Obviousness

Obviousness Analysis of US Patent 5852810 Under 35 U.S.C. § 103

This analysis examines the obviousness of US Patent 5852810, "Geographic specific information search system and method," under 35 U.S.C. § 103. The analysis will consider the patent's independent claims (Claims 1, 10, and 22) in light of prior art available before the patent's priority date of January 29, 1996.

A person having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) at the time of the invention would have possessed knowledge of foundational internet technologies (e.g., HTTP, HTML, CGI), database management (e.g., SQL), and graphical user interface design. They would also have been aware of the growing need for efficient online systems for real estate search and property management.

Combination of Prior Art References: US5664115A and US5721851A

The primary combination of prior art references that would render the independent claims of US5852810 obvious is US5664115A (Fraser) and US5721851A (IBM).

• US5664115A (Priority Date: June 7, 1995): This patent describes an "Interactive computer system to match buyers and sellers of real estate, businesses and other property using the internet." Fraser discloses an internet-based system where property owners or agents can list properties, and potential buyers or renters can search through listings in a database. The system allows for searching by various criteria, including geographic location (e.g., state) and property attributes such as price range, property type, number of bedrooms, and bathrooms. It enables users to view properties that fit their needs and implies a mechanism for matching interested parties.

• US5721851A (Priority Date: July 31, 1995): This patent discloses "Transient link indicators in image maps." It describes the use of image maps on a computer display, where regions of an image can be selected by a pointing device to activate associated links or retrieve information.

Motivation to Combine US5664115A and US5721851A

A PHOSITA, seeking to enhance the user experience and effectiveness of an internet-based real estate search system (as taught by Fraser, US5664115A), would have been motivated to integrate the interactive graphical map technology described by IBM (US5721851A). While Fraser teaches searching by geographic area (e.g., state), it does not detail a highly visual, interactive map-based method for narrowing that geographic scope. The burgeoning World Wide Web environment in 1996 increasingly emphasized graphical interfaces and intuitive "point-and-click" interactions.

Therefore, it would have been obvious for a PHOSITA to combine Fraser's online real estate search functionality with IBM's image map technology. This combination would allow users of an internet-based real estate system to visually select geographic regions on a map, providing a more engaging and user-friendly way to refine their search location compared to text-based input. Furthermore, once properties meeting the search criteria were identified, displaying them directly on an interactive map, where each property is a clickable "point of interest" (leveraging the image map's linking capability), would be an obvious and desirable improvement for visualizing property locations relative to landmarks and other properties.

Obviousness of Independent Claims

Claim 1: Method of presenting, searching, selecting and maintaining geographic specific housing information

Claim 1 describes a method involving:

• Presenting a graphical map and narrowing the geographic area by recursively selecting smaller regions using a graphical tree structure: Fraser (US5664115A) teaches searching for real estate by geographic location (e.g., state). IBM (US5721851A) teaches displaying an image map where users can select specific regions with a pointing device to retrieve associated information or activate links. A PHOSITA, aiming to improve the geographic search in Fraser's system, would find it obvious to use interactive image maps (IBM) to represent different geographic levels (ee.g., starting with a high-level map, then recursively displaying more detailed maps upon user selection). This hierarchical navigation implicitly forms a "graphical tree structure" for narrowing the search.
• Displaying a desired geographic region with individual highlighted points of interest corresponding to available housing: Fraser describes retrieving "available housing" listings based on search criteria. Once a geographic area is defined using the interactive maps (from the combination), a PHOSITA would find it obvious to visually represent these retrieved properties as "highlighted points of interest" on the displayed map, a natural extension of combining property data with a graphical map interface.
• Recursively selecting highlighted points of interest and retrieving from the database information related to each selected point of interest: IBM teaches selecting points on an image map to retrieve associated information. Fraser teaches storing and retrieving detailed property information from a database. Therefore, the ability to select a highlighted property on the map (using IBM's image map functionality) and retrieve its specific details from Fraser's database would be an obvious integration.
• Compiling an interest list of interesting properties and user information for contacting interested persons: Fraser's system aims to "match buyers and sellers" and enables users to view properties fitting their needs. The creation of an "interest list" (a common feature in online catalogs and search systems for saving items) and collecting user information to facilitate contact with property managers are obvious steps for enabling the "matching" purpose described in Fraser.

Claim 10: Geographic-specific information search system

Claim 10 describes a system including:

• A database for storing real estate listing data with property locations as map coordinates: Fraser's system includes a database for property listings. Storing property locations with coordinates is standard practice for any system intending to display locations on a map.
• A set of map tables identifying map images, geographic boundaries, and coordinate data: Such map tables are fundamental to any geographical information system or interactive map display, as described by IBM (image maps).
• An input/output interface for network communication, displaying maps/listing data, and receiving user queries including input coordinates from a pointing device: Fraser details an internet-based system with a user interface. IBM teaches using a pointing device to enter coordinates on an image map for selection. The combination directly supports this functionality.
• A query handler for decoding input coordinates and accessing map tables and a database to retrieve records that satisfy user queries: Fraser's system includes a query handling mechanism for searching the property database. Integrating the decoding of image map coordinates (from IBM) to dynamically refine the geographic component of the query is a straightforward design choice for a PHOSITA.
• A map compiler for constructing a query-specific map by placing query-specific properties (from retrieved database records) at defined coordinates within the map boundary: Given properties with coordinate data (Fraser) and the capability to display interactive maps (IBM), it would be obvious to generate a map that plots the locations of the retrieved properties. The "map compiler" refers to the known process of overlaying points of interest on a base map.
• A table builder for building a query-specific map table and adding it to the set of map tables: This represents the conventional data management aspect of dynamically generated interactive maps, a routine task for a PHOSITA.
• Whereby the user may view selected real estate listing data by selecting from said query-specific map one of said query-specific properties using a pointing device to enter coordinates for decoding by said query handler: This "whereby" clause describes the user interaction of clicking on a property on the map to view its details, which is the direct combination of IBM's interactive image map selection and Fraser's retrieval of property listing data.

Claim 22: Method of conducting a search of a database of geographic-specific housing information

Claim 22 outlines a method involving:

• Displaying a graphical representation of an initial geographic region and defining a first query by recursively selecting and displaying geographic subregions using a graphical tree structure: This is rendered obvious by the combination of Fraser's geographic search capabilities and IBM's interactive image map technology, as explained for Claim 1. The recursive selection on maps to narrow a geographic area is an obvious application of image maps in a hierarchical context.
• Defining a second query including real estate listing information to form a desired property criteria: Fraser explicitly teaches "searching for listings by state, price, property type, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and other features," which directly covers this step.
• Searching the database for properties which meet said first and second queries: Fraser teaches searching a database for properties meeting criteria. Combining geographic criteria (first query) with property criteria (second query) into a single database search is a fundamental function of any advanced search system and would be obvious.
• Creating and displaying a query-specific graphical representation of said desired geographic search area having features corresponding to properties found during said database search, displayed at their locations: As explained for Claim 10, given the ability to retrieve properties with location data (Fraser) and display interactive maps (IBM), visually plotting these properties on the relevant map is an obvious enhancement.
• Selecting features from said query-specific graphical representation and displaying geographic-specific housing information describing properties represented by said selected features: This interaction—clicking on a map feature (IBM) to reveal associated property details (Fraser)—is directly derivable from the combination of the two prior art references.

Other Claims Dependent on Independent Claims:

• Claims 2, 3, 4, 18, 19 (Adding, Editing, Deleting Listings): Fraser's system allows "property owner or real estate agent to list property for sale or rent." The ability to add, edit, and delete listings is an inherent, fundamental requirement for maintaining any property listing database and would be obvious to implement in an online system.
• Claims 5, 6, 20, 21 (Displaying digitized pictures/video): While not directly mentioned in Fraser, US5325297A teaches "Computer implemented method and system for storing and retrieving textual data and compressed image data." Given this, and the increasing multimedia capabilities of the internet by 1996, a PHOSITA would find it obvious to include digitized pictures and full-motion video clips in property listings, especially for a system designed to "show" available housing.
• Claims 7, 9, 17, 23 (Notifying property managers, e-mail): Fraser aims to "match buyers and sellers" and implies communication. Sending notifications via "e-mail" was a well-established and obvious method of communication on the internet by 1996 to facilitate such matching.

In summary, the combination of US5664115A and US5721851A, alongside the general knowledge of a PHOSITA at the time, renders the independent claims of US5852810 obvious. The motivation to combine these references would stem from the desire to create a more intuitive, visually rich, and interactive online real estate search experience.