DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Application Status
This office action is responsive to the claims and remarks filed on 10/20/2025.
In view of the Decision on Appeal and non-substantial amendments, this action has been made FINAL.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 10/20/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The Applicant alleged the following: “None of the PTAB's citations of Nordstrom at 12:4-8, 14:26-28, 17:60-65, and 17:58-61 disclose receiving the user location at a second time later than the first time of the search, and in a different session from the first session used for the search”. The examiner is not persuaded. As mentioned in the Decision on Appeal, filed on 08/20/2025, Nordstrom discloses the claimed subject matter. More specifically, Nordstrom’s teachings of “a Vendor may want to know where all of the Customers that share a certain profile feature(s) (e.g., those that use the system more than 1 time a week or those who earn more than a certain income level) are or were at a given time in order to better position their business near those Customers at a time they may more likely be at that location or in that region The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time. For example, this output may take the form of a static map that highlights the locations of the Customers (that meet the search criteria) in a single 24 hour period or on a certain day of the week. Maps may represent many other different views and functions including, but not limited to: `real time` maps showing where certain Customers are located at the current time (for example, this may benefit a Vendor who wishes to position their business near a high concentration of Customers who have used their product in the past 90 days These requests and related outputs may be further customized to allow for different views These data and outputs would be visible and downloadable to the Vendor and used to make decisions about positioning their business” in Column 25, Lines 49-67 & Column 26, Lines 1-15 discloses the Applicant’s claim language. MPEP § 2106 states Office personnel are to give claims their broadest reasonable interpretation in light of the supporting disclosure. In re Morris, 127 F.3d 1048, 1054-55, 44 USPQ2d 1023, 1027-28 (Fed Cir. 1997). Accordingly, the examiner maintains the rejection.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Nordstrom, US 8,860,587.
Claim 1:
Nordstrom discloses a method of generating a notification by a server (See Abstract & Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30 & Column 14, Lines 30-67 & Column 15, Lines 1-301 & Column 18, Lines 60-672) comprising:
accessing, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), a data structure storing, in a memory element, one or more product descriptions in a products table in the data structure, the one or more product descriptions describing one or more products in a retail store (“A field 56-7 may identify information about the products sold by the vendor 20, such as product type, costs, or a cost category such as inexpensive, moderate, or expensive.” See Figure 5, Item 56-7 & Column 7, Lines 60-67);
selecting, by the server via the data structure (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), responsive to input from a user at a first time, during a first session between the user and the server, a search result from the one or more product descriptions (“a table 70 that identifies exemplary search requests received from the user devices 16 by the server” See Column 8, Lines 64-67 & Column 17, Lines 25-40 & “search result reports” Column 38, Lines 25-30);
storing, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30) in a searches table, the search result (“a table 70 that identifies exemplary search requests received from the user devices 16 by the server” See Column 8, Lines 64-67 & Column 17, Lines 25-40 & “search result reports” Column 38, Lines 25-30);
associating, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30) as a first association, the user with a user account in a users table (“A user table 46 comprises a plurality of user profiles 32-1-32-N” See Figure 3, Item 46 & Column 6, Lines 30-45);
associating, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30) as a second association, responsive to input from the user, one or more of the product descriptions selected (“A field 56-7 may identify information about the products sold by the vendor 20, such as product type, costs, or a cost category such as inexpensive, moderate, or expensive.” See Figure 5, Item 56-7 & Column 7, Lines 60-67) in the search result (“search result reports” Column 38, Lines 25-30) with the user account (“a plurality of user profiles 32-1-32-N” See Figure 3, Item 46 & Column 6, Lines 30-45);
receiving, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30) from a mobile device (See Column 14, Lines 10-15), at a second time later that the first time, during a second session different from the first session, (See Column 25, Lines 49-67 & Column 26, Lines 1-153) a user location (“customer searching for a particular item in the vicinity of their current location” See Figure 7 & Column 14, Lines 25-30);
generating, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), automatically, a first notification signal and a second notification signal (“text alerts with geographic information indicating where searches are being conducted for their product(s), map-based, real-time heat maps” See Column 17, Lines 60-65), based on the second association, based on the user location being in a vicinity of a location of the retail store (See Column 14, Lines 23-25), and based on the user location being outside the retail store (See Column 25, Lines 49-67 & Column 26, Lines 1-154)
and transmitting, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), the first notification signal to the mobile device (See Column 14, Lines 10-15), and the second notification signal to a terminal at the retail store (See Column 17, Lines 55-67 & Column 18, Lines 1-55);
wherein: the mobile device (See Column 14, Lines 10-15) is configured to generate a first display based on the user account and the second association, responsive to the first notification signal (“a plurality of user profiles 32-1-32-N” See Figure 3, Item 46 & Column 6, Lines 30-45);
and the terminal at the retail store is configured to generate a second display based on the user account and the second association, responsive to the second notification signal (“text alerts with geographic information indicating where searches are being conducted for their product(s), map-based, real-time heat maps” See Column 17, Lines 60-65).
Claim 2:
Nordstrom discloses generating, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), based on the first notification signal, an alert (“text alerts with geographic information indicating where searches are being conducted for their product(s), map-based, real-time heat maps” See Column 17, Lines 60-65).
Claim 3:
Nordstrom discloses generating, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), a heat map including the user location (“generate reports, such as "heat maps", that map Customer locations” See Column 17, Lines 5-45); and displaying, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), the heat map (“generate reports, such as "heat maps", that map Customer locations” See Column 17, Lines 5-45).
Claim 4:
Nordstrom discloses modifying, by the server via the data structure (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), based on the user location being in the vicinity of the location of the retail store (“customer searching for a particular item in the vicinity of their current location” See Column 14, Lines 25-30), the one or more product descriptions associated with the user account by the second association (“modify Select a food type” See Column 39, Lines 1-10).
Claims 5-8:
Claims 5-8 are rejected on the same basis as claims 1-4.
Claim 9:
Nordstrom discloses tracking, by the server (See Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30), at least one of the location of the user, a location of the user in the retail store, and a purchase by the user in the retail store (“tracking purchase history” See Column 28, Lines 35-55).
Claim 10:
Claim 10 is rejected on the same basis as claim 9.
Claim 11:
Nordstrom discloses the user location is based on at least one of a GPS signal, a WiFi signal, and a lookup of a MAC address in a location database (See Column 4, Lines 30-55); the one or more product descriptions are stored in one or more first rows of the products table (“A field 56-7 may identify information about the products sold by the vendor 20, such as product type, costs, or a cost category such as inexpensive, moderate, or expensive.” See Figure 5, Item 56-7 & Column 7, Lines 60-67); and the search result is stored in a second row of the searches table (“a table 70 that identifies exemplary search requests received from the user devices 16 by the server” See Column 8, Lines 64-67 & Column 17, Lines 25-40).
Claim 12:
Claim 12 is rejected on the same basis as claim 11.
Claim 13:
Nordstrom discloses the first display indicates that the user location is in the vicinity of the retail store (“customer searching for a particular item in the vicinity of their current location” See Column 14, Lines 25-30); and the second display indicates that there is interest by the user in the one or more products (“method of displaying content to Customers Any other method of transmitting marketing content to a Customer for the purposes of trying to engage in a transaction between the Mobile Vendor and the potential or current Customer” See Column 33, Lines 10-15 & “a customer browsing the network identifies a product of interest to them” Column 34, Lines 25-35).
Claim 14:
Claim 14 is rejected on the same basis as claim 13.
Claim 15:
Nordstrom discloses receiving, by the server (See Abstract & Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30 & Column 14, Lines 30-67 & Column 15, Lines 1-306 & Column 18, Lines 60-677) during the first session, an indication (See Column 25, Lines 55-658); wherein: the first notification and second notification are also based on the indication (See Column 25, Lines 55-659).
Claim 16:
Nordstrom discloses wherein the server (See Abstract & Figure 10, Item 24 & Column 3, Lines 54-67 & Column 4, Lines 1-30 & Column 14, Lines 30-67 & Column 15, Lines 1-3010 & Column 18, Lines 60-6711) is further configured to: receive, during the first session, an indication (See Column 25, Lines 55-6512); and generate the first notification and second notification based also on the indication (See Column 25, Lines 55-6513).
Pertinent Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20090233629 discloses a mobile social network for facilitating GPS based services and collecting current location data from a plurality of mobile devices.
US 20120323664 discloses managing an electronic coupon on a mobile device and when the user is in the vicinity of a location such as a retail store where an electronic coupon held by the mobile device may be redeemed.
US 20120253905 discloses detect when a mobile communication device is within a vicinity of the retail shopping store.
US 20120215617 discloses that retailers (e.g. Best Buy.TM., Target.TM., Macy's.TM.) want to know the people who come near their store locations on a regular basis. See Figure 4.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHEREE N BROWN whose telephone number is (571)272-4229. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 5:30-2:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, SAID BROOME can be reached at (571) 272-2931. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/SHEREE N BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2612 November 6, 2025
1 Column 14, Lines 30-67 & Column 15, Lines 1-30 recites “The registered Vendors also provide the service provider a mechanism and/or permissions for tracking and monitoring their physical location via GPS or other network or positioning methods. Methods for real-time geospatial positioning may include, but not be limited to, using a GPS-enabled mobile device connected to a network that is accessible by the service provider or using cellular or other radio transmissions to triangulate the position of the Vendor. Tracking data may be collected and stored directly or indirectly through a third-party network or other information service. All profile and account data, content, uploads, positioning data or other data about the vendor are stored in a table(s) in a database(s) on a server(s) and is associated with the Vendor's account. This server(s) may be a standalone server and/or a cloud-based or scalable network. The Vendor has the ability to log into their account via desktop, mobile and other devices to manage their account and perform functions including, but not limited to, ability to "turn on" or "off" their positioning signal and also to designate whether they are "open" or "closed" for business at any given time. A method of notification (such as a graphic or distributed electronic message) may enable a Customer to recognize the Vendor's current status as open for business or currently closed. The Vendor has the ability to log into their account via desktop, mobile and other devices to add to, modify, edit, hide and/or delete their data, content or uploads. On a manual or automatic basis, the server(s) may also collect, store, analyze and transmit other information about the Vendor including, but not limited to: Current or past location data, Vendor's device type or software version, Vendor usage statistics, Vendor's stored customer lists, Customer ratings data about Vendor, or any other information about the Vendor or their Customers that relates to their business activity”
2 Column 18, Lines 60-67 recites “Upon repositioning of the mobile business to a location closer to the Customers, Customers that have recently inquired about a product type could then be notified (via e-mail, text, or other electronic communication) that the product they recently searched for (or is a declared preference in their profile) is in now in their vicinity.”
3 Column 25, Lines 49-67 & Column 26, Lines 1-15 recites “a Vendor may want to know where all of the Customers that share a certain profile feature(s) (e.g., those that use the system more than 1 time a week or those who earn more than a certain income level) are or were at a given time in order to better position their business near those Customers at a time they may more likely be at that location or in that region The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time. For example, this output may take the form of a static map that highlights the locations of the Customers (that meet the search criteria) in a single 24 hour period or on a certain day of the week. Maps may represent many other different views and functions including, but not limited to: `real time` maps showing where certain Customers are located at the current time (for example, this may benefit a Vendor who wishes to position their business near a high concentration of Customers who have used their product in the past 90 days These requests and related outputs may be further customized to allow for different views These data and outputs would be visible and downloadable to the Vendor and used to make decisions about positioning their business.”
4 Column 25, Lines 49-67 & Column 26, Lines 1-15 recites “a Vendor may want to know where all of the Customers that share a certain profile feature(s) (e.g., those that use the system more than 1 time a week or those who earn more than a certain income level) are or were at a given time in order to better position their business near those Customers at a time they may more likely be at that location or in that region The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time. For example, this output may take the form of a static map that highlights the locations of the Customers (that meet the search criteria) in a single 24 hour period or on a certain day of the week. Maps may represent many other different views and functions including, but not limited to: `real time` maps showing where certain Customers are located at the current time (for example, this may benefit a Vendor who wishes to position their business near a high concentration of Customers who have used their product in the past 90 days These requests and related outputs may be further customized to allow for different views These data and outputs would be visible and downloadable to the Vendor and used to make decisions about positioning their business.”
5 Column 17, Lines 55-67 & Column 18, Lines 1-5 recites “"Heat maps" that show time-based patterns of search intensity by Customers for a particular product (e.g., total number of searches for a particular product category or search by each hour in the day in a certain area) “Customer maps" that map a specific Customer type that has searched for a particular product category (e.g., Customers that "are active users and conduct searches greater than 3 times a week and are currently searching for particular product", or users that "reside within a certain geographic zone", or "users that are use the service heavily and are searching for something at this moment", users with a certain income level, etc.). These reports are stored on the server for access by a Vendor for later viewing and/or download). These reports can also be available in a "real time" manner to Vendors--transmitted directly to a mobile Vendor's mobile device on a regular basis, in real-time (or in any time increment) or "on-demand". This may include, but not be limited to, text alerts with geographic information indicating where searches are being conducted for their product(s), map-based, real-time heat maps that illustrate when and where searches are being conducted Vendors would use the reports to identify optimal location(s) where high-densities of customers have conducted or are conducting a search for their product or business category, with the purpose of relocating their business to an area of "high intensity" to maximize the opportunity to engage in a business transaction with Customers searching for their product(s).”
6 Column 14, Lines 30-67 & Column 15, Lines 1-30 recites “The registered Vendors also provide the service provider a mechanism and/or permissions for tracking and monitoring their physical location via GPS or other network or positioning methods. Methods for real-time geospatial positioning may include, but not be limited to, using a GPS-enabled mobile device connected to a network that is accessible by the service provider or using cellular or other radio transmissions to triangulate the position of the Vendor. Tracking data may be collected and stored directly or indirectly through a third-party network or other information service. All profile and account data, content, uploads, positioning data or other data about the vendor are stored in a table(s) in a database(s) on a server(s) and is associated with the Vendor's account. This server(s) may be a standalone server and/or a cloud-based or scalable network. The Vendor has the ability to log into their account via desktop, mobile and other devices to manage their account and perform functions including, but not limited to, ability to "turn on" or "off" their positioning signal and also to designate whether they are "open" or "closed" for business at any given time. A method of notification (such as a graphic or distributed electronic message) may enable a Customer to recognize the Vendor's current status as open for business or currently closed. The Vendor has the ability to log into their account via desktop, mobile and other devices to add to, modify, edit, hide and/or delete their data, content or uploads. On a manual or automatic basis, the server(s) may also collect, store, analyze and transmit other information about the Vendor including, but not limited to: Current or past location data, Vendor's device type or software version, Vendor usage statistics, Vendor's stored customer lists, Customer ratings data about Vendor, or any other information about the Vendor or their Customers that relates to their business activity”
7 Column 18, Lines 60-67 recites “Upon repositioning of the mobile business to a location closer to the Customers, Customers that have recently inquired about a product type could then be notified (via e-mail, text, or other electronic communication) that the product they recently searched for (or is a declared preference in their profile) is in now in their vicinity.”
8 Column 25, Lines 55-65 recites “The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time.”
9 Column 25, Lines 55-65 recites “The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time.”
10 Column 14, Lines 30-67 & Column 15, Lines 1-30 recites “The registered Vendors also provide the service provider a mechanism and/or permissions for tracking and monitoring their physical location via GPS or other network or positioning methods. Methods for real-time geospatial positioning may include, but not be limited to, using a GPS-enabled mobile device connected to a network that is accessible by the service provider or using cellular or other radio transmissions to triangulate the position of the Vendor. Tracking data may be collected and stored directly or indirectly through a third-party network or other information service. All profile and account data, content, uploads, positioning data or other data about the vendor are stored in a table(s) in a database(s) on a server(s) and is associated with the Vendor's account. This server(s) may be a standalone server and/or a cloud-based or scalable network. The Vendor has the ability to log into their account via desktop, mobile and other devices to manage their account and perform functions including, but not limited to, ability to "turn on" or "off" their positioning signal and also to designate whether they are "open" or "closed" for business at any given time. A method of notification (such as a graphic or distributed electronic message) may enable a Customer to recognize the Vendor's current status as open for business or currently closed. The Vendor has the ability to log into their account via desktop, mobile and other devices to add to, modify, edit, hide and/or delete their data, content or uploads. On a manual or automatic basis, the server(s) may also collect, store, analyze and transmit other information about the Vendor including, but not limited to: Current or past location data, Vendor's device type or software version, Vendor usage statistics, Vendor's stored customer lists, Customer ratings data about Vendor, or any other information about the Vendor or their Customers that relates to their business activity”
11 Column 18, Lines 60-67 recites “Upon repositioning of the mobile business to a location closer to the Customers, Customers that have recently inquired about a product type could then be notified (via e-mail, text, or other electronic communication) that the product they recently searched for (or is a declared preference in their profile) is in now in their vicinity.”
12 Column 25, Lines 55-65 recites “The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time.”
13 Column 25, Lines 55-65 recites “The server(s) may return to the Vendor a written or graphical report that may include information about Customers that meet their search criteria or a graphical or text summary that indicates where the Customers have been positioned within a defined period of time.”