Comment Re:Prior art: Phone book? (Score 3, Informative) 253
A) A phone book did not have on-line information in 1996
B) A phone book is not connected to a computer network.
C) A phone book does not duplicate items into different regions.
D) This is definately not a software patent. Claim 1 clearly states that they are patenting a sytem comprising a network and a organizer (server).
You can get a patent on a system running software, just not on the software itself. A CD or hard disk with the code is also patentable.
I'm not saying this was novel at the time, but it most certaintly was not anticipated by a phone book. Just remember, to reject a claim, you need a document published before the filing of the application which teaches every limitation, or, multiple documents which when combined, teach the limitations and explicit motivation (known at the time of filing) for doing so.
B) A phone book is not connected to a computer network.
C) A phone book does not duplicate items into different regions.
D) This is definately not a software patent. Claim 1 clearly states that they are patenting a sytem comprising a network and a organizer (server).
You can get a patent on a system running software, just not on the software itself. A CD or hard disk with the code is also patentable.
I'm not saying this was novel at the time, but it most certaintly was not anticipated by a phone book. Just remember, to reject a claim, you need a document published before the filing of the application which teaches every limitation, or, multiple documents which when combined, teach the limitations and explicit motivation (known at the time of filing) for doing so.
