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 .
Priority
For the purpose of prior art consideration, the effective filing date of the instant application is based on the application filed in Japan on September 1st, 2023. However, priority to this date is not perfected until an English translation of the certified copy of the instant application is filed.
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.
Claims 1, 4-6, 8-9, 12-14, 16-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai (US 2020/0143121 A1) in view of Miyagi (US 2022/0222472 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, 9 and 17 modified Sakurai teaches:
A point of sale (POS) terminal/ A method performed by a self-service point of sale (POS) terminal that includes a wireless tag reader and a camera (See Sakurai ¶ [0020] – POS terminal, [0038] – RFID tag reader and [0035] – image capturing unit has a CCD imaging element, which is the same type of device described by the specification of the instant application to define the limitation camera), the method comprising/ A non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a method (See Sakurai ¶ [0146] – program instructions executed by each device stored in various examples of non-transitory computer readable storage mediums) comprising:
a first table on which items to be registered for purchase can be placed (See Sakurai ¶ [0031] – A work table is installed at a side of the commodity sales data processing apparatus… a commodity purchased by the customer is placed on the upper surface of the worktable);
a second table on which registered items can be placed (See Sakurai ¶ [0032] – A first placing region A1 and a second placing region A2 are formed on the placing surface T11. The first placing region A1 is a predetermined area for placing a commodity to be read (sales registration) or a shopping basket B1 containing the commodity. An RFID tag (not illustrated) storing information inherent to the commodity is attached to the commodity. At least the first placing region A1 of the placing surface T11 is made of a material through which radio waves pass, such as plastic, glass, or wood);
a wireless tag reader (See Sakurai ¶ [0038] – RFID tag reader);
a camera positioned to capture one or more images of an imaging range that covers the first and second tables (See Sakurai ¶ [0035] – The commodity sales data processing apparatus is connected to an image capturing unit 21 provided on the first wall T12 through a connecting line… and is provided at a position where the first placing region A1 can be entirely imaged from the upper side);
a display (See Sakurai Fig. 1 – display 22 positioned between table region A1 and table region A2);
a memory (See Sakurai ¶ [0039] – memories); and
a processor (See Sakurai ¶ [0039] – control unit comprising a central processing unit) configured to:
start a registration process to register one or more items each of which has a wireless tag attached thereto (See Sakurai ¶ [0032-0033] – sales registration through RFID tag reading),
execute, in parallel, a first process for tracking the one or more items and a second process for reading the wireless tags attached to the one or more items (See Sakurai ¶ [0044] - The reader/writer 23 reads tag information held in the RFID tag through the first antenna 24 and the second antenna 25, [0075] – detecting movement of a commodity from location to another through captured images of said commodity, thereby showing tracking by example and [0144] - the reading device includes the image capturing unit 21, the second display 22, the reader/writer 23, the first antenna 24 and the second antenna 25 and is connected to, for example, the commodity sales data processing apparatus…The reading device cooperates [execut[ion], in parallel by example] with the control unit and program stored in the ROM to realize the image acquisition unit 311, the placing detection unit 312, the reading control unit 313, the transfer target selection unit 315, the transfer detection unit 316, the operation guide unit 317, and the read commodity output unit 318), wherein
the first process includes continuously performing object recognition on one or more images captured by the camera (See Sakurai ¶ [0048] – The captured image is a still image or a moving images which are continuously captured at a predetermined frame rate and [0090] - the operation guide unit 317 recognizes the commodities from the captured image by the image capturing unit 21 with the image recognition to count the number of commodities N existing in the first placing region A1 as the approximate value) and determining a number of items moved by a customer from the first table to the second table by incrementing a count of the number of items each time the object recognition detects a movement operation of an item (See Sakurai ¶ [0075] – a motion of moving the commodity from the first placing region A1 to the second placing region A2 is detected from the captured image by the image capturing unit 21, [0090] - the operation guide unit 317 recognizes the commodities from the captured image by the image capturing unit 21 with the image recognition to count the number of commodities N existing in the first placing region A1 as the approximate value and [0110] - The operation guide unit 317 counts the number of commodities included in the captured image to approximate the number of commodities M present in the shopping basket B1 in response to the movement detection) that includes: … removing the item from the first table, and … moving the item toward the second table (See Sakurai ¶ [0075] – a motion of moving the commodity from the first placing region A1 [table by example] to the second placing region A2 [table by example] is detected from the captured image by the image capturing unit 21), and
the second process includes controlling the wireless tag reader to read tag information from the one or more wireless tags, and storing the tag information in the memory (See Sakurai ¶ [0053] – antennas reading commodity code information from tags, [0094-0095] – reading and storing commodity code information), and determining a number of the wireless tags from which the tag information has been read based on the stored tag information (See Sakurai ¶ [0094-0095] – determining a quantity [number] of commodities from stored commodity tag read information, thereby determining a number of the wireless tags by example),
in response to an operation to end the registration process, compare the number of the wireless tags with the number of the moved items (See Sakurai ¶ [0072-0073] - the transfer target selection unit 315 counts the number of times the read commodity is read (the number of times of reading) for each read commodity for each antenna (antenna identifier)… the transfer detection unit 316 detects that the transfer target commodity selected by the transfer target selection unit 315 is moved from the first placing region A1 to another area (e.g., second placing region A2) and [0115-0117] – If the instruction of the reading completion is received, the operation guide unit compares the number of commodities N [number of items] with the number of commodities L of the registered commodity output by the reading commodity output unit [number of wireless tags]),
when the number of the wireless tags is identical to the number of the moved items, perform a checkout process on the one or more items using the tag information (See Sakurai ¶ [0042] - For example, the storage unit 32 stores a commodity master file in which commodity information (inherent information) relating to each commodity is registered in association with a commodity code for identifying the commodity. Such commodity information includes, for example, a commodity name, a category, a unit price, and the like, [0073] - the transfer detection unit 316 detects that the transfer target commodity selected by the transfer target selection unit 315 is moved from the first placing region A1 to another area (e.g., second placing region A2), [0101] - Next, the commodity specifying unit 314 specifies the read commodity based on the tag information (commodity code) obtained by the reading of the RFID tag for each commodity and [0116-0117] – On the other hand, if the number of commodities N is equal to … the number of commodities L, the operation guide unit determines that the reading of all commodities is completed…The settlement processing unit executes the settlement processing [checkout process] for the commodities on which the sales registration is performed and then ends the present processing), and
when the number of the wireless tags is not identical to the number of the moved items, control the display to display a message indicating that the number of the wireless tags is not identical to the number of the moved items (See Sakurai ¶ [0075], [0090] & [0110] as noted above and [0115] – If the instruction of the reading completion is received, the operation guide unit compares the number of commodities N with the number of commodities L of the registered commodity output by the reading commodity output unit. If the number of commodities N exceeds the number of commodities L [not identical], the commodity not yet registered may exist. In this case, the operation guide unit displays a message for instructing that the inside of the shopping basket is confirmed (whether the commodity is left in the shopping basket) on the second display).
While Sakurai teaches a point of sale (POS) system that tracks movement of wireless tags attached to items with antennas detecting said tags and captured images of said items moving from one area of said POS system to another (Sakurai ¶ [0075], [0090], [0110], [0094-0095] and [0115-0117]), Sakurai does not explicitly teach that said movement is done by a hand of a customer. This is taught by Miyagi (See Miyagi ¶ [0053] - Imaging data output from the cameras are captured into the fraudulent act recognition device via the camera interface. The imaging data are data obtained by photographing customers who operate the self-service POS terminals corresponding to the cameras and [0064-0067] - a commodity registration process that recognizes user hand movements to perform said registration process). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the captured image based movement tracking POS system of Sakurai the use of user hand movement tracking as taught by Miyagi to suppress a fraudulent act (Miyagi ¶ [0137]), thereby increasing the accuracy and efficiency of the Sakurai POS system by increasing the security of said system.
Regarding Claim 4, 12 and 20 modified Sakurai teaches:
The POS terminal/ method/ computer readable medium according to claim 1, 9 and 17, wherein
the processor is configured to determine whether a difference between the number of the wireless tags and the number of the moved items is greater than or equal to a threshold (See Sakurai ¶ [0094-0095] – determining a quantity [number] of commodities from stored commodity tag read information, thereby determine a number of the wireless tags by example and [0115] – If the instruction of the reading completion is received, the operation guide unit compares the number of commodities N with the number of commodities L of the registered commodity output by the reading commodity output unit. If the number of commodities N exceeds [greater than a threshold by example] the number of commodities L, the commodity not yet registered may exist.), and issue a notification when the difference is greater than or equal to the threshold (See Sakurai ¶ [0115-0116] – If the number of commodities N exceeds [greater than] the number of commodities L, the commodity not yet registered may exist. In this case, the operation guide unit displays a message for instructing that the inside of the shopping basket is confirmed (whether the commodity is left in the shopping basket) on the second display… on the other hand, if the number of commodities N is equal to [equal to] or less than the number of commodities L, the operation guide unit determines that the reading of all commodities is completed. In this case, the operation guide unit displays a message for instructing the movement of the shopping basket B1 from the first placing region A1 on the second display).
Regarding Claim 5 and 13, modified Sakurai teaches:
The POS terminal/ method according to claim 1 and 9, further comprising:
an input device, by which an operation to end the registration process is input (See Sakurai ¶ [0116-0117] – if the number of commodities N is equal to or less than the number of commodities L, the operation guide unit determines that the reading of all commodities is completed [end the registration process by example]. In this case, the operation guide unit displays a message for instructing the movement of the shopping basket B1 from the first placing region A1 on the second display… The placing detection unit waits for until the shopping basket B1 is moved from the first placing region A1, in other words, until no article is present in the first placing region A1. If the shopping basket B1 is moved from the first placing region A1 by the operator, the placing detection unit detects the movement of the shopping basket B1. The reading control unit stops the reading operation for the commodities in the shopping basket B1 in accordance with the movement detection in. The settlement processing unit [input device by example] executes the settlement processing [checkout process] for the commodities on which the sales registration is performed and then ends the present processing).
Regarding Claim 6 and 14, modified Sakurai teaches:
The POS terminal/ method according to claim 1 and 9, wherein
an antenna connected to the wireless tag reader is disposed under the second table (See Sakurai ¶ [0032] – A first placing region A1 and a second placing region A2 are formed on the placing surface T11. The first placing region A1 is a predetermined area for placing a commodity to be read (sales registration) or a shopping basket B1 containing the commodity. An RFID tag (not illustrated) storing information inherent to the commodity is attached to the commodity. At least the first placing region A1 of the placing surface T11 is made of a material through which radio waves pass, such as plastic, glass, or wood and [0038] – antennas for reading RFID tags).
Regarding Claim 8 and 16, modified Sakurai teaches:
The POS terminal/ method according to claim 1 and 9, further comprising: … when the number of the wireless tags is not identical to the number of the moved items (See Sakurai ¶ [0075], [0090] & [0110] and [0115] as noted above regarding claims 1 and 9).
While Sakurai teaches a POS system that recognizes when the number of the wireless tags is not identical to the number of the moved items at a particular POS terminal and displays a message in the case of said recognition (Sakurai ¶ [0075], [0090] & [0110] and [0115]), Sakurai does not explicitly teach that said message is delivered by a lamp or that said lamp is controlled to emit light. This is taught by Miyagi (See Miyagi ¶ [0141] - the light emitting unit 65 emits light in a predetermined color to let a store clerk know that the fraudulent act is performed). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the captured image based movement tracking POS system of Sakurai the use of light emission as taught by Miyagi to suppress a fraudulent act (Miyagi ¶ [0137]), thereby increasing the accuracy and efficiency of the Sakurai POS system by increasing the security of said system.
Claims 21-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Sakurai (US 2020/0143121 A1) in view of Miyagi (US 2022/0222472 A1) and Shmueli (US 2021/0027360 A1).
Regarding Claims 21, 23 and 25, modified Sakurai teaches:
The POS terminal/ method/ computer readable medium according to claim 1, 9 and 17, wherein the processor is further configured to subtract 1 from the count when the object recognition detects a negative operation (See Sakurai ¶ [0110] - the number of commodities included in the captured image to approximate the number of commodities M present in the shopping basket B1 in response to the movement detection and [0124] – the operation guide unit determines whether or not the value of the number of commodities M approximated from the captured image is equal to or less than a value (N−1) obtained by subtracting 1 (one) from the number of commodities N. If the value of the number of commodities M is equal to or less than N−1, the operation guide unit sets the value (N−1) to the number of commodities N... the approximate value displayed on the guide screen is subtracted by 1 (one)) ...
While Sakurai teaches a point of sale (POS) system that tracks movement of wireless tags attached to items with antennas detecting said tags and captured images of said items moving from a first area of said POS system table to a second area of a POS system table (Sakurai ¶ [0032], [0075], [0090], [0110], [0094-0095] and [0115-0117]), Sakurai does not explicitly teach that the hand holding an item moves from the second area toward the first area. This is taught by Shmueli (See Shmueli ¶ [0066] - If a customer takes an item off the shelf [first area], it will be added to the person's virtual cart. If a customer places an item back on the shelf [moving from the second area toward the first area by example], it is also removed from the customer's virtual cart [negative operation by example] and [0074] - identify when the action that the hand(s) perform on an item (e.g., touches, holds, grabs, releases, or the like) based on the visual input provided by the vision sensor). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the captured image based movement tracking POS system of Sakurai the use of user hand movement tracking as taught by Shmueli to perform fast and efficient self-service shopping (Shmueli ¶ [0091]), thereby increasing the accuracy and efficiency of the Sakurai POS system by increasing the security of said system.
Regarding Claims 22, 24 and 26, modified Sakurai teaches:
The POS terminal/ method/ computer readable medium according to claim 1, 9 and 17, wherein the movement operation further includes … on the second table (See Sakurai ¶ [0075] – a motion of moving the commodity from the first placing region A1 [table by example] to the second placing region A2 [table by example] is detected from the captured image by the image capturing unit 21) …
While Sakurai teaches a point of sale (POS) system that tracks movement of wireless tags attached to items with antennas detecting said tags and captured images of said items moving from a first area of said POS system table to a second area of a POS system table (Sakurai ¶ [0032], [0075], [0090], [0110], [0094-0095] and [0115-0117]), Sakurai does not explicitly teach the hand entering a bag… while holding the item, and subsequently the hand leaving the bag without holding the item. This is taught by Shmueli (See Shmueli ¶ [0079] - identify any item that the customer picks up and puts into the shopping bag and [0195] - releasing the object after being held by one or both hands of the subject). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the captured image based movement tracking POS system of Sakurai the use of user hand movement tracking as taught by Shmueli to perform fast and efficient self-service shopping (Shmueli ¶ [0091]), thereby increasing the accuracy and efficiency of the Sakurai POS system by increasing the security of said system.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 12/15/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101:
The amendments to independent claims 1, 9 and 17 reflect said claims in a manner that may show integration into a practical application and amount to significantly more than the abstract idea such that said claims are now eligible for a patent. Therefore, the previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 101 in withdrawn.
The claimed first process showing how an item is counted when said item is moved from a first table to a second table executed in parallel with the second process that controls a wireless tag reader to read and determine a number of wireless tags and control a display to display a message when the moved item count and the wireless tag count are not identical clearly shows improvement to the underlying technology, which in turn shows integration into a practical application and significantly more than the abstract idea.
Dependent claims 4-6, 8, 12-14, 16 and 20-26 are also patent eligible for their dependency on their respective independent base claims 1, 9 or 17.
Rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102:
The amendments to independent claims 1, 9 and 17 as they are currently limited are no longer taught by the prior art reference of Sakurai. Therefore, the previous rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 102 is withdrawn.
The examiner agrees with the applicant’s assertion that Sakurai fails to teach tracking a hand of a customer to detect the movement operation of moving an item from the first table toward the second table to increment a count of moved items, as required by amended claim 1 (and similarly claims 9 and 17). However, these claim features are taught by the combination of Sakurai and Miyagi as noted above in the current rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Dependent claims 4-6, 8, 12-14, 16 and 20 also remain rejected as described above in the current rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
New dependent claims 21-26 are rejected for reasons described above in the current rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
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 MATTHEW S WERONSKI whose telephone number is (571)272-5802. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 am - 5 pm EST.
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/MATTHEW S WERONSKI/Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/PETER LUDWIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627