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 .
Status of the Claims
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s reply dated 2/18/2026, claims 1, 3, 5-9, 11, 13-15, and 17-19 have been amended, and claims 1-20 are currently pending and being examined in this response.
Response to Arguments
Regarding the 103 arguments:
Applicant’s arguments have been considered and have been persuasive in part, however, are moot in view of new grounds of rejection found below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 1-4, 9-12, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0248664 A1 to Makhdumi (“Makhdumi”), in view of United States Patent No. 9,811,810 B1 to Ranganath (“Ranganath”), in view of Official Notice, in view of United States Patent No. 10,482,433 B1 to Myren (“Myren”).
In regards to claims 1 and 9, Makhdumi discloses the following limitations:
A point-of-sale (POS) system, comprising: a user terminal configured to generate and display a symbol that represents a payment code that can be used for payment in a sales transaction; and a POS terminal including a scanner, (Makhdumi discloses a system and method by which a POS scans a payment code generated by a user device in order to process a transaction and issue a receipt. See at least Figure 3c, ¶¶ 0028, 0050, and 0053)
Makhdumi does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
a printer;
and data related to issuance of a receipt
wherein the data is one of: first data including a preset condition for determining whether to issue a receipt in the sales transaction, second data indicating that a receipt is to be issued in the sales transaction, and third data indicating that a receipt is not to be issued in the sales transaction; determine whether to issue a receipt using the preset condition included in the first data, and complete the sales transaction, and upon determining not to issue a receipt, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt, when the data obtained by decoding the symbol is the second data, control the printer to issue a receipt for the purchased items, and complete the sales transaction, and when the data obtained by decoding the symbol is the third data, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt.
when the data obtained by decoding the symbol is the first data; and upon determining to issue a receipt, control the printer to issue a receipt for the purchased items.
The Examiner provides Ranganath to teach the following limitations:
and data related to issuance of a receipt
when the data obtained by decoding the symbol is the first data; and upon determining to issue a receipt, control the printer to issue a receipt for the purchased items. (Ranganath teaches a system and method of processing transactions at a POS by which a receipt preferences are conveyed to the POS via a QR code and have a receipt provided accordingly by the POS. see at least Col. 10 lines 5-15)
Further, the Examiner takes Official Notice that it is old and well known in the art to have a printer as a peripheral for printing receipts at a POS.
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the system and method as taught by Makhdumi the teachings of Ranganath and Official Notice in order to allow the POS to provide receipts as directed by the user, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
The Examiner provides Myren to teach the following limitations:
wherein the data is one of: first data including a preset condition for determining whether to issue a receipt in the sales transaction, second data indicating that a receipt is to be issued in the sales transaction, and third data indicating that a receipt is not to be issued in the sales transaction; determine whether to issue a receipt using the preset condition included in the first data, and complete the sales transaction, and upon determining not to issue a receipt, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt, when the data obtained by decoding the symbol is the second data, control the printer to issue a receipt for the purchased items, and complete the sales transaction, and when the data obtained by decoding the symbol is the third data, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt. (Myren teaches a system and method by which a user can determine how they do or don’t want a receipt, including conditionals (decide at POS, category, price etc) and absolutes (yes/no), and type (electronic/printed) and processing the transaction based on those preferences submitted by the user. (see at least Myren Abstract, claim 1, Figures 3-5 and ¶¶ 0044-0045, 0056-0060)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the combination of Makhdumi, Ranganath and Official Notice, the receipting options of Myren in order to allow the POS to provide receipts as directed by the user, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claims 2 and 10, Makhdumi discloses the following limitations:
wherein the POS terminal includes a communication interface configured to communicate with a payment server, and the processor is configured to, when executing the payment processing, control the communication interface to transmit to the payment server a request for payment with the payment code. (see at least ¶ 0034 “the user may provide the QR code embodying the handle and displayed on the user's mobile device to a webcam (or other QR code capture device and/or mechanism) installed on the trusted computing device (or POS terminal). The user's trusted computing device or POS terminal may obtain a snapshot of the QR code generated by the user's mobile device, e.g., 116, and provide the handle extracted from the QR code to a merchant server for purchase transaction request processing by the payment network. The merchant server may generate a card authorization request (such as described further below in the discussion with reference to FIG. 4A) for processing the purchase transaction using the handle, and may provide the card authorization request to a payment network. Upon completion of the purchase transaction, the payment network may provide a purchase receipt directly to the user mobile device, the POS terminal in the store, and/or the secure display (e.g., for the online shopping scenario) as confirmation of completion of transaction processing using the handle.”)
In regards to claim 17, Makhdumi discloses the following limitations:
A user terminal used in a point-of-sale (POS) system, comprising: a display; and a processor configured to: acquire a payment code that can be used for payment in a sales transaction, encode the payment code (Makhdumi discloses a system and method by which a POS scans a payment code on a display of a user device generated by a user device in order to process a transaction and issue a receipt. See at least Figure 1b, 3c, ¶¶ 0028, 0050, and 0053)
Makhdumi does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
acquire data related to issuance of a receipt in the sales transaction, encode the data into a symbol, and determine to issue a receipt based on the setting.
wherein the data is one of: first data including a preset condition for determining whether to issue a receipt in the sales transaction, second data indicating that a receipt is to be issued in the sales transaction, and third data indicating that a receipt is not to be issued in the sales transaction; when the data encoded into the symbol is the first data, determine whether to issue a receipt using the preset condition included in the first data, upon determining to issue a receipt, issue a receipt for purchased items and complete the sales transaction, and upon determining not to issue a receipt, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt, when the data encoded into the symbol is the second data, issue a receipt for the purchased items, and complete the sales transaction, and when the data encoded into the symbol is the third data, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt.
The Examiner provides Ranganath to teach the following limitations:
acquire a setting related to issuance of a receipt in the sales transaction, encode the setting into a symbol, and determine to issue a receipt based on the setting. (Ranganath teaches a system and method of processing transactions at a POS by which a receipt preferences are conveyed to the POS via a QR code and have a receipt provided accordingly by the POS. see at least Col. 10 lines 5-15)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the system and method as taught by Makhdumi the teachings of Ranganath in order to allow the POS to provide receipts as directed by the user, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
The Examiner provides Myren to teach the following limitations:
wherein the data is one of: first data including a preset condition for determining whether to issue a receipt in the sales transaction, second data indicating that a receipt is to be issued in the sales transaction, and third data indicating that a receipt is not to be issued in the sales transaction; when the data encoded into the symbol is the first data, determine whether to issue a receipt using the preset condition included in the first data, upon determining to issue a receipt, issue a receipt for purchased items and complete the sales transaction, and upon determining not to issue a receipt, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt, when the data encoded into the symbol is the second data, issue a receipt for the purchased items, and complete the sales transaction, and when the data encoded into the symbol is the third data, complete the sales transaction without issuing any receipt. (Myren teaches a system and method by which a user can determine how they do or don’t want a receipt, including conditionals (decide at POS, category, price etc) and absolutes (yes/no), and type (electronic/printed) and processing the transaction based on those preferences submitted by the user. (see at least Myren Abstract, claim 1, Figures 3-5 and ¶¶ 0044-0045, 0056-0060)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the combination of Makhdumi and Ranganath the receipting options of Myren in order to allow the POS to provide receipts as directed by the user, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claims 3-4 and 11-12, The combination discloses the following limitations:
wherein the preset condition indicates whether a receipt is to be issued for each of predetermined categories of stores, and the processor is configured to: determine a category of store at which the sales transaction is performed, and determine to issue a receipt when the preset condition indicates that a receipt is to be issued for the determined category. wherein the predetermined categories include restaurants, grocery stores, convenience stores, and clothing stores. (Myren teaches determining a category of the merchant/type of store for the transaction and including receipt preferences based on the detected category. See at least Myren ¶¶ 0022 and 0044)
Claims 5, 6-8, 13-16 and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over United States Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0248664 A1 to Makhdumi (“Makhdumi”), in view of United States Patent No. 9,811,810 B1 to Ranganath (“Ranganath”), in view of Official Notice, in view of United States Patent No. 10,482,433 B1 to Myren (“Myren”), in view of United States Patent Application Publication No. 2014/0058861 A1 to Argue (“Argue”).
In regards to claim 5 and 13 Makhdumi does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
wherein the preset condition indicates a reference value, and the processor is configured to: determine a number of the registered items, and determine to issue a receipt when the number of the registered items exceeds the reference value.
The Examiner provides Argue to teach the following limitations:
wherein the preset condition indicates a reference value, and the processor is configured to: determine a number of the registered items, and determine to issue a receipt when the number of the registered items exceeds the reference value.
(Argue teaches setting receipt preferences such as different criteria for receiving a receipt, and what type of receipt to receive using a mobile device for use in a transaction. See at least Argue ¶¶ 0041 and 0051)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the system and method as taught by Makhdumi the teachings of Argue, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claims 6, 14, and 18, Makhdumi discloses the following limitations:
wherein the user terminal is configured to display a first screen that includes: a first object for starting payment processing using the payment code, and a second object (Makhdumi discloses a user interface including a selectable element for starting payment processing as well providing for multiple selectable options for the payment transaction and preferences prior to processing the payment transaction. See at least Figures 9A-9F and ¶¶ 0104-0114)
Makhdumi does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
for selecting whether to issue a receipt after payment processing and for modifying the data.
The Examiner provides Argue to teach the following limitations:
for selecting whether to issue a receipt after payment processing and for modifying the data. (Argue teaches a user interface element to enter store and change receipt preferences. See at least ¶ 0041)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the system and method as taught by Makhdumi the teachings of Argue, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claims 7, 15, and 19, Makhdumi discloses multiple screens for changing settings related to the transaction however does not appear to specifically disclose the following limitations:
wherein the user terminal is configured to display, after the second object is operated to modify the data, a second screen through which the data can be modified.
The Examiner provides Argue to teach the following limitations:
wherein the user terminal is configured to display, after the second object is operated to modify the data, a second screen through which the data can be modified. (Argue teaches a user interface element to enter store and change receipt preferences. See at least ¶ 0041)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing the invention to include in the system and method as taught by Makhdumi the teachings of Argue, and since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable.
In regards to claim 8, Makhdumi discloses the following limitations:
wherein the user terminal is configured to, after the first object is operated: acquire the payment code from a receipt server, generate the symbol based on the acquired payment code and the data, and display a third screen including the generated symbol. (Makhdumi discloses a payment icon and receiving from a server the payment code and generating a QR code for scanning by a merchant. See at least ¶¶ 0034 and 0067)
In regards to claims 16 and 20, Makhdumi discloses the following limitations:
further comprising: after the first object is operated, acquiring the payment code from a receipt server. (Makhdumi discloses a payment icon and receiving from a server the payment code and generating a QR code for scanning by a merchant. See at least ¶¶ 0034 and 0067)
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH M MUTSCHLER whose telephone number is (313)446-6603. The examiner can normally be reached 0600-1430.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Florian 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.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/JOSEPH M MUTSCHLER/Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/A. Hunter Wilder/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
Prosecution Insights