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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20, 22, 23 have been examined.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the claims have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection. On 1/27/26, Applicant amended the independent claims. Applicant’s Remarks address these new features. See the new citations and new motivations to Comstock for these new features below.
Also, Applicant remarks on dependent claim 3 and the QR code. However, it is the combination of prior art that renders obvious. Avidan shows the QR code with information in Figs. 6. And, Comstock shows the reprint features. Also, the “or” in the claim language is interpreted that not all the features each need to read.
Also, Applicant remarks on dependent claims 5. See the additional citations to the same prior art and explanations of these features below.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Claims 1-20 and 22 in the reply filed on 8/12/24 is acknowledged.
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 1-20, 22, 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Avidan (20240059446) in view of Comstock (20140108188).
Claims 1, 8, 22: Examiner notes Applicant Spec at [49, 72] where the product can be a t-shirt or shirt. Otherwise, Applicant Spec gives no other examples of a product and the product is interpreted as varied. Avidan discloses a computer-implemented method for use in a system including a plurality of merchants, a hub entity, a plurality of print providers, and a plurality of end customers, the computer-implemented method comprising:
a) receiving, by the hub entity directly or indirectly from a merchant (see hub as Fig. 1, item 554, see merchant as online shopping at [5] and “[82]… The purchase order data may be received online via an internet connection.”), 1) an identifier of a print provider (Fig. 1, 2 where one print provider is associated with a website where order came from), 2) a product identifier (Fig. 2, item 205), 3) a graphic design ([6] and customized design on the item, note shirt at [68, 73]), and 4) a note design ([87] with message or design);
b) receiving, by the hub entity, directly or indirectly from one of the plurality of end customers, an order for a product identified by the product identifier and including the graphic design (Fig. 2, and “[82]… The purchase order data may be received online via an internet connection.”; also see end customers placing online order at [5, 74], note customers in the plural at [83]);
c) transmitting, from the hub entity directly or indirectly to a print provider, a printed product order including (1) the product identifier, (2) the graphic design or a unigue identifier thereof, and (3) the note design or a unigue identifier thereof (see Fig. 2, 4 and the identifier or each of the separate items as product, graphic design, and note design in receiving step above );
d) printing, by a print provider (Fig. 2, 4),
1) using a first printer, the graphic design that was on a product identified by the product identifier, to generate a printed product ([6] and customized design on the item, note shirt at [68, 73]).
Avidan does not explicitly disclose a graphic design that was received from the one of the plurality of merchants. However, Avidan discloses a customized, printed product with an ornamental design added to the printed product [5, 82, 92]. And, Comstock further discloses multiple vendors [10], an embellishment that is printed and added with the customized product ([33]; Fig. 4, item 425; and Examiner notes that the embellishment variation in Comstock [33] of added coupon reads on added coupon in Applicant Spec at [71] and as noted in the 1/26/26 Interview), and also elements and media elements include image assets [53, 184]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s multiple vendors and added embellishment with the customized product to Avidan’s adding an ornamental design with the printed product. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better provide customized products.
Avidan further discloses 2) using a second printer, shipping information associated with the one of the plurality of end customers, to generate a printed shipping label ([74, 75, 87] and shipping label/data; also see end customers placing online order at [5, 74], note customers in the plural at [83]).
The prior art further renders obvious 3) using a third printer or a different paper source of the second printer, a note using the note design that was received from the one of the plurality of merchants, to generate a printed note (see Avidan at [87] with message or design; see combination of prior art above for rendering obvious the note design from one of plurality of merchants).
Avidan does not explicitly disclose wherein the first printer is different from the second printer and is different from the third printer, and the second printer is different from the third printer. However, Comstock discloses multiple different printers and types of printers (Fig. 11, [113]) and also using multiple printers (see printers at [113, 119, 120]) and that one job can go to multiple different printers [119]. And, Comstock discloses that one order can be printed on different printers because there are differences in the characteristics of different aspects of that print job (see order and different printer for the book block and different printer for the cover [80], also see Fig. 4 with order and then cover and bookblock). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s multiple printers and different printers handling different parts of the same job to Avidan’s printing designs/notes and labels for packages. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better print content associated with products and packages.
Avidan further discloses e) packaging the printed product, thereby defining a packed package, wherein the shipping label is printed on, or affixed to, the packed package ([74, 75, 87] and shipping label/data).
Avidan does not explicitly disclose and the printed note…wherein the printed note is placed in the package. However, Avidan discloses in Figs. 6a, 6b, 6c content including ornamental design 535 that can be printed in Figs. 6a or 6b or 6c and this design/content/535 can be printed on the garment at Figs. 6a, 6c or on a note in 6b. Also, Avidan discloses that the ornamental design can also be a note/message at [87]. Also, the ornamental design can be placed in the package in Fig. 6a, 6c or be a note associated with the item in Fig. 6b. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Avidan’s note and/or design to Avidan’s design so that the item in Figs. 6a, 6b, 6c can also include a message/note. And, in Figs. 6a, 6c this item and note is placed in the package. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better place notes/messages/designs in places of interest.
Alternatively/additionally, Comstock discloses both a packing slip that goes in the package and a mailing label affixed to the package [63, 140, 142]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s note in the package and also note on the outside of the package to Avidan’s custom design and/or note so that a custom note can be placed in the package and/or on the outside of the package. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better place content in relevant locations.
In further regards to claim 8, Avidan discloses b) receiving, by a print provider (Figs. 1, 2, 4), a printed product order including (1) the product identifier, (2) the graphic design or a unique identifier thereof, and (3) the note design or a unique identifier thereof (see each of these items in the receiving step of claim 1 above).
Avidan does not explicitly disclose from one of the plurality of merchants, an identifier of one of the plurality of print providers. However, Comstock discloses managing customized print order from multiple partners/merchants to multiple print vendors ([6], Fig. 2; Figs. 16, 17 with multiple items 1620) and also custom print cards and attachments [38] and custom printed attachments/embellishments [33]. Also, Comstock further discloses selecting from multiple print vendors [10, 29]. Comstock discloses multiple printers (Fig. 11) and also discloses that each of these print vendors has multiple printers (see printers at [113, 119, 120]; note that each of these different vendors has a ROIP). So, Comstock discloses selecting one from many print vendors and also that each print vendors can have and use multiple printer devices. Comstock also discloses that each print vendor can be a company or organization [118]. Comstock also discloses identifying and using only “specific printer vendor” ([147]). Comstock also discloses specific characteristics of each of different vendors [164]. Comstock discloses identifying vendors by location, or SKUs specific to that vendor [164] and identifying a particular vendor via that particular vendors API [174, 176]. So, the location, SKU, and particular vendor API for particular communication function as particular printer identifiers. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s multiple order sites/merchants and multiple printers to Avidan’s order site and printer. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better provide custom printing services. Alternatively, the MPEP states that duplication is obvious (MPEP 2144.04.VI.B), so it is obvious that there can be a plurality of vendors or plurality of printers.
Claim 2, 10: Avidan further discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: f) initiating shipping to the one of the plurality of end customers the packed package ([74, 75, 87] and shipping label/data).
Claim 3, 11: Avidan further discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the printed note includes a QR code ([95] and Fig. 6a item 535 are interpreted as a QR code). Avidan does not explicitly disclose to allow the one of the plurality of end customers to (A) leave a review, (B) leave a rating, (C) request a refund, (D) request a return, and/or (E) request a reprint. However, Comstock discloses reprints (Table 1 and ID 6 for Reprint at [51]) managing reprints [83] and scanning to reprint [143]. Also, the “or” in the claim language is interpreted that not all the features each need to read. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s scanning to reprint to Avidan’s scannable code. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better print when needed.
Claim 4, 12: Avidan does not explicitly disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the printed note includes a name of the one of the plurality of end customers to whom the package is being shipped. However, Avidan discloses shipping info which would include name ([74, 75, 87] and shipping label/data) and a custom message ([87] with message or design). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Avidan’s known content like name to Avidan’s custom message. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present a relevant message.
Claim 5, 13: Avidan does not explicitly disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the printed note includes at least one element, other than an address of the one of the plurality of end customers, customized based on a geographic area of the one of the plurality of end customers to whom the package is being shipped. However, Avidan discloses shipping info which would include geographic info ([74, 75, 87] and shipping label/data) and a custom message ([87] with message or design; also see end customers placing online order at [5, 74], note customers in the plural at [83]). Also, Comstock further discloses tailored order processing based on customer geography [165, 4]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Avidan’s known content like geographic info to Avidan’s custom message. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present a relevant message.
Claim 6, 14: Avidan does not explicitly disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the printed note includes a voucher. However, Avidan discloses a custom message ([87] with message or design). And, Comstock discloses a custom printed coupon [33, 38]. And, the coupon is interpreted to read on voucher. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s custom content as coupon to Avidan’s custom message. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present a relevant message.
Claim 7, 15: Avidan does not explicitly disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein a value or amount of the voucher is determined dynamically. However, Avidan discloses a custom message ([87] with message or design). And, Comstock discloses a custom coupon [33, 38] and that the embellishment can be a coupon [38] or coupon or free item [38, 33]. Hence, the promotional embellishment is determined dynamically as it has different options like a particular recipient of the coupon info [38] a discount coupon [38] or a fully free item [33]. And, discount coupon of free sample is interpreted to read on different voucher value. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s custom content as various incentive embellishments to Avidan’s custom message. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better present a relevant message.
Claim 9: Avidan further discloses packaging the printed product and the printed note, thereby defining a packed package, wherein the shipping label is printed on, or affixed to, the packed package ([74, 75, 87] and shipping label/data).
Claim 16: Avidan does not explicitly disclose the computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the single trigger signal is receipt of a scanned code associated with the printed product to be shipped. However, Avidan discloses scanning codes associated with the product (see garment and scan at [75,95]). And, as shown above, Comstock discloses selecting from multiple print providers who then also ship the product (shown above) and then using scanners to identify the printed product as being processed [118] and also scanning related to shipping [136]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s multiple vendors and scanning related to print processing and shipping to Avidan’s scanning content related to the garment and Avidan’s selecting a garment for customization. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better select a garment for customization.
Claim 17: The prior art further discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the single trigger signal is invoked responsive to the printing, by the one of the plurality of print providers and using the first printer, of the graphic design on a product identified by the product identifier (see Avidan at Fig. 2 where the other printing like address comes after the design/ornament printing at item 215; note the combination of Avidan and Comstock above and the multiple print providers and multiple printers of Comstock).
Also, claim 17, given the broadest reasonable interpretation, does not prevent a human from also participating in the steps preceding. A human could be involved at the print provider, etc, as the claim is currently written.
Claim 18: Avidan further discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 13, wherein each of the shipping label and note include a matching rare design to enable them to be matched using a visual inspection (Examiner notes that these are not stated as matched to each other; and the shipping info has an ornamental design [75], and the note has an ornamental design [87]).
Claim 19: Avidan does not explicitly the computer-implemented method of claim 18 wherein the matching rare design includes a thumbnail of printed product. However, Avidan discloses custom, ornamental, and custom messages ([87] with message or design) and a variety of custom added content (see all the Fig. 6s). And, Comstock discloses using thumbnails [87] and designs blended with codes/identifiers (“[95]…. Optionally, the ornamental design includes an order number encoded therein”). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s thumbnails to Avidan’s custom graphics and ornamental designs. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better provide custom designs and identifiers.
Claim 20: Avidan further discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 18 wherein the matching rare design includes at least one symbol (Fig. 6b where the P in item 535 is interpreted as a symbol, or [95] with ornamental design for Fig. 6c item 535). And, this ornamental design is customized [6] so interpreted as rare. Avidan does not explicitly disclose using color. However, Comstock further discloses using color [96]. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add Comstock’s printing with color to Avidan’s customized printing. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better provide customized printing.
Claim 23: Avidan further discloses the computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the printed note includes brand identity of the one of the plurality of merchants (see Fig. 6b item 535 which has a printed note and identifies “I Shirt Co” and the address of the Co/company/merchant). Note that the obviousness statement above renders obvious that the note can be in and/or on the package.
Avidan further discloses where the merchant [that the design comes from] is different than the one of the plurality of end customers (see separate customer and manufacturing site and ornamental design at [5]). Avidan does not explicitly disclose wherein the one of the plurality of merchants is an author or a designer. However, Avidan discloses an ornamental design [75] and Comstock discloses an embellishment [33] that can also include literature [33]. And, designs are made by designers and literature by writers/authors. Also, Comstock also further discloses a separate customer and embellishment ([33]; Fig. 4, item 425; and Examiner notes that the embellishment variation in Comstock [33] of added coupon reads on added coupon in Applicant Spec at [71] and as noted in the 1/26/26 Interview). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to add a separate design/note by a separate designer/author from the customer to Comstock’s added ornamental design. One would have been motivated to do this in order to better provide customized products.
Conclusion
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
a) These disclose relevant features: Beaver with shirt printed [101] [76] attach tshirt and label, label [223] ship [76], label attached [58]; Sullivan custom shirt, shipp label [125] and hand tag [125]; Person print card and address label [48, 42, 67] and shirt, labels, cards [42, 67]; Ingling gift message on textile [27]; Nakazato printing shipping label and invoice [205, 76]; Marcus thank you card at [27].
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ARTHUR DURAN whose telephone number is (571)272-6718. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Thurs, 7-5pm.
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/ARTHUR DURAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621 2/11/26