DOW JONES REUTERS BUSINESS INTERACTIVE, LLC v. ABLAISE LTD. et al

Filing 21

DOW JONES REUTERS BUSINESS INTERACTIVE, LLC v. ABLAISE LTD. et al

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Doc. 21 Att. 3

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 200 Liberty Street New York, New York 10281, Plaintiff,
V.

Civil Action No. 1:06CV01014 Judge James Robertson

ABLAISE LTD. ("Ablaise") 40 Queen Anne Street London W 1G 9EL United Kingdom and GENERAL INVENTIONS INSTITUTE A, INC., ("GIIA") Craigmuir Chambers P.O. Box 71 Town Road Tortola, British Virgin Islands, Defendants. DOW JONES REUTERS BUSINESS INTERACTIVE, LLC 200 Library Street New York, New York 10281, Plaintiff,
V.

DECLARATION OF TREVOR J. FOSTER IN SUPPORT OF ABLAISE LTD. AND GENERAL INVENTIONS INSTITUTE A, INC.'S RESPONSIVE MARKMAN BRIEF IN SUPPORT OF ITS PROPOSED CLAIM CONSTRUCTION

ABLAISE and GIIA, Defendants. STATE OF MINNESOTA ) )SS COUNTS OF HENNEPIN )

Civil Action No. 1:06CV01015 Judge James Robertson

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I, Trevor J. Foster, declare as follows:
1.

I am an attorney with Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi L.L.P. and am one of the

attorneys representing Defendants Ablaise Ltd. and General Inventions Institute A, Inc. in the above-referenced matter. I make this declaration in support of Plaintiffs' Responsive Markman Brief in Support of Its Proposed Claim Construction. 2. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a spreadsheet containing Ablaise's proposed

constructions and Dow's proposed constructions as recited on pages 13-14 of Dow's opening brief. 3. 5,848,413. 4. Attached hereto as Exhibit C is a true and correct copy of the Office Action filed Attached hereto as Exhibit B is a true and correct copy of U.S. Patent No.

on September 17,2003 in connection with the prosecution of the `737 patent.

Is/ Trevor J. Foster Trevor J. Foster

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EXHIBIT A

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Claim Term to be Construed
`737 Patent - Claim One displayed at a browsing device
Storing executable hnctions

DOW'S ProDosed Construction
visually represented on the screen of a browsing device storing a universal set of all the available hnctions, wherein each hnction has a name and comprises a set of hnction steps, each of which, when executed, creates a portion of code

Ablaise's Proposed Construction
Does not require construction.
Storing at least two executable functions. The term "hnction" means "an identifiable unit of computer instructions."

performing steps (a) through (e) in in response to identifying a request for specified content data and a user identifier; response to identifying a request for (a). ..(e). .. specified content data and a user identifier, wherein the request was transmitted by a browsing device and includes a format identifier that is separate and distinct from the user identifier Receiving format identifiers identifying the receiving two or more format identifiers, wherein the format identifiers are included type of formatting required in said identified request for specified content data and each format identifier is a sequence of one or more characters that uniquely identifies an indexed hnction string Selecting a set of stored hnctions in dependence upon a received format identifier and said read user information selecting a particular indexed fiinction string fiom a set of indexed hnction strings, wherein the selection is dependent on both a received format identifier and said read user information, which

Does not require construction.

"Receiving" does not require construction. Format identifier means "an identifier corresponding to a type of formatting specified by a user from at least two types of formatting available to the user for specified content data." Type of formatting means "a layout or presentation of text and/or graphics on a Dage." selecting one or more fiinctions based upon a received format identifier and said read user information

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are separate and distinct Executing said set of functions to generate viewable data comprising said selected content data and formatting data executing the selected set of functions, wherein the execution of the selected function set causes formatting data to be combined with the selected content data, thereby generating viewable data, which formatting data specifies the location of the content data within a page The only term in this phrase that may require construction is "formatting data," which means "markup language, such as HTML tags."

The only term in this phrase that may require construction is "formatting type identification data," which means "data corresponding to a specified page format chosen from at least two page formats available to the requesting browsing device for specified viewable data." The only term in this phrase that may maintaining a plurality of formatting types storing, in a table, two or more file require construction is "formatting types of of data defining respectively corresponding structures, each file structure defining a data," which means "sets of mark-up tags, predetermined formats for portions of said format for portions of the viewable data such as HTML tags." viewable data choosing, from among the two or more file Does not require construction. selecting a specific one of said types of structures stored in the table, the file formatting data in response to said structure identified by the file structure formatting type identification data identifier included in the request identifying a request from a browsing device, wherein the request includes an identifier identifying certain viewable data and an identifier identifying a certain file structure

`530 Patent - Claim One identifjling requests from browsing devices that define a request for specified viewable data, said request including formatting type identification data

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EXHIBIT Is

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United States Patent
Wolff
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING AND PUBLISHING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS

[191

(111
[45]

Patent Number: Date of Patent:

5,848,413
Dec. 8,1998

Inventor: Gregory J. Wolff, Mountain View, Calif.
Assignees: Ricoh Company, L d ,Tokyo, Japan; t. Ricoh Corporation, Menlo Park, CaIif.

Appl. No.:372,784

Filed:

Jan. W, 1995

Int. C1.6 ...................................................... G06F 17/30 U.S. CI. .................................. 707110;3581448; 70713 Field o f Search ..................................... 395/600,610, 39W200.03, 603; 358/440, 448, 453; 382L261.1,
305,306

5,099,340 311992 Kamada et al. ........................ 5,115,326 511992 Burgess et al. 5,129,016 711992 Murakarni c l ai. ....................... 5,175,684 12l1992 Chong ..................................... 5,301,315 411994 Pellicano 5,337,362 SI1994 Gonnkh et al. 5,339,412 811994 55136,960 711995 5,461,488 1011995 5,497,319 3fi996 5,530,&52 611996 5,548,666 8fi996 5,563,955 1011996 5,579,407 1111996 s,644,4oa 711997

.........................

.........

35W403 3581440 382/61 3641419

Primary Examine&aul R. Lintz Airormy, Agent, or Firm4lakely, Sokoloff, Taylor & .

=man

LLP

I571

ABSTRACT

Refetences Cited

A document retrieval and accessing system in which docu358l263 364BCO 382157 382161

US.PATENT DOCUMENTS

4,013,827 3/1977 Star& et al. 4,553,ZX 11/1985 Smulek e al. .......................... t 4,553,261 11/1985 Froessl ...................................... 4274,395 3/19XG Kat0 .......................................... 4,760,606 711988 Lesnik et at. 5,093,873 311992 T k h s i aanh

............................

................................ -

.............................

ments are provided with links to other documents. Selection of one or more of the links causes the corresponding documents to be retrieved and sent t the requesting party. o Then retrieved documents may also include ii&s to yet even more documents.

32/48

382l61

34 Claims, 8 Drnwing Sheets

RECEIVE A FAX FROM USER

c
DETERMINE IDENTIflERS / LOCATORS OF DOCUMENTS TO BE RETRIEVED

1
I

I

RETRIEVE DESIRED DOCUMENTS USING IDENTIFIERSI LOCATORS

1
CREATE AN IMAGE OF EACH OF THE RETRIEVED DOCUMENTS SEND FACSlMlLE TRANSMISSION OF CREATED IMAGES 405

, I-

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U.S. Patent

Dec. 8,1998

Sheet 1 of 8

5,848,413

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U.S. Patent

Dec. 8,1998

Sheet 2 of 8

5,848,413

I

ESTABLISH COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE FAX MACHINE AND GATEWAY

1

RECEIVE DoCUMENT(S) FROM GATEWAY

t
I

202

I

I

SELECT LINKS CORRESPONDING TO THE DESIRED DOCUMENTS

203

V

RECEIVE DESIRED DOCUMENTS RETRIEVED AND FAXED BY THE GATEWAY

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US,Patent

Dec, 8,1998

Sheet 3 of 8

5,848,413

Web Fax gateway
This is the home page for the web fax gateway. This page was sent in response to a blank page (or one for which we failed to properly parse the links). Words or pictures with codes under them, like this .~cdrepresent active links. You may retrieve the document associated with such a link by drawing a complete circle around the word or picture (make sure that the circle includes the code below t h e word or picture) and faxing the document back to the WebFax gateway. You might like to follow some of these links:
California Re_search Center home page.

GreP Wolffs home page. StZe3avjtzky's homeLage. * Some demo sites.

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US. Patent

Dec, 8,1998

Sheet 4 of 8

5,848,413

RECEIVE A FAX FROM USER

1
I

DETERMINE IDENTIFIERS / LOCATORS OF DOCUMENTS TO BE RETRIEVED

I-

402

RETRIEVE DESIRED DOCUMENTS USING IDENTIFIERS I LOCATORS

tI

403

CREATE AN IMAGE OF EACH OF THE RETRIEVED DOCUMENTS

I

I

SEND FACSIMILE TRANSMISSION OF CREATED IMAGES

405

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U.S. Patent

Dec. 8,1998

Sheet 5 of 8

5,848,413

r

EXTRACT CIRCLED REGIONS FROM RECEIVED FAX IMAGE TO OBTAIN

I
501

DECODE INFORMATION OBTAINED

502

DETERMINE IDENTIFIER I LOCATOR BASED ON DECODED INFORMATION

503

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US. Patent

Dec. 8,1998

Sheet 6 of 8

5,848,413

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U.S. Patent

Dec 8,1998

Sheet 7 of 8

5,848,413

OBTAIN HARDCOPY OF DOCUMENT TO BE PUBLISHED

FAX DOCUMENT TO THE GATEWAY SERVER

RECEIVE THE FAX IMAGE OF THE DOCUMENT

CREATE A DOCUMENT FROM THE IMAGE

I

STORE THE CREATED DOCUMENT

705

CREATE IDENTIFIER I LOCATOR FOR THE DOCUMENT

f-

706

c
ADD LINKS TO THE IDENTIFIER I LOCATOR

I

NOTIFY SENDER OF IDENTIFIER I LOCATOR

I

SERVICE REQUESTS FOR THE DOCUMENT FROM WEB CLIENTS

709

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US. Patent

Dee. 8,1998

Sheet 8 of 8

5,848,413

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5,848,4 13

1
MX3"OD AND APPARATUS FOR ACCESSING AND PUBLISHING ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTS FIELD OF THE JNVENTION
The present invention relates to the field of document retrieval and publication; more particularly, the present invention relates to accessing documents from and publishthe h g d o c ~ e to ~ interconnected nernork, such n an World Wide Web, or other similar document resource supply using a facsimile (fax) machine.

2
panying drawings of various embodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only. 5 FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the document retrieval and publishing system of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flow diagram of one of the document retrieval process performed by a facsimile io machine user in the present invention,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The "World Wide Web" (hereinafter referred to herein as "the Web") is a term that descnbes the inbrconnected, 15 on-line documents that can be accessed via computer systerns hooked to the Internet using software clients. In the prior art, these software clients are graphical b r o w s , such as Mosaic and Nerscape, that pennit a user to select vm'ous documents. Upon selection, a graphical browser retrieves u) the documents and provides them to the user, either by displaying them on a display rem O r by causing to be printed on a hard copy device, such as a printcr. Portions of documents displayed using the graphical browser contain hypertext links. The hypertext li& link 25 graphics or text on one document wt another document on ih the Web. Documents containing h p r t e x t links are created prior to their "publishing" on the Web. That is, a document that is to be published is provided to a server which creates the document and, essentially, publishes the document by 30 permitting its access by others on the Web. Each hypertext link is associated with a Universal Resource Locator (URL) a that jdentiftes and locates a document on [he W&. for instance, a cursor, the user selects a hypertext link, graphical browser retrieves the corresponding document(s). 35 world wideWeb servers and clients, such aS Mosaic, have opened the door to on-linepub&&ers and c o n s ~ e r of s information. However, these servers and publishers have only been available to those having an Internet connection. In other words, individuals that do not have a d i r a Internet 40 connection do not have access to documents and other resources available through the Web. It is desirable to allow access to the Web to individuals that do not have such a direct mnnection. invention provides access to the web to 45 The individuals that do no[ have a connection lo Internet or the other nctworWresource supply. The present invention allows ~dividuals retrieve or publish dacumen& on the Web as to if actually connected to the Web thcmsclves. In this manner, b e presentinvention allows an individual to have both client so and server capabilities when that individual does not have a direct connection to a network.

FIG. 3 ilIustrates an example of a hard copy document with machine readable information according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of the document retrieval process Fformed by the gabway of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of the process for extracting selecled machine readable information from a received document according to the present invention. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a painted image that results from applying one cmbodiment of the extraction process of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of the document process of the invention. FIG. is a block diagram of one computer system of present invention.
of a

DET,qLED DESCRrPTION OF PRESENT lNV!XTlON Amethod and apparatus for accessing a network Or Other resource. In the following detailed description of the prasent numerow detailsare set forth* as resource and document identifier types, document types, understanding Of the in Order to provide a present invention. However, it wiU be apparent to one skilled in the art the present invention may be practiced witbout lo well-known smcspecific tures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order avoid obscuring tlw. present invention' Some poaions of the detailed descriptions which follow am presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic reprea computer sentations Of operations On data bits memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the by those in the data o ark t most effectively convey the substance of their work and in lhe arl' An algorilhm lo others generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a result. ne steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a method and apparatus SS electrical Or magoetic Signah capable of being stored, Lransfe~cd, compared, and dlcZ`Wb rnanipufor accessing information. The present invention provides a at times, principally for lated. It h a proven method and apparatus to receive a fasimile of a first Of common usage, to refer to si@ak as bits* document from a first location and to extract a resource (e.& values, elemen% symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or document) idenlifier, as, for instance, a URL, kom the the like. facsimile image. The present invention also provides a It should be borne in mind, bowever, that all of these and method and apparatus for retrieving a document corresponding to the cxtractcd resource identifier and sending the similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied retrieved document to the first location. to these quantities. Unless specifically staied athenvise as DESCRIPTloN OF THE 65 apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated The present invention will be understood more fully from that throughout the present invention, discussions utilizing thc dctailcd description given below and from the accomterms such as ``processing" or `kornputing" or "calculaling"

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5,848,413
or "determining" or "displaying" or tbc like, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar

3

4
limited by the number of document retrieval requests or publication requests that can bc wpported at any one time. Wt respect to the Web 103,it shoutd be noted that the ih present invention is not limited to retrieving and publishing s documents on the "World Wide Web" or the "Internet." The teachings of the present invention may be applied to various networks, data and document storage and archival facilities, or other types of clientlserver systems which have documents or other information available upon request. 10 The system of the present invention does not require a facsimile machine as long as the system includes components and devices that can provide functionality provided by the facsimile machine. These functions include, but are not limited to, being able to exchange documents, i.e. by rccciv15 ing one version of a document and sending another version, and being able to view a document by creating a bitmap or other display of the document. FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the process of document retrieval performed by the user of fax machine 20 101 according t the present invention. Referring to FIG.2, o the user begins the process by initiating communication between fax machine 101 and gateway 102 (processing block 2 1 . In one embodiment, the user establishes com0) munication with gateway 102 by sending a facsimile transz mission of a specific document to gateway 102. In one embodiment, this document is a blank page. As a result of establishing communication with gateway 102, the user receives a document, such as document 107, from gateway 102 that is output from fax machine 101 in 30 hard copy form (processing block 2 2 . The first document 0) received by the user from gateway 102 is referred t herein o as the home page. The document may have multiple pages. Other methods of establishing communication to receive the document may be. used. For instance, an individual may 35 verbally or otherwise noti@ an operator of gateway 102 to request the document be sent to the user of fax machine 101. The document may be sent automatically or otherwise by, for instance, another user of the Web. Similarily, an aulomatic service (e.g., d a y electronic newspaper) may notify 40 the user when a particular page changes. Note also that the user may have received the document by other means, such as by mail, air service, and/or delivery. The document received from gateway 102 contains links to other documents that may be retrieved for the user. In one 45 embodiment, the links are hypertext links. The links are encoded and formatted into machine readable information on the document. The machine readable information may be in a digital format, such as a bar code or digital paper, one embodiment of which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,337, so 362, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Placing Data Onto Plain Paper", issued on Aug. 9, 1994, and assigned to the corporate assigaee of the present invention. Other types of encoding may be used in the present invention as long as identification and selection of links are possible. 55 In one embodiment, the documenk received from gateway 102 contain machine readable information that indicates the hypertext links or "hot spots" that can be cirded lo rehieve furthcr document.. In one embodiment, the machine readable information is placed beneath an image or piece of 60 text. In this manner, the user is made clearly aware of what linlcs are active. The machine readable information may indicate the Universal Resource Locator (URL) of the linked documents to be retrieved. The WRL identifies and locates the document on the World Wide Web, and is well-known in 63 the art. An exemplary document showing text with bar codes representing links beneath the text in the document is shown in FIG. 3. In an allernalive embodiment, icons could be used

electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registcrs or other such information storage, transmission or display devices. lo The present invention a s relates to apparatus for performing the operations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computer selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or othor apparatus. Various general purpose machines may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these machines will appear from the description below. In addition, the present invention is not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the invention as described herein. Overview of the Present invention The present invention provides access to electronic documents. In the present invention, access to electronic documents is accomplished by marking images that may be on documents or displays, exchanging various documents and displaying bitmaps of various documents. The present invention allows a facsimile (fax) machine to act as a Web client and retrieve text and images horn any Web site. In this manner, the user can view multiple pages from the Web. The present invention a h allows the fx a machine to act as the interface to a Web server, publishing information on-line for access by any Web client. Therefore, s the present invention allows anyone to u e their fax machine a s a Web client or as an interface to a Web server. In this manner, an individual without a connection to the Web may interact with the Web as if a connection exisled. Using a Fax Machine as a Web Client FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate one embodiment of the present invention. RG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the system of the present invention. Referring to FIG, 1,a fax machine 101 is coupled to gateway 102 via phone lines 104. Gateway 102 is also coupled to Internet 105, or other network or document resource, which providts access to the Web 103. In one embodiment, fax machine 101 operates a a typical s fax machine in the prior art. That is, fax machine 101 is capable of wnding and receiving facsimile transmissions using phone lines 104.Also, fax machine 101 includes a scanning mechanism to scan documents, such as, for example, document 106,which thereafter may be transmitted over phone lines 104. Fax machine 101 also includes a print engine to produce hard copy representations of received facsimile transmissions, such as document 107. In the present invention, gateway 102 intetfacc% fax machine 101 to the Web 103 (via the Internet 1 5 . In one 0) embodiment, gateway 102 comprises a computer system, or workstation, that is coupled to phone lines 104 via fax modems, which are wcll-known in the art. The functionality and an exemplary implementation of gateway 102 will be descnied below. Gateway 102 is not limited to interfacing with only one fax machine (102) and may support any number of fax machines. However, gateway 102 may be

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to represent links. Many icons may fit on a single page, and known in the art. One embodimcnt of the extraction process the icons themselves could include machine readable URL performed by gateway le2 is described below in conjuncinformation. tion with FIG. 5 . The user selects one or more links on the document, In one embodiment, a "barcode" or "onedimensional indicating those documents that are desired (processing s digital paper" is used that is insensitive to resolution dBerblock 203). fn one embodiment, the user selects a link on the ences betwccn different bitmap representations of the image. The "bar codes" comprises alternating black and white document by circling the link. Any manner of encircling a link or marking a link as a means of selecting that link may spaces. The information iscontained in the relative length of be used in the present invention. In other words, a square the of the black. Each code begins with a special marker may be drawn around a link to select it. 10 of a black space followed by a wbite space followed by In an alternative embodiment, the document may include another black space, where the length of the white space is a special input location (e.g.. a box) into which the user approximately equal to the length of each of the surrounding writes the desired links or documents or some other inforblack spaces. Subsequent runs of black are compared with mation to identify the desired documents. For instance, the the average length of the runs in the start sequence and are document may include a form with entry boxes for the user 15 interpreted as muiliples of that length. An ending sequence to write selections. Note that in such a case, gateway 102 similar to the start sequence is required for a valid code. Any may perform some type of character recognition to deterlong run of white before the end sequence will invalidate the mine the seledions. Thus, the present invention allows users code. Since the machine readable code is based on the to fill out forms via fax. relative lengths of the runs, it is insensitive to the resolution In one embodiment, a link may be selected by inpulling u) and can be computed quickly in a single pass through the numbers associated with each link on a keypad, such a the s image. Thicker codes (e.g., the height) add redundancy, making it insensitive to skew and noise. keypad of fax machine 101. Referring to FIG. 3, one of the links is selecred by the user Where the document comprises, for instance, a form, by circling the bar code corresponding to the link Note that gateway 102 may be required to perform recognition on tbe text or graphics accompanying the link does not have to 25 specific areas or boxes on the image to identify the documents to be retrieved. Gateway 102 may also have to locate be circled or otherwise selected. A user may select any number OF links on the document. In other words, the uscr marks (e.g., "x", etc.) placed on the document hy the user that are part of tbe document selection process. may circle any number of bar codes contained in the Using the locator/identifier, gateway 102 retrieves the document. Selection may include together highlighting a portion of M desired documents over the Internet 105 (processing block an image (e.g., circling a link) and also placing a mark on a 4 3 .in one embodiment, gateway 102 locates and retrieves 0) particular location of the image. Based on both the highthe document(s) using URLs extracted from the fax received lighting and the location of the mark, one or more docu&om the user. Note that gateway 102 may also have to use marks (e.g., "x") on the image along with the locator/ men& may be retrieved. After selection, the user feeds the document into fax 3s identifier to retrieve a document. In such a case, a different machine 101 and faxes the document to gateway 102 document is Sent if the mark is made in a different location, (processing block 2W), which, in turn, retrieves the docueven though the locator/identifier is the same. ment from any where in the world via the World Wide Web Once the desired documents have been obtain, galeway 103, or any electronically accessible source, and faxes 102 creates an image of each document for transmission to rendered versions of requested documents back to fax 40 the user (prowsing block 404). In one embodiment, gatemachinc 101 or any electronically accessible source. way 102 creates images by parsing, formatting and renderFax machine 101 produces hard copies of the retrieved ing the documents. The parsing of the documents, as well as documents faxed by gateway 102 (processing block 205). formatting and rendering of the parsed documents, includes The user can retrieve further information by selecting (e.g., the conversion of document identifiedocators associated circling) links on tbe new newly received documents and 45 with the retrieved documents to a machine readable code (e.g., bar code, digital paper, etc.) to be included io the then repeating processing blocks 204 and 205. images faxed to the user (to enable user selection of addiThe Gateway of the Present Invention tional documents). Rendering is necessary for most docuGateway 102 receives and processes facsimile transmisments to conveg the data from ASCII lo a raslcr bitmap, the sions received from fax machine 101 that contain a document retrieval request. Gateway 102 f l i l the requests by SO protocol used by fax machines (and other marking engines). utls retrieving documens corresponding to the links selected on Once the image has been created, gateway 102 sends the image by fax to the user (processing block 405). Upon the document. The process of the processing logic of gateway 102 t receive and fulfill the document retrieval request o receipt of the retrieved documents from gateway 102, the is illustrated by the flow diagram in FIG.4. user may select additional documents or retrieval as The processing logic of galeway 102 begins when the uscr ss described above. In this manner, a fax machine may retrieve faxcs a document with circled links (e.g., hypcrtexs, etc.) to any document on the Web without having an Internet connection available to itself. gateway 102. Referring to FIG. 4, gateway 102 initially Gateway 102 may return not only a requested page, but receives the facsimile image, e.g. via a fax modem also all or some number of pages pointed io by that page. On (processing block 401), such as, for instance, the image of 60 lhe other hand, gateway 102 may split up pages that are very the document shown in FIG. 3. long and only return part of the page, along with a link to the U p n receipt of the fax, gateway 102 determines the locatorhdentifier (e.g., the URL) of the document(s) to be remainder. retrieved from the faxed image (processing block 402). FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of the extraction proGateway 102 performs the determination by extracting the cess performed by gateway 102 of the present invention. machine readable information selected by the user. In one 65 Referring to FIG. 5, gateway 102 initially extracts circled cmbodiment, gateway 102 extracts the selected links using regions &om the faxed image received via its fax modem(s) recognition and digital decoding fcchniqucs !hat are well(processing block 501). In one embodiment, the circled

5

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regions are extracted by painting the entire image a single color (e.g., black) except for the circled regions. Thus, only the machine readable information (e.g., bar codes) that is circled remain after painting the h a p . An example of a 5 painted image is shown in FIG. 6. nen proce&,,g logic of gatcway 102 searchcs the the document for circled regions (non-painted regions) based on the pixel color until the circled regions are obtained. Once. located, the in the circled regom is extracted. After extracting the circled regions, the information is 10 decoded to determine the identifier/locator, URL. Or Other machine (Processing b10ck502)*Thu% bar code On faxed image are decoded to produce a code. Using the code, gateway 102 obtains the identifierflocator 15 (e&, URL)(processing block 503). In one embodiment, the code comprises the identifierilocator (e.& the URL). In an alLernative embodiment, \he code resulting from the decoding performed by gateway 102 is used by gateway 102 as a pointer to an accessible storage location, list or table that 20 contains the identifierilocator. As a pointer, the code may include a first portion representing a pointer to the list or table and a second ponion indicating the entry in the list or table that contains the identifierilocator. Note that in one embodiment, all of the identifiersilocaton may be appear on 25 the face of the faxed image, with the code indicating which of thc listed identifiersflocators the user has selected. Using the Gateway as a Web Server The present invention may also allow the user using fax machine 101 to publish documents on the Web. FIG. 7 30 illustrates the process of the present invention for publishing a document on the Web. Referring to FIG. 7, in order to publish a document on the Web, a user initially obtains a hard copy of the document to be published (processing block 7 1 . In one embodiment, the user prints a copy of the 35 0) document or receives the document from another source. The user then faxes the hard copy to a gateway server (processing block 702). In one embodimenl, gateway 102 also acts as the gateway server. ?he gateway server receives the fax image (procisring .w block 703) and creates a document (processing block 7 4 . 0) In one embodiment, the faxed image is parsed by the gateway server to create the document. The document may be a hypertext (e.g., html) document. Also creating the document may be as simple as placing a wrapper around the 45 image (e.g., an html document containing the fax image as an embedded graphic, etc.) or as complex as performing optical character recognition (OCR) or form creation on the faxed image. Once the document is created, the gateway stores the SO document along with the image in a local memory (e.g., disk) and an association to the fax user (processingblock 705).The association may indicate the user's fax machine number. Next, the gateway creates an identifierilocator (e.g., URL) 5s for the document (processing block 706) and adds the appropriate links to that identifierfiocator (processing block 707). When complete, the gatcway notifies the sender of the identifier/locator (processing block 708). I n one 60 embodiment, links from the initial (home) page or "s~ore front" to the identifierilocator are added. At this time, the gateway server services requests for that document from Web clients (processing block 7 9 . When 0) the gateway receives a request for the doament, the gate- 65 way sends it by fax or by normal Internet "http" protocol to the requesting agent. AIS0 when receiving the document as

7

5,848,413

part of a document request, the gateway is able to identify the documents that are requested and forward those onto the requesting agent. In addition, the gateway of the present invention could also handle requests from clients on behalf of the gateway server. For example, if the document is a form to be filled out* the gateway could Process the filled Out form and fax it fax to the One Embodiment of the Gateway of the Present Invention One embodiment of the gateway of the prosent invention comprises a computer system or workstation haviog at least a processor, random a~ memory, and a bus, and runs an oprating system, etc. FIG, 8 is a block diagnm of one embodiment of the computer system that may incorporate the teachings of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, computer system 800 compr& a bus or other cation means 801 for communicating information, and a processor 802 coupled with bus 801 for pr0ce-g infor. mation. System 800 further comprises a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device 804 (referred to as main memory), coupled to bus 801 for storing information and instructions to he executed by processor 802. Main memory 804 also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediate information during exeation of instructions by processor 802. Computer system 800 also comprises a read only memory (ROW and/or other static storage device 806 coupled to bus 801 for storing static information and instructions for processor 802, and a data storage device 807 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk and its corresponding disk drive. Data storage device 807 is coupled to bus 8 1 for storing information and instructions. 0 Computer system 800 also comprises fax modems 840 and an Internetconnection841.Internet connection 841 may be a local area connection (e.&, ethernet) or maybe an ISDN line. In another embodiment, Internet connection 841 may be a modem running PPP or SLIP.The present invention i s not limited to use with the Internet and, thus, the connection 841 may be for use in connection to any network using the TCP/IP or other protocols, to which a "router" is connected that allows communication with some other network. The two networks form an "Internetwork". Internet refers to the largest, global set of such connected networks which may pass information back and forth bctwccn them. The methods of connecting to a network include a physical communications link, such as ethernet, ISDN, modem and phone lines, or wireless modems, and TCP/IP, SLIP, or PPP software. Computer system 800 may further include various input/ output peripherals, such as a display device, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display ( L O ) coupled to bus 801 for displaying information to a computer user. An alphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys, may also be coupled to bus 801 for communicating information and command selections to processor 802. An additional user input device is cursor control, such as a mouse, a trackball, stylus, or cursor direction keys, coupled to bus 801 for communicating direction information and command selections to processor 802, and for coatrolling cursor movement on a display. Another device which may be coupled to bus 801 is hard copy device which may be used for printing insmctions, data, or other information on a medium such as paper, f l ,or similar types of media. im Note that any or all of the components of system 800 and associated hardware may be used, however, it can be appreciated that any type of configuration of the system may be used for various purposes as the user requires. 'ne user, or client, may have a similar computer system that is coupled to the gateway of the present invention,

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permitting exchanging of documents (through phone lines), the text. Software running on computer system 800 then display of images and on-screcdcursor-controlled selection generates the Postscript image using, for example, LaWX of links. dvips. As a gateway, computer system 800 of the present invenI ~ ~ t e xa macro package for Tex, a software program is tion may run various software to perform a variety of 5 written by Donald Knuth at Stanford University, Palo Alto, functions. In one embodiment, computer system 800 NUS Calif. Latex generates "dvi" (device independent) output Internet communications protocol software, such as, for from the Lamx Source. These can be translated to Postexample, TCPAP, which i well known to those skilled in the s Script using "dvips" a software program written by Thomas an. computer system 800 a h runs fax modem driver Rokicki at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif. All these in software used to scud and receive faxes, as well as the 10 Programs are Well la~own the art. HyperTextsTransfer Protocol Onrp)server software, such In sum, any document on the World Wide web may be as, for instance, CERN or NCSA server software, which are retrieved through the gateway of the Present invention. All by the user needs i 8 phone number of the gateway of the s well-known in the art. Control softwm is also computer system 800 for handling faxed images as Present invention. Agateway may a service a regonaf area described above. Also, the computer system NI]S software Or be a proxy machine for all Ihe facsimile machines known (e.& "TTP client sofrware) to retrieve an identifierhocator it. (e.g., a URL) and format it appropriately for a fax machine. The Present invention may be Used for Web transactions, In one embodiment, to determine wherc to return such as obtaining product infomation, looking for a home, entertainment information such as movie listings, and stock retrieved documents, s o h a r e ruming in computer system 8 0 obtains the rcturn phone number. ' h e phone number 20 ~ ~ k quotes. Although content i a user design, in one et s may also be obtained during the handshaking h a t ocNrs as embodiment, a home page includes icons for product information, entertainment and browsing open houses. part of the standard interface to fax machine 101. Once the phone number is obtained from the handshake, Ihe software FoilOw-uP Pages for tach Of 1h.a icons may include a list incorporates it into the Tiff image. In an alternative of ProdUc% movie/restauant/etcembodiment, fax machines remain in communication 25 Furthermore, each Page may include some additional (connected) with the gateway while the document is machine readable information. In one embodiment, one mark per page identifies that page, and a bit of machine retrieved and then sent back. readable information is printed under each active link. Thus, In one embodiment, when pmessing the &age, software running in computer system 805 crops [he margins of the URL r e f e a n b g can be done in a robust, Page independent image, identilies which active regions have been circled, 30 manner, fills-in those areas of the image that have not been circled, with few modifications [he gateway o f & Present invention may be used by companies that wish to provide their locates and parses any remaining machine readable "fax" with Web access. would enjoy identifiers, and for each machine readable paper mark decoded, and finds the corresponding URL in a database of Wat e W s ~0 the faxed c ~ k ~ access in the Web 1e ~es URLs that have been sent lo the user. 35 through their gateway. For example, they could add adverNote that in one embodiment, each document is assigned fisements O r ChWC for using the gateway service. a unique ID when it is rendered by the gateway. ~ h ID is h Finally, a modified VeSion of the gateway could be a docwent and specifics hename of faxed cohanccment or replacement machine that individuals at the top a file which holds the mapping b e m e n the machine readcould U S directly. This machine would be able to interface to the Internet protocol directly and would dial up an Internet able codes and the URLS. XX I S point when asked retrieve a Web document. In this Mter processing the image, computer system 800 passes cach URL and the return phone number to retrieval and case, 0% benefit Would be Featly simplified a m to the World Wide web (md) using basic functionatity of the fax rendering software. The retrieval and rendering engine the document, renders it machine. Note that in addition to the Web access, such a retrieves the URL, (including the digital paper), updates the data base of 45 machine could Provide E-mail ma^^. The gateway could also provide C-mail acCcSs. A simple script Nnning on users document identifiers, and sends the rendered document by machine could translate e-mail into html format, which the fax to the return phone number. gateway could then access and deliver 1 user. 0 The retrieval and rendering software retrieves the URL and converts cach URLin the retrieved document to a global Whereas, many alterations and tnOdifications of the URL which includes a full specification of the location of (he 50 Present venti ion will no doubt become apparent to a person of ordinary skill in the art afier having read the foregoing Link description, it is to be understood that the particular embodiIn one embodiment, software converts the retrieved ment s h o w and described by way of illustration are in no document, which is in htmf format, to PostScript format or &line images are ah way 1 be considered limiting. Therefore, reference to the 0 directly to G3 "faf format. retrieved and converted 10 p0stSmpt for inclusion in the 55 details of the various embodiments arc not intended to limit the scope O the claims which themselves recite only those f s document. Note that in this embodiment, htmf Source i f@alUreS regarded as essential to the invention. convened (0"LaTEX' forma;. That is, [he so is Thus, a document Efdeval and pubtication sWem has converfed inlo source for the LaWX document formatting system. The L a m source includes commands io generate been described. the digital paper marks. Software running on computer 60 system 800 assigns link numben to each link and includes 1. A method for accessing infOm~+tion comprising the OE the appropriate LaTEX commands in a LaTEX source file to print those codes in machine readable format. Note that one receiving an image of a first document from a first location; mark is created to identify !he document and i printed as a s header on each page. Software also stores a list of codes and 6s extracting a document identifier from the image; U R I s i a temporary file. The machine readable identifiers n retrieving a second document corresponding to the d m meat idcnfifier; and are cmamd and thc machine readable code is printed under

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dynamically generating an image of the second document, inclu.uding the step of encoding links lo other documents in the second document into machinc readable codes: sending the image of the second document to the first location. 2.The method defined in claim 1 further comprising the step of locating in the image the machinc readable codes near locations of the links to other documents that are in the second document. 3.The method defined in claim 1 wherein the image of the second document is sent by facsimile transmission. 4. A method for processing information comprising the steps oE receiving a facsimile of a first document Gom a location; extracting a resource ideniifier from the facsimile; retrieving a second document corresponding to the resource identifier; rendering hypertext links in machine readable information near link points in the image; and sending by facsimile the image of the second document to the location. 5. The method defined in claim 4 lurther comprising &e step of parsing the second document to create the image. 6. The method defined in claim 4 wherein the resource identifier comprises a univenal resource locator (URL). 7. The method defined in claim 4 wherein the second document is retrieved from a network. 8. The method defined in claim 4 wherein the step of extracting the resource identifier comprises extracting selected encoded information in the facsimile and decoding the information to obtain the resource identifier. 9.The method defined in claim 8 wherein the encoded information comprises bar codes. 10.The method defined in claim 8 whercin the encoded information comprises digital paper. ll. The method defined in claim 8 wherein the encoded information comarises run length encoded information. 12. The method defined in Elaim 4 wherein the step of receiving the facsimile comprises receiving the facsimile using a fax modem. 13. The method defined in claim 4 wherein the step of extracting a resource identifier comprises the steps oT: filling regions of the facsimile other than those encircled with a uniform color; decoding encoded information in the encircled regions to obtain at least one code; and identifying at least one resource identifier using said at least one code. 14.The method defined in claim 13 wherein the step of identifying comprises accessing a stored listing using said at least one code as a pointer to said at least one resource identifier. 15.The method defined in claim 4 further comprising the step of rendering the document. 16.The method defined in claim 15 wherein the document is rendercd as a bitmap. 17. A method for viewing a document comprising the steps of: highlighting encoded information in an image on a piece of paper to select at least one document for retrieval wherein the encoded information represenki links to other documenfs; sending by facsimile a copy of the paper with the highlighted encoded information to a server designed to retrieve said at least one document based on a W e d version of the highlighted enmdcd information; and

11

5

10

15

7 . a

25

30

35

4o

45

50

creating an image of said at least one desired document including the step of dynamically generating encoded link information and including the encoded link information in the image, wherein the link information e specifies at leas1 one other document W d to said at least one document; receiving by facsimile said at least one desired document retrieved by the sewer. 18.The method defined in claim 17 wherein the step of highlighting comprises the step of marking the paper so a s to substantially surround encoded information on the paper. 19.The method defined in claim 17 wherein the encoded information comprises bar codes. 20. The method defined in claim 17 wherein the step of highlighting comprises the stcp of circling encoded information on the paper. 21.The method defined in claim 17 wherein the step of highlighting comprises the step of placing a mark on the paper to seled encoded information represenbag aileast one hypertext link. 22. The method defined in claim 1 wherein the encoded 7 information indicates at least one URLof a linked document, and wherein the u5er highlighfs one or more of said at least one URL to view the linked document associated with highlighted URts. 23.The method defined in claim 17 further comprising the step of obtaining the image by sending a facsimile of an image to the server. 24. The method dcfincd in claim 23 wherein the imam is " a blank page. 25.The method defined in claim 17 further comprising the steps of: highlighting encoded information in one of said at least one document retrieved by the scrver and received; sending by facsimile a copy of said one of said at least one document w i t h the highlighted encoded information to a sewer designed to retrieve one or more documents based on a decoded version of the highlighted encoded information in said one of said at least one document; and receiving by facsimile said one or more documents retrieved by the server. 26.An apparatus for retrieving documents from a source having a group of resources in response to a document request received from a facsimile machine, said apparatus comprising: a system having a bus; a processor coupled Lo the bus; and at least one memory coupled to the bus; a facsimile mechanism coupled to the system to send and receive facsimile imagcs; and a connection mechanism coupling the system to the wherein the system receives a facsimile image from the facsimile machine, identifies encoded portions selected by a user, decodes the identified encoded portions into decoded data, retrieves at least one document from the source corresponding to the decoded data, dynamically generates an image of the document with encoded link information specifying links to other documents, and sends said at least one document by facsimile to the facsimile machine using the facsimile mechanism, such that the apparatus sew- as a gateway between sour= and tbe facsimile machine. 27. The apparatus defined in claim 26 wherein the source comprises a network and the connection mechanism couples the system lo the network.

12

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28. The apparatus defined in claim 26 wherein the source comprises a local area network and the connection mechanism couples the system to the LAN. 29. The apparatus defined in claim 26 wherein the f a o simile mechanism comprises at least one FaxModem. 30. An apparatus for retrieving documents from a source having a group of resources in response to a document request, said apparatus comprising: means for processing a document to obtain an identifier; means for retrieving a document corresponding to the idcntifier, means for rendering the document after reuieval, iocluding means for encoding link information inlo machine readable information into the document being rendered such that links to other documents are available; and means for sending a facsimile image of the document after retrieval and rendering. 31. A method for publishing a documeni using a Facsimile machine, said method comprising the steps of

13

5,848,413

receiving a facsimile image tiom a facsimile machine; parsing the image to create a document; storing the document with information indicating an association between the document and the facsimile machine; creating a resource locator for the document; adding Ii&to the resource locator in the form of machine readable infomation; and servicing requests for the document. 32. The method defined in claim 31 wherein the documeni comprises a html document. 33. The method defined in claim 31 wherein the reSOucce locator comprLses a URL. 34. The method defined in claim 31 further comprising the step of notifying the sender of the image of the resource locator.

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EXHIBIT C

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Please fild below andlor attached an Office communication concerningthis application 01pmeeding.
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I AppUuVon NO.
091020803 Utamlnor Chad86 L.Rones
RlTCHlE ET AL.
AII Unit

- Thb MAlLfNG DATE of Ihlscommunlcatfonappearson Me cover sheer wMh Ihe correspondence
TO EXPIRE aMONTH(S) FROM

I2175

I

I

address

-

Ceriiied copies of the priority doalmwls have been recaivad.

4 ) c ) Intan(ewSmry(F70.413) Papar Nqs)--. 5) Noticed lnfprmalPalmlpgpta60n IpTo152)

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W
Number: 091920,803

W
Page 2

DETAILED ACTION

Amendment

.

..

; The amendment timely filed on June 26,2003 was entered subject to rule 1.268.
The ffst amendment cancelled claims 2-20 and added claims 21-40. At that time, only claim/l was present in the application, not daims 2-20. Later claim 1was cancelled.
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Therifore under Rule 1.269 claims 2140 will be treated as claims 2-21, since 1 had been cancelled. In all future responses, please refer to pending claims as claims 2-21.

I

Ciaim Rejections 35 USC 5 f02
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1 The foilowing is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that
fixinkhe basis for the rejections under this section made in this office action:
i A person shall be eniilled to a patentunlass

-

.

i ` (e) the lnventionwas described in a patent granted on an ap&ca6On b patent by mther filed In We j United Stales befwe the invention thereof by the applicant lor paten!, 01on an inlemalional application I by another who has fulfilled the requirements ofparagraphs(1). (2b and (4)of secticn 371(c) d VS j We More the inventionMereof by the applicant for patenl

ctf

I 99 (AIPA) and fhe intellectualProperty and High Technology Technical

I\m+dments Act of 2002 do not apply when the reference is a US. patent resulting

ii

i The changes made to 35 U.S.C. 102(e) by the American Inventors Protection Act

(lire(ltiyor indirectly from an international application filed before November 29,2000.
Thebfore. the prior art date Qf the reference is determined under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) prior lo thb amendment by !he AIPA (pre-AIPA 35 U.S.C. 102(e)).

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A3pti tion/Control Number. 091920,803 A t U it:2175

t
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Page 3

! Claims 2-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(e) as being anticipated by Woiff

US. iatent No. 5,848,413 (WOW).

Wold discloses:

AS

tojctaim 2,

requ st for specified content data; data storage means storing content data; See 1:1530; ahd processing means configured to:
i

d

! idenrifying means for Identifying requests from browsing devices that define a

(a) select conient data from said storage means in dependence of the content

data kpedfied in a request received by said identifying means; See 5:4767; 6:30-57;

7i6-611;
!

(b) receive format identifiers; See 347-67; 6:30-57; 6 6 1 ; 7

i (c) execute a first set of functions to generate viewable data m p r i s i n g said
seleied content data and first formatting data when a first formal identifier is received; fiee b47-67; 630-51; 7:6-61; and
I

I

,

(d) execute a second set of functions to generate viewable data comprising said

rieleked content data and second formatting data when a second format identifier is recelved. whereby viewable data is served to a browser for display with a format which tlep$nds upon the particular format identifier received by lhe processing means; See
!'

!i:47b7; 6330-57; 7:6-61.

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.
Number: 091920,803 Page 4

A ,to b aim3, r

1 wherein said format identifiers are receivedfrom browsing devices with said
*

requ+fs for specified content data, such that viewable data I served to a browsing s devich for display with a first format when a first format identifier is received from said browrfingdevice, and a second format when a second format identifier is received from said drowsing device; See 5:47-67; 6:30-57; 7:6.61;9:2&67.
!

As~to~clairn 4,

i wherein said data storage means comprises agraphia database, whereby
Y ewible data including graphics

is sewed to a browsing device for display with a format

whicq depends upon the particular format identifier received by the processing means: See $4747; 6:30-57; 7:6-61; 9:28-67.

PS td ciaim 5,

read specified user data from said user database, such that said specified user data brresponds to a received user identifier; See k47-67;630-57; 7:6-61;928-67;
and

i select cantent data in dependence of said read data; See 5:4767;6 3 . 7 7 6 :05; : til; 4:28-67.
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As 14 ctaim 6,

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w
Number: 091920,803

11 '1
Page 5

i

j

wherein said informationrelating to user preferences is identified by users: See

455-$7 5:4-23.

AS

tobiaim 8,

! a user'database comprising information serving to user preferences and a text
datadase which has an index; See 4:5567 54-23:
'

,

\ said identifying means is further configured to receive a user identifier with saId
nqudst for specified content data: See 5:47-67; 6:30-57; 7:6-61; 9:28-67; and
1. i said processing means is configured to:

I read data from said user database in res.ponse to a received user identifier; See
5:47+7; 6:30-57; 7 6 6 1; 9:28-67: and

I
j
adjust the index of said text database in response to said user information,

suchithat said selected content data is dependent upon a received user identifier; See 5:47167; 6:30-57; 7:6-61; 9:28-67.

AS

tcJ claim 9,
said serving device furlher comprises a user database comprising informatlon

relat ng to user preferences, and a graphics database which has an index: See 4:55-67 !i:433: i I said identifying means is further configured to receive a user identifier with said
ieq st for specified content data; See 5:47-67; 6:30-57; 7:661; 9:2&67;and

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e

.

.

W
Number: 091920,803
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V
Page 6

i said processing means is configured to:

1 read data from said user database in response to a received user identifier; See
I

I 5:47-67; 6:30-57; 7:6-61; 9:28-67; and
such at said selected content data is dependent upon a received user identiftet; See
5.47-7; 630-57; 7:6-6i; 9~28-67.

I
I

I adjust the index of said graphics database in response to said user information,

AS

tojclaim IO, wherein said serving device further comprises: a function database comprising a

plurafity of sets o functions including said first set of functions and said second set of f hinctbs; See'547-67; 6:30-57; 735-61; 9:28-67; and
j a user database comprising information relating to user preferences, wherein
!

ssid ihentifying means is configured to receive a user identifier with said request for specked content data: See 455-67 54-23; 5:47-61:6:30-57; 76-61; 928-67; and

f

said processing means is configured to:

'

! (a) read user preference information from said user database in response to a
meibed user identifier, See 5:47-67;.6:30-57; 7:6-61; 9:28-67; end

i. (b) select a set of functions from said funttion database in dependence upon said .
psceiled format identifier and said read user information; See 547-67; 6:30-57; 7661;
9:28{67.

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*

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v
Number: 09/920,803 Page 7

kj

to blairn 1I,

1 a user database comprising information relating to user preferences; See 455.67
5:4-2$: and

I a function database containing a plurality of sets of functions and an index, said
identikng means is configured to receive a user identifier with said request for specified ci,nt+t
i

data; See 347-67; 630-57;7661: 9:28-67; and

! said processing means is configured to: .

'

j read specific user preference informationfrom said user database in responseto
a received user identifier; See 5:4787; 630-57; 7:6-61; 928-67;

i adjust the relationshipbetween said index and said sets'of functions within said
fiinctbn database in response to said specific user preference information; See 4:55-67 534-28; and

: select a set of functions from said function storage means in dependence upon

said [eceived format identifier, whereby said selected set of functions depends upon said gpecific user information; See 5:47-67; 6:30-57; 7:6-61; 928-67.

10 tcj claim 12,

1 wherein said data storage means storlng content data is a content database and
said bewing device further comprises a separate function database comprising a plut(lity of sets of functifins including said first set of functions and said second set of fvncbons, whereby said content database may be edited before said processingmeans
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comb nes said content data with formatting data to generate viewable data; See 5:47-

tir; 6bo-57; 7 : ~ t9:2&-67. ;

i

As to/claim 13,
i

f wherein said viewable data is HTML, (hypertext markup language) data, and said
fist b d second formatting data comprise of HTML tags; See $4767; 6:30-57; 7:6-61;
i

9:28$7,

Ps toiclaim 14,
t

(a) storing content in a storage means; See 5:47-67;6:30-57;7:6-61; 9:28-67;
e

(b) identiing requests.from browsing devices at an identifying means that define

8

re&est for specified content data; See 5:47-67; 6:30-57;75-61; 9:28-67; and

1

(c) selecting content data from said storage means in dependence of the content

.

data bpecified in a request received by said identifying means; See 5:47-67; 6:30-57;

.

7:6-$l; 9:28-67;

1 (d) receiving format identifiers: See 5:47-67;6:3957; 7:6-61: 928-67
i
(e) executing a first set of functions to generate viewable data comprising said

wledted content data and first formatting data when a krst format identifier is received; See b47-67; 6:30-57; 7:6-61; 928-67; and
I

i (0 executing a second set of functions to generate viewable data comprising

$id sklected content data and second formatting data when a second format

I

.

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302

Case 1:06-cv-01015-JR

Document 21-4

Filed 04/04/2007

Page 33 of 37

*

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Appli IionlControlNumber. 09/920,803 Att U it: 2175
!

t
.

id~sntrer is received, whereby viewable data is served to a browser for display with a

f