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
This communication is in response to the amendments filed on 08/07/2025.
Claims 1, 7 and 13 have been amended.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
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 text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Iizaka et al. “US 2020/0265689 A1” (Iizaka) in view of .
Regarding Claim 13: A POS terminal, comprising:
a payment processing component (at least see Iizaka Abstract; Fig. 1; [0040]); and
a reading device, comprising (at least see Iizaka Fig. 5):
an imaging component configured to image a reading target (at least see Iizaka Abstract; [0030]);
a reading component configured to read, from an image captured by the imaging component, first information by first processing and second information by second processing different from the first processing, the first information indicated by a first symbol printed with a first digital watermark and the second information indicated by a second symbol printed with a second digital watermark and different from the first information (at least see Iizaka Abstract; Figs. 4A-4B; [0030], [0043] and [0045]-[0047]; note “[0016] A commodity information reading apparatus of an embodiment includes imaging means, first reading means, second reading means, and commodity identification means. The imaging means captures an image of a commodity. The first reading means reads a code symbol attached to the commodity from the image. The second reading means reads an electronic watermark attached to the commodity from the image. The commodity identification means identifies the commodity appearing in the image based on at least one of a reading result of the first reading means and a reading result of the second reading means.”); and
an output component configured to output information read by the reading component (at least see Iizaka Abstract; [0036]),
Iizaka does not explicitly disclose wherein the second symbol is printed on a seal member made of a transparent material and the seal member is attached on the first symbol.
However, Lizaka does disclose using a transparent material (see at least lizaka Figs. 4A; [0046]).
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Iizaka’s “transparent material” for the advantage of printed on a seal member made of a transparent material to provide with both barcode.
Regarding Claim 14: The POS terminal according to claim 13, wherein the reading component extracts the first symbol printed in a first color from the captured image by the first processing, and extracts the second symbol printed in a second color different from the first color from the captured image by the second processing (at least see Iizaka Fig. 7).
Regarding Claim 15: The POS terminal according to claim 13, wherein the first information is commodity identification information identifying a commodity and the - second information is privilege information on a privilege of the commodity (at least see Iizaka [0005]).
Regarding Claim 16: The POS terminal according to claim 15, wherein the second information is flag information indicating that a label indicating a content of the privilege is attached to the commodity (at least see Iizaka Abstract; Figs. 1-2).
Regarding Claim 17: The POS terminal according to claim 15, wherein the second information is information indicating a content of the privilege (at least see Iizaka Abstract; Fig. 9).
Regarding Claim 18: The POS terminal according to claim 14, wherein the first color is cyan and the second color is magenta (at least see Iizaka Abstract; Fig. 6).
Regarding Claim 19: The POS terminal according to claim 13, wherein the POS terminal is a self-service POS terminal (at least see Iizaka Fig. 9).
Regarding Claim 20: The POS terminal according to claim 13, further comprising a plurality of imaging components (at least see Iizaka [0017]).
Regarding Claims 1-12: all limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected with respect to claims 13-20.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 11/29/2008 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In the remarks, the Applicant argues in substance:
Argument:
This fails to disclose determining a hypothetical standard metric associated with a plurality of assets.
In response, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant is reminded that claims must be given their broadest reasonable interpretation. It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to modify Iizaka’s as state (see at least lizaka Figs. 4A; [0046]; note: “[0046] The commodity H1 may have a form having only the electronic watermark 26. Or, the commodity H1 may have a form having only the barcode 24 and, in this case, modification of the configuration of the reading unit 10d is necessary. This is because, when the commodity H1 is mounted with the surface provided with the barcode 24 facing the conveyer surface of the belt conveyer 11, the surface provided with the barcode 24 is blind from the above described respective cameras and the barcode 24 is not readable. To address the case, for example, it is necessary to form the conveyer surface of the belt conveyer 11 using a transparent material and place another camera on the back side of the conveyer surface. Note that, in the following explanation, it is assumed that the commodity H1 is provided with both the barcode 24 and the electronic watermark 26.”). Therefore Iizaka meets the scope of the claimed limitations.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 mailing date of this final action.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FATEH M OBAID whose telephone number is (571)270-7121. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:00 A.M to 4:30 P.M.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ryan Zeender can be reached at (571) 272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FATEH M OBAID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627