DETAILED ACTION
This is a Non-Final Office Action in response to the Request for Continued Examination filed 10/10/2025.
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 .
Continuation
This application is a continuation of U.S. application 16/799,429 (filed 02/24/2020, now U.S. Patent No. 10,867,340) and 17/106,304 (filed 11/30/2020, now U.S. Patent No. 11,776,039). See MPEP §201.08. In accordance with MPEP §609.02 A. 2 and MPEP §2001.06(b) (last paragraph), the Examiner has reviewed and considered the prior art cited in the Parent Applications. Also in accordance with MPEP §2001.06(b) (last paragraph), all documents cited or considered ‘of record’ in the Parent Applications are now considered cited or ‘of record’ in this application. Additionally, Applicant(s) are reminded that a listing of the information cited or ‘of record’ in the Parent Application need not be resubmitted in this application unless Applicants desire the information to be printed on a patent issuing from this application. See MPEP §609.02 A. 2. Finally, Applicants are reminded that the prosecution history of the Parent Application is relevant in this application. See e.g., Microsoft Corp. v. Multi-Tech Sys., Inc., 357 F.3d 1340, 1350, 69 USPQ2d 1815, 1823 (Fed. Cir. 2004) (holding that statements made in prosecution of one patent are relevant to the scope of all sibling patents).
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 10/10/2025 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 21-38, 40 are currently pending in the application and have been examined.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 10/10/2025 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Claim Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 101:
Applicant submits on page 14 of the remarks that amended claim 21 reflects a clear technical improvement, and thus integrates any recited judicial exception into a practical application. Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that per the Revised October 2019 guidance: in order to determine if an invention improves the functioning of a computer or other technology and integrate the judicial exception into a practical application, while the courts have not provided an explicit test for this consideration, MPEP 2106.04(a) and 2106.05(a) provide guidance, first the specification should be evaluated to determine if the disclosure provides sufficient details such that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize the claimed invention as providing an improvement; second, if the specification sets forth an improvement in technology, the claim must be evaluated to ensure that the claim itself reflects the disclosed improvement. When looking at the specification, and the present claims, it appears that the improvement as argued by the Applicant is not to the technology but to the abstract idea. Further, the Examiner notes that the present claims do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application in a matter that imposes meaningful limit to the judicial exception.
Claim Rejections 35 U.S.C. § 102 and § 103:
Applicant submits that the cited references do not arrive at such features recited in the amended claims. Examiner respectfully disagrees and notes that the amended features are disclosed by Lit in at least [0023-0027].
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim(s) 21-38, 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-patentable subject matter. The claims are directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
With respect to claims 21-38, 40, the independent claims (claims 21, 28 and 33) are directed, in part, to a method and a system to generate price comparisons. Step 1 – First pursuant to step 1 in the January 2019 Guidance, claims 21-32 are directed to a method comprising a series of steps which falls under the statutory category of a process and claims 33-38 and 40 are directed to a system which falls under the statutory category of a machine. However, these claim elements are considered to be abstract ideas because they are directed to a method of organizing human activity which includes commercial interactions and sales activities.
As per Step 2A - Prong 1 of the subject matter eligibility analysis, the claims are directed, in part, to receiving first data from a user device, the first data including a plurality of different partial identifiers associated with a product, wherein each partial identifier is a different modality of data; and the different modalities of data of the plurality of different partial identifiers includes two or more of an image data modality, a metadata modality, a text modality, or an audio data modality; determining an identification of the product based on the first data, by performing a respective partial identification process on each partial identifier to determine a respective partial identification of the product, wherein the respective partial identification process includes: for the image data modality, an image analysis process; for the metadata modality, a content parsing process; for the text data modality, a text parsing process; and for the audio data modality, a human speech analysis process; combining the respective partial identifications of the product arising from the different modalities into a standardized form; and using the combined respective partial identifications in the standardized form to determine the identification of the product; determining one or more products that match the identification; identifying, over an electronic network, one or more offers for sale of the determined one or more products that match the identification of the product; extracting second data from the one or more identified offers that includes a respective price for each offer and respective third data configured to enable access to each offer over the electronic network; generating an offer adjustment for the product; generating further second data for a further offer for the product that includes a price that applies the offer adjustment to one of the one or more identified offers and further third data that is executable by the user device access the further offer over the electronic network; causing the user device to output the further second data on an interface such that the third data is executable by a user of the user device. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation covers sales activities, then it falls under the “certain methods of organizing human activity” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
9. As per Step 2A - Prong 2 of the subject matter eligibility analysis, this judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim recites additional elements: user device, electronic network, system, memory, processor. These additional elements are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic device performing a generic computer function of receiving and storing data) such that these elements amount no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Examiner looks to Applicant’s specification in at least figures 1 and 4-5 and related text and [0068-0072] to understand that the invention may be implemented in a generic environment that “in one embodiment, any of the mobile devices, systems, servers, etc., discussed herein may be an assembly of hardware 400 including, for example, a data communication interface 420 for packet data communication. The platform also may include a central processing unit (“CPU”) 402, in the form of one or more processors, for executing program instructions. The platform may include an internal communication bus 408, and a storage unit 406 (such as ROM, HDD, SDD, etc.) that may store data on a computer readable medium 422, although the system 400 may receive programming and data via network communications. The system 400 may also have a memory 404 (such as RAM) storing instructions 424 for executing techniques presented herein, although the instructions 424 may be stored temporarily or permanently within other modules of system 400 (e.g., processor 402 and/or computer readable medium 422). The system 400 also may include input and output ports 412 and/or a display 410 to connect with input and output devices such as keyboards, mice, touchscreens, monitors, displays, etc. The various system functions may be implemented in a distributed fashion on a number of similar platforms, to distribute the processing load. Alternatively, the systems may be implemented by appropriate programming of one computer hardware platform. Program aspects of the technology may be thought of as “products” or “articles of manufacture” typically in the form of executable code and/or associated data that is carried on or embodied in a type of machine-readable medium. “Storage” type media include any or all of the tangible memory of the computers, processors or the like, or associated modules thereof, such as various semiconductor memories, tape drives, disk drives and the like, which may provide non-transitory storage at any time for the software programming. All or portions of the software may at times be communicated through the Internet or various other telecommunication networks. Such communications, for example, may enable loading of the software from one computer or processor into another, for example, from a management server or host computer of the mobile communication network into the computer platform of a server and/or from a server to the mobile device. Thus, another type of media that may bear the software elements includes optical, electrical and electromagnetic waves, such as used across physical interfaces between local devices, through wired and optical landline networks and over various air-links. The physical elements that carry such waves, such as wired or wireless links, optical links, or the like, also may be considered as media bearing the software. As used herein, unless restricted to non-transitory, tangible “storage” media, terms such as computer or machine “readable medium” refer to any medium that participates in providing instructions to a processor for execution.” Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they are mere instructions to implement the abstract idea on a computer.
10. As per Step 2B of the subject matter eligibility analysis, the claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. The additional elements are mere instructions to apply the abstract idea on a computer. When considered individually, these claim elements only contribute generic recitations of technical elements to the claims. It is readily apparent, for example, that the claim is not directed to any specific improvements of these elements and the invention is not directed to a technical improvement. When the claims are considered individually and as a whole, the additional elements noted above, appear to merely apply the abstract concept to a technical environment in a very general sense – i.e. a generic computer receives information from another generic computer, processes the information and then sends information back. In addition, when taken as an ordered combination, the ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present as when the elements are taken individually. Their collective functions merely provide generic computer implementation. Therefore, when viewed as a whole, these additional claim elements do not provide meaningful limitations to transform the abstract idea into a practical application of the abstract idea or that amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. The most significant elements of the claims, that is the elements that really outline the inventive elements of the claims, are set forth in the elements identified as an abstract idea. The fact that the generic computing devices are facilitating the abstract concept is not enough to confer statutory subject matter eligibility.
11. The dependent claims further refine the abstract idea. These claims do not provide a meaningful linking to the judicial exception. Rather, these claims offer further descriptive limitations of elements found in the independent claims and addressed above – such as by describing the nature and content of the data that is received/sent. While these descriptive elements may provide further helpful context for the claimed invention these elements do not serve to confer subject matter eligibility to the invention since their individual and combined significance is still not significantly more than the abstract concepts at the core of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
12. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
13. 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 –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
14. Claim(s) 21-38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by US Pub. No. 2019/0043093 (hereinafter; Lit).
Regarding claim 21, Lit discloses:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving first data from a user device, the first data including a plurality of different partial identifiers associated with a product, wherein each partial identifier is a different modality of data; and the different modalities of data of the plurality of different partial identifiers includes two or more of an image data modality, a metadata modality, a text modality, or an audio data modality; (Lit [0041] discloses partial identifiers; a third party system 130 provides information to the content selection module 230 including identifiers of products sold or maintained by the third party system 130; associated with each identifier are one or more characteristics of a product corresponding to an identifier (e.g., a description of the product, keywords associated with the product, a name of the product, dimensions of the product, reviews of the product, etc.). Lit [0027] discloses The creative includes content for presentation to a user, such as text, image, audio, video, or any other suitable data presented to a user.) determining an identification of the product based on the first data, by preforming a respective partial identification process on each partial identifier to determine a respective partial identification of the product, wherein the respective partial identification process includes: for the image data modality, an image analysis process; for the metadata modality, a content parsing process; for the text data modality, a text parsing process; and for the audio data modality, a human speech analysis process; combining the respective partial identifications of the product arising from the different modalities into a standardized form; (Lit [0023] discloses identifying images and identifying information; [0042] discloses In various embodiments, the content selection module 230 also maintains information describing various offer formats and selects an offer format to accompany a product being presented to a user of the online system 140. For example, for a product with an original suggested retail value of $2,000, presenting an offer for the product at $1,500, $500 off, or 25% off each correspond to the same offer or price of the product (i.e., $1,500 is $500 off $2,000 and $500 off of $2,000 is 25% off of $2,000). Accordingly, $1,500, $500 off, and 25% off each correspond to a different offer format.) and using the combined respective partial identifications in the standardized form to determine the identification of the product; (Lit [0006] discloses identifying products and candidate products.) determining one or more products that match the identification; (Lit [0043] discloses matching characteristics of products.) identifying, over an electronic network, one or more offers for sale of the determined one or more products that match the identification of the product; (Lit [0045] discloses identifying similar and identical products being sold/advertised by a third party system; The price analysis module 235 receives price information for a product set (e.g., a product catalog, or data for different products, pricing, discounts, etc.) from a third party system 130 and compares the price information for the product set to other products from other third party systems 130 to identify similar and identical products being sold/advertised by the other third party systems 130.) extracting second data from the one or more identified offers that includes a respective price for each offer and respective third data configured to enable access to each offer over the electronic network; (Lit [0045] discloses Price analysis module 235 performs a pricing analysis of the similar or identical products to determine how the price that each third party system 130 is offering for a product compares to the price of the product being sold/advertised by the other third party systems 130.) generating an offer adjustment for the product; (Lit [0042] discloses at the time the selected content item is presented to the user, the format of the offer or price shown in the content item can be dynamically adjusted for the user based on engagement data.) generating further second data for a further offer for the product that includes a price that applies the offer adjustment to one of the one or more identified offers and further third data that is executable by the user device to access the further offer over the electronic network; (Lit [0045] discloses whether the price is above or below the average and/or how far a particular third party system 130 is from an average price for a product. In various embodiments, this information can be provided to the third party system 130 to allow the advertiser to adjust their prices and become more competitive. Additionally, as will further described below in conjunction with FIG. 4A, price analysis module 235 may determine a competitiveness value for the product offered by a third party system 130 relative to other third party systems 130 and provide the competitiveness value to content selection module 230 to adjust a score or ranking of the content item associated with the product. The relative competitiveness of the price of a product effects the likelihood of a user selecting a content item and, thus, selection module 230 can use this information in the content item selection process.) causing the user device to output the further second data on an interface such that the third data is executable by a user of the user device. (Lit [0058] discloses FIG. 4B is a product price comparison diagram 450 that can be displayed to a third party system user; See also [0068].)
Regarding claims 22/34, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 21; the system of claim 33, wherein the further third data included in the further second data includes a selectable link to be displayed by the user device. (Lit [0003] discloses an online system receives compensation from a publishing user each time a content item provided by the publishing user is displayed to another user on the online system or each time another user is presented with a content item on the online system and interacts with the content item (e.g., selects a link included in the content item). See also [0026].)
Regarding claim 23, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising: receiving, from the user device, an instruction to fulfill the further offer; and in response to receiving the instruction: using the respective third data of the one of the one or more identified offers used with the further offer to access and fulfill the one of the one or more identified offers; and applying the offer adjustment. (Lit [0062-0063] disclose the online system 140 selects 445 the content item having the creative including content describing the selected product for presentation to the user and provides the content item describing the selected product to a client device 110 associated with the user for presentation; the landing page specifies a network address of a web page maintained by the third party system 130 for purchasing the product via the third party system.; [0068] discloses The online system 140 provides 530 the content item including the creative describing the product with an offer to purchase the product at the determined optimal price for the product for display to the user. The price for the product shown in the content item displayed to the user is, thus, individually adjusted for each user based on user features and engagement data to optimize the conversion rate of the content item. Accordingly, the online system 140 receives 535 an interaction with the content item corresponding to the user selecting the offer to purchase the product at the determined optimal price via the content item.)
Regarding claims 24/30/35, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 23; the computer implemented method of claim 29; the system of claim 34, wherein the applying of the offer adjustment is performed separately from the accessing and fulfilling of the one of the one or more identified offers. (Lit [0068] discloses In response to receiving 535 the interaction to the content item, the online system 140 sends 545 the user and offer data corresponding to the determined optimal price for the product to a landing page for the product at the third party system 130. In one embodiment, the landing page at the third party system 130 displays the offer to purchase the product at the optimal price determined by the online system.)
Regarding claims 25/31, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 24; the computer implemented method of claim 30, wherein the offer adjustment is not provided by an entity providing the one of the one or more identified offers. (Lit [0068] discloses the online system 140 receives 535 an interaction with the content item corresponding to the user selecting the offer to purchase the product at the determined optimal price via the content item. In response to receiving 535 the interaction to the content item, the online system 140 sends 545 the user and offer data corresponding to the determined optimal price for the product to a landing page for the product at the third party system 130. In one embodiment, the landing page at the third party system 130 displays the offer to purchase the product at the optimal price determined by the online system 140. Thus, the method for determining a price for a product described with respect to FIG. 5 includes an agreement between the online system 140 and the third party system 130 that the third party system 130 provides the product for sale at the price determined by the online system 140.)
Regarding claims 26/36, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 21; the system of claim 33, wherein: generating the further second data includes generating a website specific to the further offer; and the further third data is configured to cause the user device to access the website specific to the further offer. (See Lit [0033]; [0047].)
Regarding claims 27/32/37, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 26; the computer-implemented method if claim 28; the system of claim 36, wherein the website specific to the further offer includes a comparison of the price for the one of the one or more identified offers with the price of the further offer. (Lit [0058] discloses product price comparison can be provided in a UI for a third party system user to allow the third party system 130 to adjust their price for the product. See Fig. 4B)
Regarding claim 28, Lit discloses:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving first data from a user device, the first data including a plurality of different partial identifiers associated with a product, wherein: each partial identifier is a different modality of data; (Lit [0041] discloses partial identifiers; a third party system 130 provides information to the content selection module 230 including identifiers of products sold or maintained by the third party system 130; associated with each identifier are one or more characteristics of a product corresponding to an identifier (e.g., a description of the product, keywords associated with the product, a name of the product, dimensions of the product, reviews of the product, etc.).) and the different modalities of data of the plurality of different partial identifiers includes two or more of an image data modality, a metadata modality, a text modality, or an audio data modality; (Lit [0027] discloses The creative includes content for presentation to a user, such as text, image, audio, video, or any other suitable data presented to a user.) determining an identification of the product based on the first data, by preforming a respective partial identification process on each partial identifier to determine a respective partial identification of the product, wherein the respective partial identification process includes: for the image data modality, an image analysis process; for the metadata modality, a content parsing process; for the text data modality, a text parsing process; and for the audio data modality, a human speech analysis process; (Lit [0023] discloses identifying images and identifying information.) combining the respective partial identifications of the product arising from the different modalities into a standardized form; (Lit [0042] discloses In various embodiments, the content selection module 230 also maintains information describing various offer formats and selects an offer format to accompany a product being presented to a user of the online system 140. For example, for a product with an original suggested retail value of $2,000, presenting an offer for the product at $1,500, $500 off, or 25% off each correspond to the same offer or price of the product (i.e., $1,500 is $500 off $2,000 and $500 off of $2,000 is 25% off of $2,000). Accordingly, $1,500, $500 off, and 25% off each correspond to a different offer format.) and using the combined respective partial identifications in the standardized form to determine the identification of the product; (Lit [0006] discloses identifying products and candidate products.) determining one or more products that match the identification; (Lit [0043] discloses matching characteristics of products.) identifying, over an electronic network, one or more offers for sale of the determined one or more products that match the identification of the product; (Lit [0045] discloses identifying similar and identical products being sold/advertised by a third party system; The price analysis module 235 receives price information for a product set (e.g., a product catalog, or data for different products, pricing, discounts, etc.) from a third party system 130 and compares the price information for the product set to other products from other third party systems 130 to identify similar and identical products being sold/advertised by the other third party systems 130.) extracting second data from the one or more identified offers that includes a respective price for each offer and respective third data configured to enable access to each offer over the electronic network; (Lit [0045] discloses Price analysis module 235 performs a pricing analysis of the similar or identical products to determine how the price that each third party system 130 is offering for a product compares to the price of the product being sold/advertised by the other third party systems 130.) generating an offer adjustment for the product; (Lit [0042] discloses at the time the selected content item is presented to the user, the format of the offer or price shown in the content item can be dynamically adjusted for the user based on engagement data.) generating a website that includes a visual indication of a further offer for the product, the further offer including a price that applies the offer adjustment to one of the one or more identified offers; (See Lit [0033]; [0047].) generating a selectable link that is executable by the user device to access to the website over the electronic network; (See Lit [0033]; [0047].) causing the user device to output the selectable link to the website. (Lit [0003] discloses an online system receives compensation from a publishing user each time a content item provided by the publishing user is displayed to another user on the online system or each time another user is presented with a content item on the online system and interacts with the content item (e.g., selects a link included in the content item). See also [0026].)
Regarding claim 29, Lit discloses:
The computer-implemented method of claim 28, further comprising: receiving, from the user device, a selection of the selectable link; (Lit [0003] discloses an online system receives compensation from a publishing user each time a content item provided by the publishing user is displayed to another user on the online system or each time another user is presented with a content item on the online system and interacts with the content item (e.g., selects a link included in the content item). See also [0026].) causing the user device to display the website; (See Lit [0033]; [0047].) receiving, from the user device, an interaction with the website that includes an instruction to fulfill the further offer; and in response to receiving the instruction: using the respective third data of the one of the one or more identified offers used with the further offer to access and fulfill the one of the one or more identified offers; and applying the offer adjustment. (Lit [0068] discloses In response to receiving 535 the interaction to the content item, the online system 140 sends 545 the user and offer data corresponding to the determined optimal price for the product to a landing page for the product at the third party system 130. In one embodiment, the landing page at the third party system 130 displays the offer to purchase the product at the optimal price determined by the online system.)
Regarding claim 33, Lit discloses:
A system, comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor operatively connected to the processor and configured to execute the instructions to perform operations, including: receiving first data from a user device, the first data including one or more a plurality of different partial identifiers associated with a product, wherein each partial identifier is a different modality of data and the different modalities of data of the plurality of different partial identifiers includes two or more of an image data modality, a metadata modality, a text modality, or an audio data modality; (Lit [0027] discloses The creative includes content for presentation to a user, such as text, image, audio, video, or any other suitable data presented to a user; [0041] discloses partial identifiers; a third party system 130 provides information to the content selection module 230 including identifiers of products sold or maintained by the third party system 130; associated with each identifier are one or more characteristics of a product corresponding to an identifier (e.g., a description of the product, keywords associated with the product, a name of the product, dimensions of the product, reviews of the product, etc.).) determining an identification of the product based on the first data, by preforming a respective partial identification process on each partial identifier to determine a respective partial identification of the product, wherein the respective partial identification process includes: for the image data modality, an image analysis process; for the metadata modality, a content parsing process; for the text data modality, a text parsing process; and for the audio data modality, a human speech analysis process; (Lit [0023] discloses identifying images and identifying information.) combining the respective partial identifications of the product arising from the different modalities into a standardized form; (Lit [0042] discloses In various embodiments, the content selection module 230 also maintains information describing various offer formats and selects an offer format to accompany a product being presented to a user of the online system 140. For example, for a product with an original suggested retail value of $2,000, presenting an offer for the product at $1,500, $500 off, or 25% off each correspond to the same offer or price of the product (i.e., $1,500 is $500 off $2,000 and $500 off of $2,000 is 25% off of $2,000). Accordingly, $1,500, $500 off, and 25% off each correspond to a different offer format.)and using the combined respective partial identifications in the standardized form to determine the identification of the product; (Lit [0006] discloses identifying products and candidate products.) determining one or more products that match the identification; (Lit [0043] discloses matching characteristics of products.) identifying, over an electronic network, one or more offers for sale of the determined one or more products that match the identification of the product; (Lit [0045] discloses identifying similar and identical products being sold/advertised by a third party system; The price analysis module 235 receives price information for a product set (e.g., a product catalog, or data for different products, pricing, discounts, etc.) from a third party system 130 and compares the price information for the product set to other products from other third party systems 130 to identify similar and identical products being sold/advertised by the other third party systems 130.) extracting second data from the one or more identified offers that includes a respective price for each offer and respective third data configured to enable access to each offer over the electronic network; (Lit [0045] discloses Price analysis module 235 performs a pricing analysis of the similar or identical products to determine how the price that each third party system 130 is offering for a product compares to the price of the product being sold/advertised by the other third party systems 130.) generating an offer adjustment for the product, wherein the offer adjustment is not provided by an entity providing the one of the one or more identified offers; (Lit [0042] discloses at the time the selected content item is presented to the user, the format of the offer or price shown in the content item can be dynamically adjusted for the user based on engagement data. Lit [0068] discloses the online system 140 receives 535 an interaction with the content item corresponding to the user selecting the offer to purchase the product at the determined optimal price via the content item. In response to receiving 535 the interaction to the content item, the online system 140 sends 545 the user and offer data corresponding to the determined optimal price for the product to a landing page for the product at the third party system 130. In one embodiment, the landing page at the third party system 130 displays the offer to purchase the product at the optimal price determined by the online system 140. Thus, the method for determining a price for a product described with respect to FIG. 5 includes an agreement between the online system 140 and the third party system 130 that the third party system 130 provides the product for sale at the price determined by the online system 140.) generating further second data for a further offer for the product that includes a price that applies the offer adjustment to one of the one or more identified offers and further third data that is executable by the user device to access to the further offer over the electronic network; (Lit [0045] discloses whether the price is above or below the average and/or how far a particular third party system 130 is from an average price for a product. In various embodiments, this information can be provided to the third party system 130 to allow the advertiser to adjust their prices and become more competitive. Additionally, as will further described below in conjunction with FIG. 4A, price analysis module 235 may determine a competitiveness value for the product offered by a third party system 130 relative to other third party systems 130 and provide the competitiveness value to content selection module 230 to adjust a score or ranking of the content item associated with the product. The relative competitiveness of the price of a product effects the likelihood of a user selecting a content item and, thus, selection module 230 can use this information in the content item selection process.) causing the user device to output the further second data on an interface such that the third data is executable by a user of the user device; (Lit [0058] discloses FIG. 4B is a product price comparison diagram 450 that can be displayed to a third party system user; See also [0068].) receiving, from the user device, an instruction to fulfill the further offer; and in response to receiving the instruction: using the respective third data of the one of the one or more identified offers used with the further offer to access and fulfill the one of the one or more identified offers; and applying the offer adjustment. (Lit [0062-0063] disclose the online system 140 selects 445 the content item having the creative including content describing the selected product for presentation to the user and provides the content item describing the selected product to a client device 110 associated with the user for presentation; the landing page specifies a network address of a web page maintained by the third party system 130 for purchasing the product via the third party system.; [0068] discloses The online system 140 provides 530 the content item including the creative describing the product with an offer to purchase the product at the determined optimal price for the product for display to the user. The price for the product shown in the content item displayed to the user is, thus, individually adjusted for each user based on user features and engagement data to optimize the conversion rate of the content item. Accordingly, the online system 140 receives 535 an interaction with the content item corresponding to the user selecting the offer to purchase the product at the determined optimal price via the content item.)
Regarding claim 38, Lit discloses:
The system of claim 33, wherein the first data is received via a text message conversation. (Lit [0047] discloses the web server serves content such as text messages.)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
18. Claim(s) 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lit in view of US Pub. No. 2013/0204754 (hereinafter; Brelig).
Regarding claim 40, although Lit discloses product identification and matches for sales and offer adjustments, Lit does not specifically disclose a cash back reward. However, Brelig discloses the following limitations:
The system of claim 33, wherein the offer adjustment includes a cash- back reward. (Brelig [0036] discloses a cash-back incentive.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the content item format determination of Lit with the automated retail product accounting system of Brelig in order to compare product profiles (Brelig abstract) because the references are analogous since they both fall within Applicant's field of endeavor and are reasonably pertinent to the problem with which Applicant is concerned.
Conclusion
19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FRANCIS Z SANTIAGO-MERCED whose telephone number is (571)270-5562. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7am-4:30pm EST.
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/FRANCIS Z. SANTIAGO MERCED/Examiner, Art Unit 3625