dropped onto said media
player.

Prior Art
Agboatwalla US 2003/0120599 A1 Jun. 26, 2003

Rejection1
The Examiner rejected claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) as being
anticipated by Agboatwalla.

Appellants’ Contention
Appellants contend that Agboatwalla does not disclose automatically
launching an application for accessing the content concurrently with
initiating or rendering of the graphical user interface, as claimed in
independent claim 1. App. Br. 5-7.

ISSUE
Has the Examiner erred in rejecting claim 1 as being anticipated by
Agboatwalla because the reference does not teach all the recited features?

1 Separate patentability is not argued for the remaining claims rejected as
anticipated or as obvious over Agboatwalla. See App. Br. 5-8. Therefore,
these claims stand or fall with the representative claim 1. See 37 C.F.R.
§ 41.37(c)(l)(vii).
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Application 10/877,583

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ANALYSIS
We agree with Appellants that the Agboatwalla reference fails to
disclose (i) automatically launching an application for accessing content
concurrently with (ii) initiating or rendering of the graphical user interface,
as claimed in independent claim 1. These features are emphasized by
Appellants as an advantage in that “[s]ince all applications run in the
background of the GUI, it is all but instantaneous when the GUI opens
associated content.” Spec. 12, ¶ [0027].
The Examiner asserts that Agboatwalla’s management interface
includes links to web pages that are displayed on the user’s portal that, when
selected, open up a web page using a web browser. According to the
Examiner, “[t]he action of selecting the link is ‘initiating the graphical user
interface’ and when the link is selected it ‘automatically launches and [sic]
application,’ being the web browser that ‘accesses content concurrently with
the initiating.’ The browser accesses the linked content concurrently when
the user selects the hyperlink on his/her portal.” Ans. 9. The Examiner
concludes that the cited portions of Agboatwalla anticipate the disputed
limitation of claim 1. Id.
Appellants respond (Reply Br. 2) that Agboatwalla’s links displayed
on the user’s portal are displayed when the user interface has already been
initiated and has already been rendered. Contrary to the Examiner’s position
(Ans. 9) that the action of selecting the link is “initiating the graphical user
interface” and when the link is selected it “automatically launches and
application,” being the web browser that “accesses content concurrently with
the initiating,” the link initiating the web browser GUI is displayed by
operation of the management interface which has been previously initiated.
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We agree with Appellants that only subsequent to initiation of the
management interface of Agboatwalla, is the link selected and the associated
web browser launched or initiated. Reply Br. 3. Thus we are persuaded by
Appellants that “any subsequent action or actions, such as selecting the link,
as identified by the Examiner, do not occur concurrently with initiating of
the graphical user interface as recited in Appellant’s independent claim[] 1.”
Reply Br. 2. Because we agree with Appellants that Agboatwalla does not
teach concurrently launching an application with the initiation or rendering
of a GUI, we find that the reference does not anticipate the disputed claims.

CONCLUSION
Appellants’ arguments have persuaded us of error in the Examiner’s
finding that Agboatwalla teaches concurrently launching an application with
the initiation or rendering of a GUI. Accordingly, we do not sustain the
rejection of independent claim 1 under 35 U.S.C. § 102(e) or of claims 2-20
falling therewith.

DECISION
The decision of the Examiner to reject claims 1-20 is reversed.

REVERSED

msc