Prior art — US Patent 5978773

Analysis of Prior Art for U.S. Patent 5,978,773

As a technical patent analyst, I have conducted a review of the prior art cited in U.S. Patent 5,978,773. The following analysis details the most relevant references and their potential impact on the patent's claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102, which pertains to anticipation by prior art. The core novelty of patent 5,978,773 lies in the combination of using a standard product identifier (like a UPC), read by a device, to query a database that in turn provides a network address (like a URL) to access a remote computer.

Key Cited Prior Art and Potential Anticipation

The patent itself cites two U.S. patents as background. An examination of these references is crucial for understanding the state of the art at the time of the invention.

1. U.S. Patent 5,115,326: "Method of Encoding an E-Mail Address in a Fax Message and Routing the Fax Message to a Destination and Network"

Full Citation: U.S. Patent 5,115,326
Publication Date: May 19, 1992
Filing Date: June 14, 1990
Brief Description: This patent describes a method for encoding an email address into a barcode on a fax coversheet. When the fax is sent, a fax server reads the barcode, extracts the email address, and then routes the fax content to that email address over a network.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- This reference teaches the use of a machine-readable indicia (a barcode) to encode a network-related address (an email address). It also describes a system that reads this code and uses the extracted information for network routing.
- Claim 22 (Method Claim): This patent could be argued to anticipate the core method steps of Claim 22. It involves associating a machine-readable code with a network destination, reading that code, and then using that information to establish a network communication. However, it does not explicitly mention associating a product identification number with a network address in a database for lookup. The association is a direct encoding of the address itself.
- Claims 1, 12, and 33 (Apparatus Claims): These claims require a database that associates an "extrinsic standard" identification number (like a UPC) with a network address. U.S. Patent 5,115,326 does not describe this database lookup step. Instead, the network address is directly encoded in the barcode. Therefore, it is unlikely to anticipate the apparatus claims fully, as the crucial database element is missing.

2. U.S. Patent 5,420,943: "Universal Computer Input Device"

Full Citation: U.S. Patent 5,420,943
Publication Date: May 30, 1995
Filing Date: March 2, 1993
Brief Description: This patent discloses a "universal" input device, such as a barcode scanner, that can be used to input data into any software application on a computer without requiring special drivers. The device emulates a keyboard, meaning that when a barcode is scanned, the data is sent to the computer as if it were typed on a keyboard.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- This reference is primarily focused on the interface between a data-capture device (like a barcode scanner) and a computer. It teaches the input of machine-readable data into a computer system.
- Claims 1, 12, and 33 (Apparatus Claims): This patent describes a key component of the invention in 5,978,773—the "input device generating a signal corresponding to said encoded identification number." However, it does not disclose the system-level components of a database that links these numbers to network addresses for the purpose of accessing a remote computer. The focus is on the input mechanism, not the subsequent use of that input for network navigation via a database lookup.
- Claim 22 (Method Claim): Similarly, while this patent is relevant to the "reading" step of the method, it does not teach the steps of "associating in computer memory" a product ID with a network address and "retrieving" that address.

Summary of Anticipation Analysis

Neither of the cited prior art references appears to fully anticipate any of the independent claims of U.S. Patent 5,978,773 on its own. The key inventive concept of the '773 patent is the indirection provided by the database. Prior art, as represented by these citations, taught either the direct encoding of network information into a barcode (5,115,326) or a universal method for inputting barcode data into a computer (5,420,943).

The novelty in U.S. Patent 5,978,773 arises from linking a pre-existing, standardized, and commercially ubiquitous identifier (the UPC) to a separate, and potentially dynamic, network address via a database. This solves the problems of long URLs being difficult to encode in barcodes and allows for the network address to be updated in the database without changing the barcode on the physical product. This database lookup step, which is a central element of all the independent claims, is what distinguishes the '773 patent from these particular prior art references.

Therefore, based on the cited references within the patent document, it is unlikely that a challenge to the validity of the claims of U.S. Patent 5,978,773 under 35 U.S.C. § 102 would be successful using only these two patents. A more thorough invalidity contention would need to search for other prior art that discloses the use of a database to link a standardized product code to a network address for remote computer access.