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 .
Response to Arguments
Arguments are moot in view of the new grounds of rejection.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claim(s) 1-7, 9-16, 23-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Zhu (US 12062013 B1) in view of Tkachenko (US 20170004472 A1)
Regarding claim 1, Zhu discloses:
A learning model generation device comprising:
One or more memories storing instructions (column 35); and
One or more processors configured to execute the instructions (column 35) to:
Acquire inventory information including an inventory quantity of a product for which payment has been made from a POS terminal in a store (fig. 7 S214);
Cause a camera to capture an image of a shelf of the product in the store; acquire the image from the camera (s222, column 14 30-50); and
Generate a model to estimate a product quantity from the image based on the image and the inventory quantity of the product (fig. 7 s240).
Zhu fails to explicitly disclose the image capturing triggering responsive to acquiring the inventory information. However in an analogous art Tkachenko discloses inventory reconciliation comprising image capturing being performed “due to transactions” (paragraph 22). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine this teaching with Zhu by triggering based on transactions. The motivation for the combination is improved accounting (paragraph 22).
Regarding claim 2, Zhu discloses:
Wherein the one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to: with the payment of the product in the POS terminal as a trigger (fig. 7 s214 transaction log implies payment completed), wherein the camera captures the image after the payment (s222 column 14 30-50 associated shelf events, column 6 45-50 continuously updated).
Regarding claim 3, Zhu discloses:
Wherein the one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to: with the payment of the product in the POS terminal as a trigger (fig. 7 s214 transaction log implies payment completed), acquire, the image before the payment (s222 column 14 30-50 associated shelf events).
Regarding claim 4, Zhu discloses wherein the image before the payment is acquired from continuously captured images (column 6 45-50 continuous updating).
Regarding claim 5, Zhu discloses: wherein the model includes a first model configured to learn a first difference between a displayable area where the product on the shelf before the payment can be displayed in the product and the displayable area after the payment (column 8 40-55 detect items removed from shelf).
Regarding claim 6, Zhu discloses: wherein the model includes a second model configured to learn association between the first difference and a second difference for the product based on the first difference and the second difference between an inventory quantity before the payment and an inventory quantity after the payment in the product (column 6 45-50 continuous updating, column 8 40-55 detect items removed from shelf).
Regarding claim 7, Zhu discloses: wherein the second model creates a conversion table in which the first difference and the second difference for the product are associated with each other (fig. 2 matching product identifiers to product event data, i.e. items picked from shelves).
Regarding claim 23, Zhu discloses
wherein the one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to: with payment of the product in the POS terminal as a trigger, acquire the inventory information, the image before the payment and the image after the payment (fig. 2, fig. 7, s222 column 14 30-50 associated shelf events, column 6 45-50 continuously updated).
Regarding claim 24, Zhu discloses wherein the image before the payment is acquired from continuously captured images (column 6 45-50 continuous updating).
Regarding claim 25, Zhu discloses: wherein the model includes a first model configured to learn a first difference between a displayable area where the product on the shelf before the payment can be displayed in the product and the displayable area after the payment (column 8 40-55 detect items removed from shelf).
Regarding claim 26, Zhu discloses: wherein the model includes a second model configured to learn association between the first difference and a second difference for the product based on the first difference and the second difference between an inventory quantity before the payment and an inventory quantity after the payment in the product (column 6 45-50 continuous updating, column 8 40-55 detect items removed from shelf).
Regarding claim 27, Zhu discloses: wherein the second model creates a conversion table in which the first difference and the second difference for the product are associated with each other (fig. 2 matching product identifiers to product event data, i.e. items picked from shelves).
Claims 9-16 mirror claims 1-7 and are rejected for the same reasons.
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 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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Trivelpiece (US 20190080277 A1) discloses inventory management based on fusion of POS data and computer vision.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATHAN A MITCHELL whose telephone number is (571)270-3117. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9-5.
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/NATHAN A MITCHELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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