6DETAILED 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 .
This office action is in response to Applicant’s communication filed on 07/24/2025 Claims 1- 4, 6-13 have been examined. Claims 17-18 are withdrawn. Claims 5, 14-16, 19- 20 are cancelled.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks – Page 6-7, filed on 07/24/2025 with respect to the rejection of claims 1, 13 under 102/103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Nordstrom.
With regards to 112 2nd rejection, Applicant amendment overcome the rejection. Therefore, the rejection is withdrawn.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims 1- 4, 6-13 in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) The term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “unit” is being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
This application includes one or more claim limitations that do not use the word “means,” but are nonetheless being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, because the claim limitations uses a generic placeholder that is coupled with functional language without reciting sufficient structure to perform the recited function and the generic placeholder is not preceded by a structural modifier. Such claim limitations are
“ storage unit storing” as recited in claims 1,13
“operation unit for inputting as recited in claims 1,13
“display unit that display “ as recited in claims 1,13
“conversion unit that converts/adjust ” as recited in claim 4
“recording unit recording “ as recited in claims 7,8,12
“transmission unit transmits … “ as recited in claim 7
A review of the specification shows that the following appears to be the corresponding structure described in the specification for the 35 U.S.C 112 (f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C 112 sixth paragraph limitation.
“ storage unit storing” - See specification – ¶ 0004, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0089
“operation unit for inputting” See specification –¶ 0004, ¶ 0023, ¶ 0089
“conversion unit that converts/adjust ” See specification – ¶ 0007, ¶ 0039, ¶ 0089
“display unit that display “ See specification – ¶ 0006, ¶ 0022, ¶ 0089
“recording unit recording “ See specification -Para 0010, ¶ 0029, ¶ 0089
“transmission unit transmits … “ See specification - ¶ 0011, ¶ 0028, ¶ 0089
If applicant does not intend to have this/these limitation(s) interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, applicant may: (1) amend the claim limitation(s) to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph (e.g., by reciting sufficient structure to perform the claimed function); or (2) present a sufficient showing that the claim limitation(s) recite(s) sufficient structure to perform the claimed function so as to avoid it/them being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-4, 6, 9, 11, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee et al. Publication No. US 2021/0390209 A1 ( Lee hereinafter) in view of Nordstrom et al. Publication No. US 2020/0084599 A1 ( Nordstrom hereinafter)
Regarding claim 1
Lee teaches a terminal device (Fig.4 -6) comprising:
a storage unit storing a first personally identifiable information (¶ 0047 -the storage 240 may store therein user's personal information input by a user. The personal information may be encrypted with, for example, a private key, and may be stored in the storage).
an operation unit for inputting second personally identifiable information that is associated with the first personally identifiable information stored in the storage unit, that has lower specificity than the first personally identifiable information, and that is accessible by a providing destination, wherein the second personally identifiable information is generated from the first personally identifiable information by an input from the operation unit without leaking the first personally identifiable information to an external device (¶ 0054 - the processor may process (e.g., personal information processing) the personal information stored in the storage to meet the personal information de-identification level on the smart contract. - A method for processing the personal information may be a method for de-identifying the personal information stored in the storage to a predetermined level. For example, the processor may de-identifies the personal information using at least one method of pseudonymization, aggregation, data reduction, data suppression, data masking, or differential privacy – ¶ 0069 - The privacy protection scoring module may be a module that compares a quantified risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user with a quantified risk of the de-identified personal information. The quantified risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user may be expressed, for example, as a quantified numerical value of the risk on how much the user is able to be identified through the de-identification level of the personal information to be provided to the external user set by the user through the setting screen. For example, as the quantified risk in accordance with the personal information de-identification level set by the user is lowered – ¶ 0071 -the processor may not provide the processed personal information to the block chain, but may reprocess the personal information so that the personal information matches the personal information de-identification level set by the user. For example, in case that the risk of the de-identified personal information is lower than the risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user, the processor may control to transfer the processed personal information to the blockchain).
Lee does not explicitly teach
a display unit that displays whether the providing destination is accessible to the second personally identifiable information using an icon. wherein when the providing destination is not accessible to the second personally identifiable information and is shown by the icon, the second personally identifiable information is accessible only by the terminal device.
Nordstrom teaches
a display unit that displays whether the providing destination is accessible to the second personally identifiable information using an icon. wherein when the providing destination is not accessible to the second personally identifiable information and is shown by the icon, the second personally identifiable information is accessible only by the terminal device (¶ 0118 - In an embodiment, a mobile device user can lock the type or amount of information being displayed on the network 16 that would otherwise be available for access. For example, a user may have the option of a "Quick Lock" button to immediately stop the display of the user's personal information on other mobile device displays. Upon selecting this feature, the collaboration system 26 can refrain from sending that user's data when transmitting data to be made visible on another user's mobile device display. Additionally, it may instruct the system to send false information, such as incorrect location coordinates or false profile information to throw the other user off).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to include the teachings of Nordstrom. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to lock the type or amount of information being displayed on the network that would otherwise be available for access (Nordstrom - (¶ 0118).
Regarding claim 2
Lee further teaches
wherein the first personally identifiable information is associated with a plurality of pieces of second personally identifiable information having different specificities (¶ 0106 - the electronic device 410 may differently set the categories of the personal information to be provided by external users and the personal information de-identification level to be provided. According to various embodiments, the electronic device 410 may output, through the display, a user interface for displaying the categories of the personal information to be provided to the external user and the personal information de-identification level to be provided to the external user, which are set by external users. [0107] A screen 710 is a user interface screen collectively showing the categories of the personal information to be provided to the external user and the personal information de-identification level, which are set by external users. For example, the electronic device 410 may output the use interface capable of identifying which personal information is set to be de-identified. – See ¶ 0108 – ¶109).
Regarding claim 3
Lee further teaches
a display that displays the first personally identifiable information and the second personally identifiable information simultaneously (Fig.8, ¶ 0049 - the processor 210 may control the display 230 to output a setting screen for setting the category of the personal information to be provided, the external user to be provided with the personal information, or the de-identification level of the personal information to be provided. The user of the electronic device 101 may set the contents about the category of the personal information to be provided to the external user and the external user to be provided with the personal information – ¶ 0107 - the electronic device 410 may output the user interface capable of identifying which personal information is set to be de-identified to what degree and to be provided to which external user – ¶ 0108 – 0109 - in case of App #1 711, referring to a screen 720, it can be known that the personal information de-identification level is set to be low. For example, the electronic device may display that the security level of App #1 711 is set to be low, may set user's age information and health information to be able to be provided to a manager of App #1, and may display that the user's age information and health information are set to be processed and provided at a low de-identification level when providing to a manager of App #1).
Regarding claim 4
Lee further teaches
a conversion unit that converts the first personally identifiable information into the second personally identifiable information, wherein the first personally identifiable information has a plurality of first personal identification elements, wherein the second personally identifiable information has a plurality of second personal identification elements, and wherein the conversion unit adjusts a lowness of specificity for each first personal identification element and then convert the first personal identification element into the second personal identification element (¶ 0107 – ¶ 0109 - A screen 710 is a user interface screen collectively showing the categories of the personal information to be provided to the external user and the personal information de-identification level, which are set by external users. For example, the electronic device 410 may output the user interface capable of identifying which personal information is set to be de-identified to what degree and to be provided to which external user. [0108] For example, in case of App #1 711, referring to a screen 720, it can be known that the personal information de-identification level is set to be low. For example, the electronic device may display that the security level of App #1 711 is set to be low, may set user's age information and health information to be able to be provided to a manager of App #1, and may display that the user's age information and health information are set to be processed and provided at a low de-identification level when providing to a manager of App #1. For example, brightly colored items 711a and 711b may mean that the de-identification level of the related personal information is set to be low. For example, referring to the item 711a, since the de-identification level is set to be low when providing the personal information related to the age to the manager of App #1, the user's age information may be processed at the low de-identification level and may be provided to the manager of App #1 – Fig.8 , ¶ 0069 -¶ 0071 The quantified risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user may be expressed, for example, as a quantified numerical value of the risk on how much the user is able to be identified through the de-identification level of the personal information to be provided to the external user set by the user through the setting screen. For example, as the quantified risk in accordance with the personal information de-identification level set by the user is lowered, it may mean a state in which the personal information is set to be de-identified enough to be unable to identify the user -See ¶ 0111, - ¶ 0113).
Regarding claim 6
Lee further teaches
wherein reliability specifying information for indicating whether information from a third party is reliable is input by the operation unit, and wherein the reliability specifying information is displayed on a display unit when information is received from the third party using the second personally identifiable information of the third party (¶ 0081 - At operation 413, the electronic device 410 may identify whether the request to provide the personal information from the external device 430 matches the personal information providing condition included in the smart contract. For example, the electronic device 410 may identify whether the external user of the external device 430 having requested the personal information corresponds to the external user to be provided with the personal information included in the smart contract and whether the personal information requested by the external device 430 is included in the personal information category that can be provided to the external user included in the smart contract - ¶ 0082 - In case that the personal information requested by the external device 430 matches the personal information providing condition on the smart contract, the operation proceeds with operation 415, and the electronic device 410 may process the personal information to meet the personal information de-identification level on the smart contract - ¶ 0075 - The processor may control the display 230 to output a setting screen for setting the category of the personal information to be provided to the external user, the external user to be provided with the personal information, and the de-identification level of the personal information to be provided to the external user).
Regarding claim 9
Lee further teaches
wherein the first personally identifiable information includes information on an owned device owned by a provider (¶ 0111 - Referring to FIG. 8, the storage 240 may store therein plural pieces of information. The plural pieces of information may include, for example, personal information including the identifier (identifier data) 811, privacy information (privacy data) 815, and non-privacy information (non-privacy data) 813. For example, the personal information including the identifier 811 may mean information that can be identified by itself. The privacy information 815 may mean, for example, personal information generated by the user – Fig. 8 shows personal data includes information on device (IMEI and GUID) owned by provider) .
Regarding claim 11
Lee further teaches
wherein the second personally identifiable information become accessible by at the providing destination by transmitting the second personally identifiable information to the providing destination, recording the second personally identifiable information in a blockchain, or sharing the second personally identifiable information stored in an information processing apparatus with the providing destination(¶ 0055 - The pseudonymization may be a method for changing the name of the personal information subject to another name. For example, the pseudonymization may include heuristic pseudonymization for de-identifying the personal information by replacing values corresponding to identifiers (values or names uniquely given to persons or objects) in accordance with a determined rule, encryption for processing the personal information using an algorithm having a predetermined rule, or swapping for exchanging values in association with predetermined external variable values – ¶ 0083 the electronic device 410 may transfer the processed personal information to the blockchain 420).
Regarding claim 12
Lee further teaches
a recording unit that records the second personally identifiable information in a blockchain or an information processing apparatus ( ¶ 0055 - The pseudonymization may be a method for changing the name of the personal information subject to another name. For example, the pseudonymization may include heuristic pseudonymization for de-identifying the personal information by replacing values corresponding to identifiers (values or names uniquely given to persons or objects) in accordance with a determined rule, encryption for processing the personal information using an algorithm having a predetermined rule, or swapping for exchanging values in association with predetermined external variable values – ¶ 0083 the electronic device 410 may transfer the processed personal information to the blockchain 420).
Claims 7,8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Nordstrom further in view of Liu et al. Publication No. CN 111404863 A ( Liu hereinafter)
Regarding claim 7
Lee further teaches
a recording unit recording the second personally identifiable information that [..] in a blockchain (¶ 0055 - The pseudonymization may be a method for changing the name of the personal information subject to another name. For example, the pseudonymization may include heuristic pseudonymization for de-identifying the personal information by replacing values corresponding to identifiers (values or names uniquely given to persons or objects) in accordance with a determined rule, encryption for processing the personal information using an algorithm having a predetermined rule, or swapping for exchanging values in association with predetermined external variable values – ¶ 0083 the electronic device 410 may transfer the processed personal information to the blockchain 420).
However, Lee does not explicitly teach that the personally identifiable information is encrypted in a blockchain.
Liu teaches
personally identifiable information is encrypted in a blockchain (Abstract - the PII data encrypting recorded in the block chain is processed, thereby realizing the protection of PII data of the record in the blockchain – Page 2 - the recording PII data in blockchain is encrypted using the key pre-stored in the PII data encrypting recorded in the block chain after processing, ).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to include the teachings of Liu. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to perform encryption, to improve data security (Liu – Page 7).
Regarding claim 8
Lee further teaches
a transmission unit transmits the second personally identifiable information that is [..] to an information processing apparatus(¶ 0055 - The pseudonymization may be a method for changing the name of the personal information subject to another name. For example, the pseudonymization may include heuristic pseudonymization for de-identifying the personal information by replacing values corresponding to identifiers (values or names uniquely given to persons or objects) in accordance with a determined rule, encryption for processing the personal information using an algorithm having a predetermined rule, or swapping for exchanging values in association with predetermined external variable values – ¶ 0083 the electronic device 410 may transfer the processed personal information to the blockchain 420).
However, Lee does not explicitly teach that
personally identifiable information that is encrypted by an encryption key; and a recording unit recording the encryption key in a blockchain
Liu teaches
personally identifiable information that is encrypted by an encryption key; and a recording unit recording the encryption key in a blockchain (Abstract - the PII data encrypting recorded in the block chain is processed, Page 7 - a first obtaining module for obtaining the original PII data; a key generating module (the same as the FIG. 2 shown), key generation module 01 for generating the key data encryption module, used for using the key to encrypt the said original PII data; issuing module for issuing the PII data in the encrypted in the network to record the PII data after the encryption in blockchain by the target node = in order to further protect the PII data block chain performing security management, which can keep the key in the encrypted PII data is used. Optionally, after using the key to encrypt the original PII data, the method may further comprises: using the public key to encrypt the key and storing the encrypted key and the PII data related information correspondingly, step 202 may include: using the key after encrypting, the PII data encrypting recorded in the block chain after processing. It can be understood that, by using the encrypted key, the PII data encrypting recorded in the block chain is processed, it can firstly uses the private key to decrypt the encrypted key, and then using the decrypted key, the PII data encrypting recorded in the block chain after processing, such as decryption. ).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to include the teachings of Liu. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to perform encryption, to improve data security (Liu – Page 7).
Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Nordstrom further in view of Li et al. Publication No. US 2014/0337466 A1 ( Li hereinafter)
Regarding claim 10
Lee does not explicitly teach
wherein a plurality of pieces of avatar information are associated with a plurality of pieces of second personally identifiable information having different specificities, and wherein when an operation is performed using a certain avatar information, information is provided using the second personally identifiable information associated with the certain avatar information
However, Li teaches
wherein a plurality of pieces of avatar information are associated with a plurality of pieces of second personally identifiable information having different specificities, and wherein when an operation is performed using a certain avatar information, information is provided using the second personally identifiable information associated with the certain avatar information (Abstract– ¶ 0009 - Each persona may have a different set of personalized information that may be available both to the user and to web site servers while the user is browsing the web. The personalized information may include web links, history, cookies, user account identifications, passwords, email addresses, personal data and other information. ¶ 0011 – The user may desire many different personas depending on the communication activities of the user 120. Typical personas include a master persona that contains all personalized information for the user, an anonymous persona that contains little to no personalized information. Other personas may include a gamer persona, web Surfer personal, home persona, and work persona. Each persona may contain differing amounts of personalized information appropriate for the activity and the user's desires for privacy. – ¶ 0016 -¶ 0017 - The user may customize the personal data for each persona as desired at 235, and select the appropriate persona or each communication session Such as a browsing session at 240. Work and home personas for example, may be associated with different locations. A user may have multiple personas associated with different locations, such as a vacation home, or remote office that is frequently or occasionally visited. The user is free to control the granularity of different personas as desired. One example may be a sports persona, while a user desiring more granularity may divide sports into several different individual sports, such as golf, basketball, or hockey. Even further granularity would be evident in selecting different persona)
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to include the teachings of Li. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to perform communications between the device and the network using the obtained persona profile to share limited personal information. (Li – Abstract).
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lee in view of Nordstrom further in view of Tanaka et al. Publication No. US 2020/0211045 A1 ( Tanaka hereinafter)
Regarding claim 13
Lee teaches an information processing system comprising a terminal device, the terminal device comprising :
a storage unit storing a first personally identifiable information (¶ 0047 -the storage 240 may store therein user's personal information input by a user. The personal information may be encrypted with, for example, a private key, and may be stored in the storage).
an operation unit for inputting second personally identifiable information that is associated with the first personally identifiable information stored in the storage unit, that has lower specificity than the first personally identifiable information, and that is accessible by a providing destination, wherein the second personally identifiable information is generated from the first personally identifiable information by an input from the operation unit without leaking the first personally identifiable information to an external device (¶ 0054 - the processor may process (e.g., personal information processing) the personal information stored in the storage to meet the personal information de-identification level on the smart contract. - A method for processing the personal information may be a method for de-identifying the personal information stored in the storage to a predetermined level. For example, the processor may de-identifies the personal information using at least one method of pseudonymization, aggregation, data reduction, data suppression, data masking, or differential privacy – ¶ 0069 - The privacy protection scoring module may be a module that compares a quantified risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user with a quantified risk of the de-identified personal information. The quantified risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user may be expressed, for example, as a quantified numerical value of the risk on how much the user is able to be identified through the de-identification level of the personal information to be provided to the external user set by the user through the setting screen. For example, as the quantified risk in accordance with the personal information de-identification level set by the user is lowered – ¶ 0071 -the processor may not provide the processed personal information to the block chain, but may reprocess the personal information so that the personal information matches the personal information de-identification level set by the user. For example, in case that the risk of the de-identified personal information is lower than the risk according to the personal information de-identification level set by the user, the processor may control to transfer the processed personal information to the blockchain).
wherein when shared information including the second personally identifiable information, position information or experience information is provided from a terminal device of a providing source to a terminal device of the providing destination (¶ 0073 – an electronic device 410 (e.g., electronic device 101 of FIG. 1) may transfer a smart contract for a personal information transaction to a block chain 420, and an external device 430 (e.g., server of an enterprise that provides a service) may request the block chain 420 to provide personal information and may receive the personal information processed based on the smart contract and transferred from the block chain 420).
However, Lee does not explicitly teach
a display unit that displays whether the providing destination is accessible to the second personally identifiable information using an icon. wherein when the providing destination is not accessible to the second personally identifiable information and is shown by the icon, the second personally identifiable information is accessible only by the terminal device.
Nordstrom teaches
a display unit that displays whether the providing destination is accessible to the second personally identifiable information using an icon. wherein when the providing destination is not accessible to the second personally identifiable information and is shown by the icon, the second personally identifiable information is accessible only by the terminal device (¶ 0118 - In an embodiment, a mobile device user can lock the type or amount of information being displayed on the network 16 that would otherwise be available for access. For example, a user may have the option of a "Quick Lock" button to immediately stop the display of the user's personal information on other mobile device displays. Upon selecting this feature, the collaboration system 26 can refrain from sending that user's data when transmitting data to be made visible on another user's mobile device display. Additionally, it may instruct the system to send false information, such as incorrect location coordinates or false profile information to throw the other user off).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee to include the teachings of Nordstrom. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to lock the type or amount of information being displayed on the network that would otherwise be available for access (Nordstrom - (¶ 0118).
Lee in view of Nordstrom does not explicitly teach
points or currency is granted from the providing destination to the providing source.
However, Tanaka teaches
points or currency is granted from the providing destination to the providing source (¶ 0081, ¶ 0100 – ¶ 0101 - The offer information transmission means 17 receives predetermined offer information including a point value grantable to the user, from the sales company device installed in a sales company that provides a predetermined purchase, and then transmits the offer information brows-ably to the customer terminal 60 operable by the user. ¶ 0183 – ¶0185 - With such granting of the sponsor point, each sales company provides point granting on condition of user registration or the like, so that information regarding, for example, the personal information or interest and taste of the user can be collected - a user who has set the target amount with "overseas travel" as a goal browses the offer information from the travel agency. In that case, the sponsor point available for travel costs can be provided, and a request can be made for provision of information regarding, for example, the name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, desired travel destination, budget, and set target amount of the user, as the condition of point granting. [0185] As a result, the sales company that has received the provision of the personal information ).
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Lee in view of Nordstrom to include the teachings of Tanaka. The motivation for doing so is to allow the system to enable provision of only specific information ( e.g., the e-mail address), so that important information, such as the address and the telephone number, can be prevented from being provided. (Tanaka– ¶ 0187).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's amendments.
Solomon et al. Patent No. US 7,613695 B1 – Col. 14, lines 35-55.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YOUNES NAJI whose telephone number is (571)272-2659. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 8:30 AM -5:30 PM.
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/YOUNES NAJI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445