112 Rejection All Language Not rejected

Claims 1-11 and 21-26 are rejected under the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. § 112, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. Specifically, the Action alleges that the Specification does not describe the limitation "having more characters than the restricted character set" and the limitation is unclear to the Examiner. Applicants respectfully disagree with the Office’s reasoning, and believe that the claims in their original format satisfied 35 U.S.C. § 112, but have amended the claims to expedite prosecution.
When a disclosure describes a claimed invention in a manner that permits one skilled in the art to reasonably conclude that the inventor possessed the claimed invention the written description requirement is satisfied. [MPEP §2163, emphasis added]. This possession may be shown in any number of ways and an Applicant need not describe every claim feature exactly because there is no in haec verba (in the exact language) requirement. [MPEP § 2163.] Rather, to satisfy the written description requirement, all that is required is “reasonable clarity.” [MPEP § 2163.02.] Also, an adequate description may be made in any way through express, implicit, or even inherent disclosures in the application, including words, structures, figures, diagrams, and/or formulae.. [MPEP §§ 2163(I), 2163.02.] Amended claim 1 recites a method to determine and order keyword search terms on a portable electronic device, comprising, e.g.,:

responding to an input sequence associated with a restricted character set having a given number of characters;
mapping the characters of the input sequence to a full character set having more characters than the given number of characters to produce an expanded lookup set; [and]
using the expanded lookup set to search a database of keywords producing keyword results, the keyword results comprising at least one associated keyword;

The amended terms "restricted character set having a given number of characters" and "a full character set having more characters than the given number of characters to produce an expanded lookup set" find support at multiple points through the Application. For example, element 402 of Figure 4 is labeled as "responding to a input sequence using a restricted character set being input" and element 404 is labeled "mapping restricted character set to full character set to produce expanded lookup set." (Emphasis added.) The specification additionally describes a restricted character set being mapped to a fuller character set having more characters than the number of characters in the restricted character set at, for example:
An exemplary embodiment comprises a restricted character set - the numbers 1-0 - mapped onto a full character set, the letters of the alphabet and the original numbers. (Para. 0020)

For example, certain character-based languages such as Chinese have systems where complex characters can be assembled using a series of predefined strokes - this "stroke alphabet" could be the restricted character set. A user may enter the character set using a touch-pad, by pressing a button, by writing on a tablet, by toggling a switch, and so on.
At process block 404 the restricted character set is mapped to a fuller character set. (Paras. 0027, 0028.)

In an alternate embodiment, the transformation maps two roughly equal character sets. In such a case, the English alphabet may be mapped onto the French alphabet, with each English letter (the first character string) transformed into the corresponding set of French letters including those with diacritical marks. So, the "E" would map to "E", "È", "É", and "Ê". (Para. 0055.)

There are also several other points in the specification supporting the above recited language. By way of example, for an embodiment, Para. 0020 describes the restricted character set comprising the numbers 1-0 -- 10 characters; and also describes the full character set as the alphabet, which commonly comprises 26 characters. Those of ordinary skill in the art would understand that such a disclosure clearly discloses mapping the characters of the input sequence to a full character set having more characters than the number of characters (of the restricted set.)
As the above recited amended language is supported by the specification, the §112 rejections of claims 1-11 and 21-26 should be withdrawn. Applicants respectfully request such action.