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 09/18/2025.
Claims 1-8 and 10 have been cancelled.
Claim 9 has been amended.
Claims 11-17 have newly added.
Claims 9 and 11-17 are currently pending and have been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
Claims 9 and 11-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Abraham “US 2014/0081738 A1” (Abraham).
Regarding Claim 9: A payment system, comprising:
a payment apparatus that is operable by a customer to pay for a purchased product, the payment apparatus including a body, a touch panel, a code scanner, and a card reader on a front side of the body, and one or more product placement tables on lateral sides of the body, the payment apparatus configured to transmit a payment end signal for notifying payment end of the purchased product upon a user operation on the touch panel (at least see Abraham [0023]);
a camera that is directed to capture an imaging area including portion the one or more product placement tables of the payment apparatus on which the purchased product is placed (at least see Abraham Abstract; Figs. 3-6); and
a monitoring device that monitors presence or absence of a lost article on the one or more product placement tables, wherein the monitoring device includes (at least see Abraham Abstract; Figs. 5; [0058]);
a camera interface that is connected to a camera and captures image data of an image taken by the camera, the camera imaging an imaging area including the placement portion one or more product placement tables (at least see Abraham Abstract; Fig 4; [0025] and [0047]-[0048]),
a terminal interface that is connected to the payment apparatus and configured to receive the payment end signal (at least see Abraham [0024]),
an image memory that stores the image data captured by the camera interface in chronological order (at least see Abraham Abstract; Figs. 1-2), and
a processor configured to
in response to reception of the payment end signal by the terminal interface, acquire the image data stored in the image memory,
in response to acquisition of the image data, start an operation of detecting an article placed on the one or more product placement tables on a basis of the acquired image data (at least see Abraham Abstract; Fig 2; [0029]-[0032]),
measure a time period during which the detected article is left in the same place (at least see Abraham Abstract; Fig 2; [0029]-[0032]), and
notify, where the measured time period exceeds a threshold value, that there is a lost article on the one or more product placement tables (at least see Abraham Abstract; [0041-[0043]).
Regarding Claim 12: The payment system according to claim 11, wherein the imaging area of the camera includes both the first product placement table and the second product placement table (at least see Abraham Abstract; Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 13: The payment system according to claim 9, wherein the payment apparatus is further configured to transmit a payment start signal for notifying payment start of the purchased product, and the terminal interface of the monitoring device is configured to receive the payment start signal (at least see Abraham Abstract; Fig. 3).
Regarding Claim 14: The payment system according to claim 13, wherein the processor of the monitoring device is further configured to stop the operation of detecting the article in response to reception of the payment start signal by the terminal interface, when no article has been detected by a timing of receiving the payment start signal (at least see Abraham Abstract; Fig. 6]).
Regarding Claim 15: The payment system according to claim 14, wherein the processor of the monitoring device is further configured to continue the operation of detecting the article after the reception of the payment start signal, when an article has been detected by the timing of receiving the payment start signal (at least see Abraham [0028]).
Regarding Claim 16: The payment system according to claim 15, wherein the processor of the monitoring device is further configured to measure a time period during which an article detected immediately before receiving the payment start signal is left in the same place (at least see Abraham [0068]).
Regarding Claim 17: The payment system according to claim 15, wherein the processor of the monitoring device is further configured to measure a time period during which an article detected immediately before receiving the payment start signal is left in the same place and not to measure a time period for an article detected after receiving the payment start signal (at least see Abraham [0049] and [0066]-[0068]).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 11 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.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 9 and 11-17 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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.
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