DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claim Objections
Claim 11 objected to because of the following informalities:
in line 4, “rai” should be –rail--.
in line 7, the word “and” appears to be missing before the word “scan”.
Appropriate corrections are required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 4, 10, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Wei (WO2021/109927).
Regarding claims 1, 20, Wei discloses an electronic shelf label (a label with an electronic display screen, Para. 103) positioning method (after submitting this information to the server, since the server can record the information shown in Table 4, the server can determine the shelf identifier and layer identifier where the specific short-range communication tag is located, Para. 92) and computer device, comprising:
receiving a binding relationship between a shelf ID of a commodity shelf and a guide rail ID of a guide rail (the corresponding relationship between the identification of the guide rail, the shelf identification, and the layer identification information can be submitted to the server, Para. 88-90), and a binding relationship between the guide rail ID and wireless label IDs of a plurality of wireless labels (Para. 88-96 with emphasis on Para. 95),
wherein the plurality of wireless labels are installed on the guide rail (specific short-range communication tags can be first laid on the guide rails by pasting or the like, Para. 62), the guide rail is installed on the commodity shelf (guide rails can also be installed for the shelves of the shelves, Para. 62), and the guide rail is installed with an electronic shelf label (see 102 in fig. 1 and 201 in fig. 2) that is configured to read the wireless label ID of the wireless label (after the card reader corresponding to the specific commodity object tag reads the first information stored in a short-range communication tag, Para. 92);
receiving the wireless label ID of the wireless label that is read by the electronic shelf label (the card reader corresponding to the specific product object tag installed on the shelf reads a certain shortrange communication tag the first information is stored, the identification information of the specific short-range communication tag itself and the associated rail identification can be obtained from it, Paras. 92 and 69);
determining the guide rail ID of the guide rail where the electronic shelf label is located, based on the received wireless label ID and the binding relationship between the guide rail ID and the wireless label ID (the location information related to the short-range communication tag stored in the server may be stored through the location information of the rail identification associated with the specific short-range communication, Para. 92);
determining the shelf ID of the commodity shelf where the electronic shelf label is located, based on the determined guide rail ID and the binding relationship between the shelf ID and the guide rail ID (After the specific guide rail is installed on a certain layer of a certain shelf, the corresponding relationship between the identification of the guide rail, the shelf identification, and the layer identification information can be submitted to the server. In this way, the specific information stored in the server can be as shown in Table 4, Para. 88-96); and
determining a position of the electronic shelf label based on the determined guide rail ID, the determined shelf ID and the wireless label ID (the location information related to the short-range
communication tag stored in the server may be stored through the location information of the rail identification associated with the specific short-range communication. The second information specifically stored in the server may be the corresponding relationship between the rail identifier associated with the short-range communication and the specific shelf identifier and floor identifier, Para. 88-96 with emphasis on Para. 92).
Regarding claim 2, Wei discloses wherein the electronic shelf label is aligned with a position of a commodity on the commodity shelf; the electronic shelf label positioning method further comprises: receiving a binding relationship between an electronic shelf label ID of the electronic shelf label and a commodity ID of the commodity; and sending commodity information and price information of the commodity to be displayed on the electronic shelf label, based on the binding relationship between the electronic shelf label ID and the commodity ID (the specific commodity object label can also be an
electronic price tag, which can display the corresponding commodity object information through a display device such as a display screen or electronic paper, Para. 56-57).
Regarding claim 4, Wei discloses the electronic shelf label comprises a main control SoC, a card reader IC, and a screen; the main control SoC is configured to control the screen to display and configured to communicate with an AP; and the card reader IC is configured to read a wireless label (an electronic tag with a short-range communication card reading function, and the electronic tag is provided with a display device for displaying the information of the associated commodity object and including inherent IC to allow communication with a server, Para. 66, 69).
Regarding claim 10, Wei discloses the plurality of wireless labels are fixed on the guide rail by means of pasting (Para. 65).
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.
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.
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.
Claim(s) 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei, and further in view of An (CN 108334912 A).
Regarding claim 3, Wei fails to specifically disclose the electronic shelf label positioning method further comprising: generating a commodity display diagram, based on the binding relationship between the electronic shelf label ID and the commodity ID and based on the position of the electronic shelf label.
An teaches a goods display assistant management system to generate a commodity display diagram, based on the binding relationship between the electronic shelf label ID and a commodity ID and based on the position of the electronic shelf label (Para. 5 of Page 7 to Para. 5 of page 8).
From the teachings of An, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei to include the electronic shelf label positioning method further comprising: generating a commodity display diagram, based on the binding relationship between the electronic shelf label ID and the commodity ID and based on the position of the electronic shelf label in order to correctly place products at the correct positions on a shelf.
Claim(s) 5, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wei, and further in view of Dong (CN 111860748A)
Regarding claim 5, Wei fails to disclose wherein the electronic shelf label further comprises a displacement sensor configured to detect whether the electronic shelf label moves.
Dong teaches electronic shelf label comprises a displacement sensor configured to detect whether the electronic shelf label moves (Abstract and pages 4-6).
From the teachings of Dong, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Wei to include wherein the electronic shelf label further comprises a displacement sensor configured to detect whether the electronic shelf label moves in order to improve tracking of the electronic shelf labels, thereby improve accuracy of the placement of the shelf labels.
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Wei and Dong teach wherein the main control SoC is further configured to control the card reader IC based on a displacement signal detected by the displacement sensor (when the electronic main body is moved to the other commodity position, automatically updating position, when the electronic tag position and the commodity position are not corresponding, see Dong, Abstract and 2nd paragraph of page 6).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 7-9 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 11-17 allowed.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter in claim 7:
None of the prior arts teach or suggest a guide rail identification area installed with an identity recognition device that comprises a guide rail ID generated by the ID numbers of wireless labels.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter in claim 11:
The prior arts teach an electronic shelf label positioning system (see rejection of claim 1), but none of the prior arts further teach or suggest the system further including a PDA configured to scan a shelf ID of a commodity shelf and a guide rail ID of the guide rail to form a binding relationship between the shelf ID and the guide rail ID, and scan the wireless label IDs of the plurality of wireless labels to generate a binding relationship between the guide rail ID and the wireless label IDs.
Conclusion
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/YONG HANG JIANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689