Notice o0f 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 § 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.
Claims 1-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Regarding claim 1:
Applying the Supreme Court’s two‑step subject matter eligibility test (SMET) from Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 110 USPQ2d 1976 (2014) and Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Labs., Inc., 566 U.S. 66, 101 USPQ2d 1961 (2012), as implemented in the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance and subsequent updates, it is determined that claim(s) … are directed to a judicial exception and do/do not recite significantly more.
Step 2A Prong One – Abstract idea
The claims, when given their broadest reasonable interpretation, are directed to organizing and managing service provision and privileges for members of organizations based on authentication and membership attributes, such as affiliation, membership ranks, points/privileges, and family relationships.
For example, claim 1 recites, in substance:
maintaining and referring to a database of identity authentication information for affiliated members of partner organizations,
authenticating a user via an authentication terminal in a facility,
specifying an organization to which the user belongs based on the fact that authentication has succeeded,
determining a service the business operator provides according to the specified organization, and
performing processing according to the determined service (e.g., notification, granting access, applying privileges).
Dependent claims further recite:
notifying the user of notification information about the determined service,
controlling which services can be used in particular locations of a facility and notifying that they can be used there (claims 3–4),
using affiliation information and in-organization privilege information (points, benefits, ranks) to determine service content and levels (claims 5–8, 12),
using family attributes and family relationships to determine service and service levels (claims 9–10), and
externally outputting information based on records of service use (claim 11).
These limitations collectively describe managing access to services, discounts, privileges, and higher-tier offerings for members and their families based on organizational affiliation, ranks, and points—in other words, a scheme for managing membership benefits and service provisioning relationships between a business operator, partner organizations, their employees, and their families.
Such concepts fall within the “certain methods of organizing human activity” grouping of abstract ideas, including “fundamental economic practices,” “commercial or legal interactions,” and “managing relationships or transactions,” as described in MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2) and related guidance.
Accordingly, the claims are directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2A Prong Two – Practical application
The claims are implemented using generic computer components and networks, such as:
a “service processing apparatus” comprising a processor and memory;
generic “database”(s) for storing identity information, affiliation information, points, and family information;
generic “authentication terminal[s] installed in the facility” (e.g., check-in terminal, entrance terminal, store terminal) that perform input/output and communicate with the service processing apparatus;
a general-purpose computer executing a program, and non-transitory computer-readable media storing such a program.
The specification confirms these elements are conventional and not specialized hardware: the service processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus with a processor, memory, storage, and network interfaces; functions may be implemented via ordinary CPUs, GPUs, or other standard processors, or provided as SaaS/cloud services; the terminals are standard display/input devices with cameras and network connections.
The additional elements (e.g., biometric/face authentication, terminals in an airport, databases for airline members, employee points, and family information) merely provide an environment and data sources for applying the abstract membership-management and service-provision rules. They do not effect an improvement in the functioning of the computer itself or any other technology or technical field; rather, they automate known business practices for determining which services/benefits to provide to which users under which conditions.
None of the additional elements, alone or in combination, integrate the abstract idea into a practical application in the sense required by the 2019 PEG (e.g., there is no technical improvement, no particular machine beyond a generic computer, and no meaningful limitation on how the abstract idea is performed).
Accordingly, the claims do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
Step 2B – Significantly more
Under Step 2B, the elements of the claims, considered individually and as an ordered combination, do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself.
As discussed above:
The processors, memories, databases, authentication terminals, networks, and computer-readable media are all recited at a high level and are described in the specification as conventional components used in their ordinary manner.
The use of biometric authentication (e.g., face recognition) is itself known and implemented by generic image capture and comparison operations in an authentication apparatus, without any asserted technical improvement to biometric processing; it is merely a way to obtain identity information for the business rules.
The steps of referring to a database, authenticating a user, determining an organization, applying service rules based on affiliation, privilege points, or family, and notifying the user or controlling access/discounts are all part of the abstract membership-benefits and service-provision logic.
The ordered combination of elements therefore amounts to implementing an abstract scheme for managing and providing services and privileges for organization members and their families on generic computer and network infrastructure. This is analogous to other cases where automating a business practice or organizing human activity on generic computers was found insufficient to provide an “inventive concept.”
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 –
(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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 5, and 13-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being antedated by Google Patent Translation of Japanese Patent Document JP 2004-206670 A (Kanbe et al.)
As Per Claim 1: Kanbe et al. teaches: A service processing apparatus comprising:
at least one memory storing instructions; and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to:
- refer to a database in which identity authentication information of affiliated members of a partner organization of a business operator who provides a predetermined service in a predetermined facility is registered, and control authentication that is performed based on identity authentication information of a user of the facility acquired by an authentication terminal installed in the facility;
(Kanbe et al., Paragraphs [0107]-[0112], “When the mediation mechanism manages the usage right, the local space management mechanism transmits information in its local usage right management means to the mediation mechanism and manages the information.
(3) Example of registration of user information for using resources and services
Generally, it is desirable that the user information storage mechanism owned by the user be a portable memory device having an anti-tamper characteristic such as an IC card, and the user information described in the user information storage mechanism includes a country, a company, an ISP ( It is desirable that an organization such as an Internet service provider) write with a valid authority and not be tampered with by others.
The description of the user information in the individual user information management means of the user information storage mechanism is written by the organization such as the country, company, ISP, etc., which obtained the digital certificate issued by a certain certification authority, By doing so, the content of the user information is guaranteed.
By registering such information such as a user ID and a user attribute in at least one local space management mechanism, the user can participate in the usage right management method. Such user information is directly stored in the local space management mechanism as local user management means in the local space management mechanism in addition to the case where the user information storage mechanism is communicated with the local space management mechanism and registered. There are also cases where the administrator of the management mechanism writes. Even when the administrator of the local space management mechanism writes user information directly into the local user management means in the local space management mechanism, with an electronic signature based on an electronic certificate issued by a certificate authority, May be done.
For example, as in the present embodiment, the company A and the company B are in a business tie-up relationship, and the user information in the local user management means in the local space management mechanism A includes a description “employee of the company B”. Does not exist, when the employee B-1 of the company B enters the local space A managed by the local space management mechanism A, the local space management mechanism A 1 and registers the user information of the user B-1 in its own local user management means.
Further, as in the present embodiment, the company A and the company B are in a business tie-up relationship, and the user information in the local user management means in the local space management mechanism A includes a description “employee of the company B”. Does not exist, the manager of the local space management mechanism A may register user information on the user B-1.”).
- specify an organization to which the user belongs based on a fact that the authentication has succeeded;
(Kanbe et al., Paragraph [0113], “At this time, the user information described in the local user management means of the local space management mechanism A may indicate a specific personal name or an organization to which the user belongs.”).
- determine a service that the business operator provides according to the specified organization; and
- perform processing according to the determined service.
(Kanbe et al., Paragraphs [0114]-[0122], “(4) Management of usage rights and use of resources and services in local space A user information storage mechanism owned by a user, such as an IC card, triggers a user to use resources and services in a certain local space.
Company A's local space management mechanism A, which manages company A's conference room, manages resources such as A-PC001 and printer A-CP001 existing in the conference room and services realized on the resources. These resources and services are described and managed by the local space management mechanism Abased on the metadata of the resources and services.
The user B-1 who is an employee of the company B affiliated with the company A communicates the IC card, which is a user information storage mechanism owned by the user B-1 with the B-PDA001 owned by the user B-1 in the conference room of the company A. Let it. B-PDA001 is registered as a resource with local space management mechanism A. The user B-1 communicates his / her own IC card with the local space management mechanism A via the B-PDA001, and uses the resources and services managed by the local space management mechanism A. The user information is transmitted to the local space management mechanism A.
Upon receiving the user information of the user B-1, the local space management mechanism A receives the user information of the user B-1 described based on the metadata group representing the user transmitted from the IC card of the user B-1. Receives the resource information of the B-PDA001 used by the user B-1 described based on the metadata group expressing the resource, evaluates the user information and the resource information in the local space management mechanism A, and B determines available resources and services.
The following types are assumed for examples of service determination.
Regarding the use of the color printer A-CP001 installed in the conference room A of the company A, when the user A-1 who is an employee of the company A uses the PC A-PC001 installed in the conference room A, Then, the local space management mechanism A determines that "user A-1" uses "A-CP001" via "A-PC001", and generates a right to use the color print service and the monochrome print service. Based on the usage right, the user A-1 uses either the color print service of the color printer or the monochrome print service.
On the other hand, regarding the use of the color printer installed in the conference room A of the company A, when the user B-1 who is an employee of the company Buses the B-PDA001 owned by the user, the local space management is performed. Mechanism A determines that “user B-1” uses “A-CP001” via “B-PDA001”, and generates only the right to use the black-and-white print service. Based on the usage right, the user B-1 uses the monochrome printing service of the color printer.
Further, regarding the use of the color printer installed in the conference room A of the company A, when the user B-1 who is an employee of the company B uses the PCA-PC001 existing in the conference room of the company A, The local space management mechanism A determines that “user B-1” uses “A-CP001” via “A-PC001”, and generates a right to use the color print service and the monochrome print service. Based on the usage right, the user B-1 uses either the color print service of the color printer or the monochrome print service.
As described above, it is possible to change the usage right for the service used by the user based on the information about the user and the environment such as resources used by the user.”).
As Per Claim 2: The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. teaches:
- notify the user of notification information about the determined service.
(Kanbe et al., Paragraph [0099], “Further, the user B-1 uses the resource B-1 and the service B-1 and the resource B-2 and the service B-2 in the local space management mechanism B as an ideal work environment and user information of the user B-1. The user information is described in the user context information management mechanism in the storage mechanismB-1, and the user information storage mechanism is carried to the local space A. The user B-1 acquires the resource A-1 managed by the local space management mechanism A and the use right of the service on the resource A-1 by receiving the transfer of the use right from the user A-1 or the like. -1 is used to communicate with the local space management mechanism A. Next, a request is made to use the resource B-1, which constitutes the ideal work space of the user B-1, the service B-1 on the resource B-1, and the service B-2 on the resource B-2. The local space management mechanism A evaluates resources and services that constitute the ideal workspace of the user B-1, and can be used by the user B based on the attributes of the user B-1 via the mediation mechanism. It inquires of other local space management mechanisms whether there is a candidate for a resource or a service. As a result of the inquiry, the mediation mechanism determines, in addition to the local space management mechanism A, the resource B-1, the service B-1, and the resource B-1 requested by the user B-1 to use the local space management mechanism B and local space management mechanism C. The user B-1 is notified via the local space management mechanism A and the resource A-1 that the service B-2 itself or the service B-2 itself exists.”).
As Per Claim 5: The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. teaches:
- affiliation information of an organization to which the affiliated member belongs and the identity authentication information of the affiliated member are registered in association with each other in the database, and the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: determine the service according to the affiliation information associated with the identity authentication information for which the authentication has succeeded.
This element plays out in (Kanbe et al., Paragraph [0103])
As Per Claim 13: Claim 13 is substantially a restatement of the apparatus of claim 1 as a system and is rejected under substantially the same reasoning.
As Per Claim 14: The rejection of claim 13 is incorporated and further claim 14 is substantially a restatement of the apparatus of claim 2 as a system and is rejected under substantially the same reasoning.
As Per Claim 15: Claim 15 is substantially a restatement of the apparatus of claim 1 as a method and is rejected under substantially the same reasoning.
As Per Claim 16: Claim 16 is substantially a restatement of the apparatus of claim 1 as a non-transitory computer readable medium and is rejected under substantially the same reasoning.
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.
Claim(s) 3 and 4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Google Patent Translation of Japanese Patent Document JP 2004-206670 A (Kanbe et al.) in view of Google Patent Translation of Japanese Patent Document JP 2007-133887 A (Mizuguchi et al.).
As Per Claim 3: The rejection of claim 2 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however Mizuguchi et al. in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- control authentication that is performed based on the identity authentication information acquired by the authentication terminal installed in a first place of the facility,
(Mizuguchi et al., Page 8, Paragraph 7, “After authentication by the input/output gateway server 5, the user of the input/output control device 6 a requests desired data from the input/output gateway server 5 by operating the keyboard 13. Here, the input/output gateway server 5 reads the data in the input/output control device 6b and performs control to transmit the data to the input/output control device 6a. Finally, the input/output control device 6a outputs (prints) the received data to an external device such as a printer installed in the vicinity. In the present embodiment, the user ID is input by operating the keyboard 13, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the user ID is input using the magnetic card or IC card shown in FIG. Also good.”).
- determine a service that the business operator will provide in a second place of the facility, and
- notify the authentication terminal of the notification information indicating that the determined service can be used in the second place.
(Mizuguchi et al., Page 7, Paragraph 1, “Here, the input/output gateway server 5 compares the received output job code with the output job code received in the secondary control, and if they match (Yes instep S15), the input / output control device. The billing process accompanying the output process is performed at 6 (step S17). As the final processing of the third control, the input/output control device 6 reads the data previously stored in the input/output gateway server 5 and outputs it to an external device such as a printer installed in the nearest vicinity. (Print) (step S18, step S36). Here, in order to identify the printer installed closest to the vehicle, for example, the terminal 1 may display a route to the installation location. Further, if they do not match in the processing of step S15 (step S15, No), control is performed to display an error on the terminal 1 (stepS16), and input job code input processing is performed again (step S14).”).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Mizuguchi et al. in to the method of Kanbe et al. as Mizuguchi et al. is providing obvious additional understanding and capabilities to the use of the terminals found in Kanbe et al.
As Per Claim 4: The rejection of claim 3 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however Mizuguchi et al. in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- notify the authentication terminal of the notification information further including route information from the first place to the second place.
(Mizuguchi et al., Page 7, Paragraph 1, “Here, the input/output gateway server 5 compares the received output job code with the output job code received in the secondary control, and if they match (Yes instep S15), the input / output control device. The billing process accompanying the output process is performed at 6 (step S17). As the final processing of the thirdcontrol, the input/output control device 6 reads the data previously stored in the input/output gateway server 5 and outputs it to an external device such as a printer installed in the nearest vicinity. (Print) (step S18, step S36). Here, in order to identify the printer installed closest to the vehicle, for example, the terminal 1 may display a route to the installation location. Further, if they do not match
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Mizuguchi et al. in to the method of Kanbe et al. as Mizuguchi et al. is providing obvious additional understanding and capabilities to the use of the terminals found in Kanbe et al.
Claim(s) 6-8 and 11-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Google Patent Translation of Japanese Patent Document JP 2004-206670 A (Kanbe et al.) in view of United States Patent Application Publication No.: US 2020/0097915 A1 (YAMANAKA).
As Per Claim 6: The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however YAMANAKA in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- in-organization privilege information given in the organization and the identity authentication information of the affiliated member are registered in association with each other in the database, and the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: determine the service while taking the in-organization privilege information associated with the identity authentication information for which the authentication has succeeded into consideration.
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0239], “When paying a restaurant worker 400 for the price, the employee 200 makes a barcode image 3001 visible on a screen of an employee terminal 3000 carried by the employee 200 and shows the barcode image 3001 to the restaurant worker 400.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0243], “A shop checkout screen 4140 has an employee ID 4141, a payment amount 4142, and subsidy information 4143. As the employee ID 4141, an employee ID of the employee 200 is displayed. As the payment amount 4142, the list price of food and drink to be paid by the employee 200 is displayed. As the subsidy information 4143, the amount of subsidy that the employee 200 is to receive is displayed. A difference from the shop checkout screen 4130 (see (b) of FIG. 18) of the first embodiment is that the payment amount 4142 is the list price. Based on the difference, no list price is displayed in the subsidy information 4143.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0244], “The employee 200 confirms that his/her employee ID is displayed in the shop checkout screen 4140, and pays the list price displayed as the payment amount 4142 to the restaurant worker 400. The restaurant worker 400 receives the payment and presses a payment complete button 4144.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of YAMANAKA in to the method of Kanbe et al. to include the option of paid services available to/between organization members, YAMANAKA provides expanded service options to the system presented by Kanbe et al.
As Per Claim 7: The rejection of claim 6 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however YAMANAKA in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: notify the user that the in-organization privilege information can be used for payment of a usage fee for the determined service.
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0239], “When paying a restaurant worker 400 for the price, the employee 200 makes a barcode image 3001 visible on a screen of an employee terminal 3000 carried by the employee 200 and shows the barcode image 3001 to the restaurant worker 400.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0243], “A shop checkout screen 4140 has an employee ID 4141, a payment amount 4142, and subsidy information 4143. As the employee ID 4141, an employee ID of the employee 200 is displayed. As the payment amount 4142, the list price of food and drink to be paid by the employee 200 is displayed. As the subsidy information 4143, the amount of subsidy that the employee 200 is to receive is displayed. A difference from the shop checkout screen 4130 (see (b) of FIG. 18) of the first embodiment is that the payment amount 4142 is the list price. Based on the difference, no list price is displayed in the subsidy information 4143.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0244], “The employee 200 confirms that his/her employee ID is displayed in the shop checkout screen 4140, and pays the list price displayed as the payment amount 4142 to the restaurant worker 400. The restaurant worker 400 receives the payment and presses a payment complete button 4144.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of YAMANAKA in to the method of Kanbe et al. to include the option of paid services available to/between organization members, YAMANAKA provides expanded service options to the system presented by Kanbe et al.
As Per Claim 8: The rejection of claim 6 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however YAMANAKA in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- determine a higher service which is higher than a current service level, and which the user can use by using the in-organization privilege information, and notify the user that he/she can use the determined higher service by using the in-organization privilege information.
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0239], “When paying a restaurant worker 400 for the price, the employee 200 makes a barcode image 3001 visible on a screen of an employee terminal 3000 carried by the employee 200 and shows the barcode image 3001 to the restaurant worker 400.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0243], “A shop checkout screen 4140 has an employee ID 4141, a payment amount 4142, and subsidy information 4143. As the employee ID 4141, an employee ID of the employee 200 is displayed. As the payment amount 4142, the list price of food and drink to be paid by the employee 200 is displayed. As the subsidy information 4143, the amount of subsidy that the employee 200 is to receive is displayed. A difference from the shop checkout screen 4130 (see (b) of FIG. 18) of the first embodiment is that the payment amount 4142 is the list price. Based on the difference, no list price is displayed in the subsidy information 4143.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0244], “The employee 200 confirms that his/her employee ID is displayed in the shop checkout screen 4140, and pays the list price displayed as the payment amount 4142 to the restaurant worker 400. The restaurant worker 400 receives the payment and presses a payment complete button 4144.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of YAMANAKA in to the method of Kanbe et al. to include the option of paid services available to/between organization members, YAMANAKA provides expanded service options to the system presented by Kanbe et al.
As Per Claim 11: The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however YAMANAKA in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- externally output information based on a record of use of the service provided to the user.
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0239], “When paying a restaurant worker 400 for the price, the employee 200 makes a barcode image 3001 visible on a screen of an employee terminal 3000 carried by the employee 200 and shows the barcode image 3001 to the restaurant worker 400.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0243], “A shop checkout screen 4140 has an employee ID 4141, a payment amount 4142, and subsidy information 4143. As the employee ID 4141, an employee ID of the employee 200 is displayed. As the payment amount 4142, the list price of food and drink to be paid by the employee 200 is displayed. As the subsidy information 4143, the amount of subsidy that the employee 200 is to receive is displayed. A difference from the shop checkout screen 4130 (see (b) of FIG. 18) of the first embodiment is that the payment amount 4142 is the list price. Based on the difference, no list price is displayed in the subsidy information 4143.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0244], “The employee 200 confirms that his/her employee ID is displayed in the shop checkout screen 4140, and pays the list price displayed as the payment amount 4142 to the restaurant worker 400. The restaurant worker 400 receives the payment and presses a payment complete button 4144.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of YAMANAKA in to the method of Kanbe et al. to include the option of paid services available to/between organization members, YAMANAKA provides expanded service options to the system presented by Kanbe et al.
As Per Claim 12: The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. does not explicitly teach the following limitation however YAMANAKA in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- determine the service together with privilege information related to a usage fee.
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0239], “When paying a restaurant worker 400 for the price, the employee 200 makes a barcode image 3001 visible on a screen of an employee terminal 3000 carried by the employee 200 and shows the barcode image 3001 to the restaurant worker 400.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0243], “A shop checkout screen 4140 has an employee ID 4141, a payment amount 4142, and subsidy information 4143. As the employee ID 4141, an employee ID of the employee 200 is displayed. As the payment amount 4142, the list price of food and drink to be paid by the employee 200 is displayed. As the subsidy information 4143, the amount of subsidy that the employee 200 is to receive is displayed. A difference from the shop checkout screen 4130 (see (b) of FIG. 18) of the first embodiment is that the payment amount 4142 is the list price. Based on the difference, no list price is displayed in the subsidy information 4143.”.).
(YAMANAKA, Paragraph [0244], “The employee 200 confirms that his/her employee ID is displayed in the shop checkout screen 4140, and pays the list price displayed as the payment amount 4142 to the restaurant worker 400. The restaurant worker 400 receives the payment and presses a payment complete button 4144.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of YAMANAKA in to the method of Kanbe et al. to include the option of paid services available to/between organization members, YAMANAKA provides expanded service options to the system presented by Kanbe et al.
Claim(s) 9-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Google Patent Translation of Japanese Patent Document JP 2004-206670 A (Kanbe et al.) in view of Google Patent Translation of Japanese Patent Document JP 2015-153147 A (Sakuma et al.).
As Per Claim 9: The rejection of claim 1 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. and YAMANAKA do not explicitly teach the following limitation however Sakuma et al. in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- wherein identity authentication information of a family member of the affiliated member and a family attribute indicating the user is the family member of the affiliated member are registered in association with each other in the database, and the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: specify, when the family attribute is associated with the identity authentication information for which the authentication has succeeded, an organization to which the affiliated member corresponding to the family attribute belongs.
(Sakuma et al., Page 3, Paragraphs 12-14, “The account related information DB 12 stores information defining “family relations” for a plurality of customer accounts. For example, as illustrated, the account of customer A, the account of customer B, and the account of customer C are stored as “related accounts”. Here, the customer of the related account does not have to be a family who actually lives together. In the related account, one of the customers is a family representative and all other customers are non-family representatives. In the example of the figure, the account of customer A is a family representative account, and the accounts of customer B and customer C are non-family representative accounts.
The accounting system 20 has a ledger DB 22 (ledger database) that stores customer account transaction information as a main part, and a stage determination that determines which stage of the preferential service the customer account is in advance. Part 24. The stages are defined in several stages according to the preferential level. For example, “pre”, “bronze”, “silver”, “gold”, “platinum”, and the like are defined in ascending order of preference. However, “pre” represents a state in which the customer has just joined the preferential service providing program provided by the system. In addition, each stage can be raised (jumped) beyond the stage that should originally be raised each time a customer satisfies a predetermined condition.
In this system, not only the transaction status but also account related information and privilege allocation information are transmitted and pasted from the EB system 10 to the ledger DB 22 (data is synchronized). Account-related information includes the “loyalty designation destination” flag that indicates whether the customer is participating in the preferential service provided by the system, that is, the preferential service providing program, and the family relationship between the account of another customer. Information to be displayed. In the illustrated example, the accounts of customer A, customer B, and customer C are in a family relationship, but the account of customer D has just joined the preferential service provision program and has a family relationship with customers A, B, and C. Indicates that there is no.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Sakuma et al. in to the method of Kanbe et al. similar to the enhancements shown by YAMANAKA above Sakuma et al. provides an enhancement of service options E.g. friends and family style benefits making use of Kanbe et al.’s service without changing the nature of the invention.
As Per Claim 10: The rejection of claim 9 is incorporated and further Kanbe et al. and YAMANAKA do not explicitly teach the following limitation however Sakuma et al. in analogous art dos teach the following limitation:
- determine, when the organization to which the affiliated member indicated by the family attribute belongs is specified, the service having a service level different from that for the affiliated member.
(Sakuma et al., Page 3, Paragraphs 12-14, “The account related information DB 12 stores information defining “family relations” for a plurality of customer accounts. For example, as illustrated, the account of customer A, the account of customer B, and the account of customer C are stored as “related accounts”. Here, the customer of the related account does not have to be a family who actually lives together. In the related account, one of the customers is a family representative and all other customers are non-family representatives. In the example of the figure, the account of customer A is a family representative account, and the accounts of customer B and customer C are non-family representative accounts.
The accounting system 20 has a ledger DB 22 (ledger database) that stores customer account transaction information as a main part, and a stage determination that determines which stage of the preferential service the customer account is in advance. Part 24. The stages are defined in several stages according to the preferential level. For example, “pre”, “bronze”, “silver”, “gold”, “platinum”, and the like are defined in ascending order of preference. However, “pre” represents a state in which the customer has just joined the preferential service providing program provided by the system. In addition, each stage can be raised (jumped) beyond the stage that should originally be raised each time a customer satisfies a predetermined condition.
In this system, not only the transaction status but also account related information and privilege allocation information are transmitted and pasted from the EB system 10 to the ledger DB 22 (data is synchronized). Account-related information includes the “loyalty designation destination” flag that indicates whether the customer is participating in the preferential service provided by the system, that is, the preferential service providing program, and the family relationship between the account of another customer. Information to be displayed. In the illustrated example, the accounts of customer A, customer B, and customer C are in a family relationship, but the account of customer D has just joined the preferential service provision program and has a family relationship with customers A, B, and C. Indicates that there is no.”.).
It would have been an obvious interchangeable variation to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Sakuma et al. in to the method of Kanbe et al. similar to the enhancements shown by YAMANAKA above Sakuma et al. provides an enhancement of service options E.g. friends and family style benefits making use of Kanbe et al.’s service without changing the nature of the invention.
Additional Prior Art
United States Patent Application Publication No.: US 2017/0149788 A1 (OHZAKI et al.) in analogous art provides relevant teachings about providing services with terminal usage.
Conclusion
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/BENJAMIN A KAPLAN/Examiner, Art Unit 2434