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 .
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) 2, 3, 12, 17, 18, 22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bao et al. (CN112529489A-translated) in view of Filali Ansary (US 20240331016 A1).
Regarding claim 2, Bao discloses:
2. (Original) A positioning method, comprising:
determining a target task and task information of the target task (paragraph 134 the control system generates specific tasks (for example, when it is found that a certain product object in the front area of a physical store is out of stock, a replenishment task from the back office to the front office is generated, etc.));
generating task processing information according to the task information, and sending the task processing information (paragraph 134 Task executors can receive task information and view task details through specific terminal devices.);
receiving location information of a terminal device, the location information being determined by the terminal device by scanning a beacon signal (paragraph 135 Since the effective reception range of the signal emitted by the beacon device is limited, the location of the task executor can be roughly determined based on the signal detection by the mobile terminal device.), and the positioning area being determined according to the task processing information (paragraph 135 Furthermore, it is possible to determine the execution status of the task, including whether the task-related product objects have been transferred to the target area, or even whether they have been placed on specific shelves, etc.); and determining task execution information of the target task according to the location information (paragraph 135 Finally, based on this assessment of the executor's location and the task's progress, the task status can be automatically updated).
Bao fails to disclose the beacon being in an ESL. However in an analogous art, Filali Ansary discloses groups of ESLs containing beacons (paragraph 56). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine this teaching with Bao by implementing storage location identification beacons in ESLs. The motivation for the combination is enhanced productivity (paragraph 8).
Regarding claim 3, Bao discloses:
3. (Currently Amended) The method according to claim 2, wherein the determining the target task and the task information of the target task comprises: acquiring the target task; determining at least one commodity object corresponding to the target task, and generating the task information based on the at least one commodity object (paragraph 134 First, it should be noted that in traditional solutions, the standard execution process for specific business object transfer tasks (replenishment from the back office to the front office, or preparation of goods from the front office to the back office, etc.) is usually as follows: the control system generates specific tasks (for example, when it is found that a certain product object in the front area of a physical store is out of stock, a replenishment task from the back office to the front office is generated, etc.) and assigns them to specific task executors.).
Regarding claim 12, Bao discloses:
12. (Original) A positioning method, comprising:
receiving task processing information of a target task; determining a positioning area according to the task processing information (paragraph 134 Task executors can receive task information and view task details through specific terminal devices.); and determining an positioning area (paragraph 135 beacon devices (e.g., beacon devices) can be added at some key locations in the physical store.), controlling an (paragraph 135), according to the beacon signal, location information of a terminal device (paragraph 135 Since the effective reception range of the signal emitted by the beacon device is limited, the location of the task executor can be roughly determined based on the signal detection by the mobile terminal device), and determining task execution information of the target task according to the location information (paragraph 135 Furthermore, it is possible to determine the execution status of the task, including whether the task-related product objects have been transferred to the target area, or even whether they have been placed on specific shelves, etc.)
Bao fails to disclose the beacon being in an ESL. However in an analogous art, Filali Ansary discloses groups of ESLs containing beacons (paragraph 56). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine this teaching with Bao by implementing storage location identification beacons in ESLs. The motivation for the combination is enhanced productivity (paragraph 8).
Regarding claim 17, Bao discloses:
17. (Currently Amended) A positioning method, comprising:
receiving task processing information of a target task (paragraph 134 the control system generates specific tasks (for example, when it is found that a certain product object in the front area of a physical store is out of stock, a replenishment task from the back office to the front office is generated, etc.));
displaying the target task according to the task processing information (paragraph 134 Task executors can receive task information and view task details through specific terminal devices.);
scanning, on condition that an operation point is reached, beacon signals paragraph 135 In this way, when the person carrying the device is performing a task, they can detect the signal emitted by the beacon device through a mobile terminal device.),
sending the signal data to determine, according to the signal data, location information and reporting the location information (paragraph 135 Since the effective reception range of the signal emitted by the beacon device is limited, the location of the task executor can be roughly determined based on the signal detection by the mobile terminal device. Furthermore, it is possible to determine the execution status of the task, including whether the task-related product objects have been transferred to the target area, or even whether they have been placed on specific shelves, etc.
), and determining task execution information of the target task according to the location information (paragraph 135 Finally, based on this assessment of the executor's location and the task's progress, the task status can be automatically updated.).
Bao fails to disclose the beacon being in an ESL. However in an analogous art, Filali Ansary discloses groups of ESLs containing beacons (paragraph 56). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine this teaching with Bao by implementing storage location identification beacons in ESLs. The motivation for the combination is enhanced productivity (paragraph 8).
Regarding claim 18, Bao discloses: wherein the task processing information comprises positioning execution information (paragraph 134 target area), and the displaying the target task according to the task processing information comprises: displaying, according to the positioning execution information, an operation point (paragraph 134 view task details, task details indicate a target area), commodity information (paragraph 134 view task details, paragraph 134 task details indicate “certain product object”), and operation content (paragraph 134 view task details, paragraph 134 task details indicate replenishment detail); wherein the method further comprises:determining location information of a terminal device according to positioning data (paragraph 135 Since the effective reception range of the signal emitted by the beacon device is limited, the location of the task executor can be roughly determined based on the signal detection by the mobile terminal device.); and sending the location information of the terminal device (paragraph 134 server is the one updating inventory information paragraph 135 Finally, based on this assessment of the executor's location and the task's progress, the task status can be automatically updated.)
Regarding claim 22, Bao discloses:
22. (Original) A positioning method, comprising:
receiving signal data of a terminal device, the signal data being acquired by the terminal device by scanning beacon signals of (paragraph 135 n this way, when the person carrying the device is performing a task, they can detect the signal emitted by the beacon device through a mobile terminal device.Since the effective reception range of the signal emitted by the beacon device is limited, the location of the task executor can be roughly determined based on the signal detection by the mobile terminal device.
), and t(paragraph 135);
performing positioning processing according to the signal data and location information of a corresponding electronic shelf label to determine location information of the terminal device (paragraph 135 Since the effective reception range of the signal emitted by the beacon device is limited, the location of the task executor can be roughly determined based on the signal detection by the mobile terminal device.); and
sending the location information to determine task execution information of a target task according to the location information (paragraph 135 Furthermore, it is possible to determine the execution status of the task, including whether the task-related product objects have been transferred to the target area, or even whether they have been placed on specific shelves, etc.).
Bao fails to disclose the beacon being in an ESL. However in an analogous art, Filali Ansary discloses groups of ESLs containing beacons (paragraph 56). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine this teaching with Bao by implementing storage location identification beacons in ESLs. The motivation for the combination is enhanced productivity (paragraph 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 1 is allowed. The prior art of record fails to discloses a shelf label management platform that controls an electronic shelf label in a positioning area to transmit a beacon signal, a terminal device that sends signal data of the beacon signal to a positioning server, a positioning server that performs positioning according to the signal data and sends the location information to a task management platform. Closest art Bao does not disclose a separate shelf label management platform controlling the labels based on the task data or the terminal device interfacing with the positioning server and the positioning server subsequently interfacing with the task management platform in order to validate task execution.
Claim 4-11, 13, 14, 16, 20, 21 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. Regarding claim 4, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 3, wherein the generating the task information based on the at least one commodity object comprises: acquiring commodity information and location information of each of the at least one commodity object; planning a task path for the target task according to the location information of each of the at least one commodity object, and determining corresponding operation information; and determining corresponding task information according to the commodity information, the location information of each of the at least one commodity object, the task path, and the operation information. Regarding claims 5-9, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 2 wherein the generating the task processing information according to the task information, and sending the task processing information comprises: generating positioning execution information according to the task information, and sending the positioning execution information to the terminal device; generating shelf label control information according to the task information, and sending the shelf label control information to a shelf label management platform; and sending the task information to the shelf label management platform and the terminal device. Regarding claim 10, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 2: determining time information corresponding to the location information; determining staying time of the terminal device in a corresponding positioning area according to the time information; and recording the staying time. Regarding claim 11, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 2: generating warning information on condition that it is detected that staying time of the terminal device in the positioning area exceeds a staying threshold. Regarding claims 13-14, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 12, wherein the task processing information comprises shelf label control information; and the determining the positioning area according to the task processing information comprises: determining a positioning point on a task path according to the task processing information; and determining the positioning area according to the positioning point. Regarding claim 16, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 12, wherein the controlling the electronic shelf label in the electronic shelf label group to send the beacon signal comprises: receiving a positioning completion indication corresponding to a target operation point; and sending a positioning activation indication to an electronic shelf label group in a positioning area corresponding to a next operation point, and controlling an electronic shelf label in the electronic shelf label group to send a beacon signal. Regarding claim 20, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 17, sending a positioning completion indication after completing a corresponding task at the operation point. Regarding claim 21, the prior art of record fails to disclose in combination with claim 17, acquiring reminder information and displaying the reminder information, the reminder information comprising operation reminder information and/or warning information.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Xu (US 20200132470 A1) discloses task validation based on beacons received near an ESL. Todeschini (US 10136259 B1) discloses task validation based on receiving RSSI from beacons.
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/NATHAN A MITCHELL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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