Although somewhat context specific, the term “set” generally refers to a collection of one or more than one items; it is not synonymous with a “plurality” of items and does not necessarily require that more than one item make up the set. If you intend for the term “set” to necessarily refer to a collection of multiple items, consider using the word “plurality” or at least making this definition clear in the specification. If you intend for the term “set” to encompass sets of a only single item, it is still probably a good idea to add a dependent claim specifically covering multiple items in the set as a fallback position, one that would have saved the patentee here.
Background / Facts: The asserted patents here involve providing information over a network about the availability of seats at an event or on a plane flight, and permitting the user to select or purchase the seats of his choice. The claims recite certain mouse over functionality relating to “sets of available individual seats.” Identified as prior art, Microsoft’s Expedia 2.0 system was an online travel reservation system that permitted customers to buy plane tickets and to select their seats online. According to the patentee, while the Expedia 2.0 system may have allowed “separately selecting three distinct individual seats for three separate passengers,” this “does not satisfy the numerous claim limitations regarding a ‘set of available individual seats.’” The patentee maintained that the seat map must “display additional information about a set of seats, not a single seat, when a user places his mouse indicator over a set of seats, not a single seat.”
Issue(s): Whether the term “set” could include a single seat, thus rendering it anticipated by the Expedia 2.0 system.
Holding(s): Yes. “The ’869 patent itself resolves this question. Figure 4B shows a seat map of a dinner theater. In [the patentee’s] view, each table is a set or section with multiple individual seats which can be selected from the set. The patent labels the tables as ‘S’ followed by a number, such as S54. J.A. 113. Unavailable individual seats are shown as crossed out. Id. Some sets of seats, for example S62, contain as many as ten seats per set. Id. Some smaller booths, such as S55, are also labeled as sets and contain four seats. Opposite the stage is a bar with 17 seats. Each seat is labeled as its own set, S100 through S117. Id. The figure shows each individual seat at the bar as a single set. Id. Based on this evidence, the jury could reasonably find that a ‘set’ could be comprised entirely of a single individual seat.”