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 .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the application filed on 06/04/2024.
Claims 1-4 are currently pending and have been examined.
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 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
In the instant case, claims 1 is directed to a method,
Abstract ideas are in bold below, and represents fundamental economic practice.
An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus comprising a controller, a communication interface, and a memory, and being capable of communicating with a network via the communication interface, the information processing method comprising:
identifying, by the controller, a target area to open a store in the memory;
acquiring, by the controller, penetration rate information indicating respective penetration rates of settlement means in the target area to open a store from the memory; and
dispatching, by the controller, upon determining that a penetration rate of a first settlement means is equal to or less than a first predetermined value based on the penetration rate information, a vehicle of a provider that accepts the first settlement means to the target area to open a store.
The additional elements of claim 1 such as “An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus comprising a controller, a communication interface, and a memory, and being capable of communicating with a network via the communication interface, the information processing method comprising:”, “…by the controller…”, “from the memory” represent the use of a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and/or does no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration into a practical application, the additional elements amount to no more than generally linking an abstract idea to technical components. The claim elements when considered separately and in an ordered combination, do not add significantly more than implementing the abstract idea of fundamental economic practice.
Dependent claims 2-4 recited additional details which only further narrow the abstract idea and do not add any additional features, alone or in combination, that would provide a practical application or provide significantly more.
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.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gupta (US 2018/0005313 A1) in view of Goto (US 2021/0107159 A1)
Regarding Claim 1
An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus, the information processing apparatus comprising a controller, a communication interface, and a memory, and being capable of communicating with a network via the communication interface, the information processing method comprising: (See at least Gupta [0065] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a technical architecture of the server 26. The technical architecture includes a processor 222 (which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU) that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage 224 (such as disk drives), read only memory (ROM) 226, random access memory (RAM) 228. The processor 222 may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. The technical architecture may further comprise input/output (I/O) devices 230, and network connectivity devices 232).
identifying, by the controller, a target area to open a store in the memory; (See at least Gupta [0055] FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a computer system 20 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The computer system 20 is configured for determining a new location for a merchant, in accordance with the method described above, and comprises a transaction database 22, a location database 24 and a server 26. The database 22 comprises transaction data for a plurality of cardholders. The database 24 comprises location data for said cardholders. The server 26 comprises an analysis component configured for a) combining the location data with the transaction data; b) analysing the locations of cardholders performing transactions at a particular merchant or type of merchant to determine any localities within which multiple cardholders performing such transactions are located; and c) assessing such localities on the basis of one or more economic factors to determine whether to recommend said locality as a new location for the merchant or type of merchant.
acquiring, by the controller, penetration rate information indicating respective penetration rates of settlement means in the target area to open a store from the memory; and (See at least Gupta [0055] The database 22 comprises transaction data for a plurality of cardholders. The database 24 comprises location data for said cardholders. The server 26 comprises an analysis component configured for a) combining the location data with the transaction data;
Gupta does not specifically teach: dispatching, by the controller, upon determining that a penetration rate of a first settlement means is equal to or less than a first predetermined value based on the penetration rate information, a vehicle of a provider that accepts the first settlement means to the target area to open a store.
However Goto teaches at least at [0083] FIG. 10 is a flowchart of a process of collecting products by the package transport robot 10. The package transport robot 10 transmits the position information of the package transport robot 10 to the server device 60 (S10). The route deriving unit 84 derives the movement route of the package transport robot 10 based on the position information of the package transport robot 10 and the data on return which is stored in the return history storage unit 82 (S12), and sends the movement route to the package transport robot 10.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Method for determine a new locations for a merchant of Gupta in view of with the Robot utilization system and transportation robot as taught by Goto in order to For a vehicle to perform a purchase process of a product and perform a return process of a product. (Goto (abstract))
Regarding Claim 2
Gupta does not specifically teach: The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising increasing, in them memory, a refund rate for a case in which the first settlement means is used in the vehicle upon determining that the penetration rate of the first settlement means is equal to or less than a second predetermined value that is lower than the first predetermined value.
However, Goto teaches at least at [0070] The return processor 74 executes a return process of the product 65. The return processor 74 transmits the product ID of the returned product 65 to the server device 60, causes the server device 60 to execute the return/refund process, and receives the result of the return/refund process from the server device 60. The return processor 74 generates information indicating the result of the return process to the user who has loaded the product 65 on the box 64
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Method for determine a new locations for a merchant of Gupta in view of with the Robot utilization system and transportation robot as taught by Goto in order to For a vehicle to perform a purchase process of a product and perform a return process of a product. (Goto (abstract))
Regarding Claim 3
Gupta does not specifically teach: The information processing method according to claim 2, further comprising: detecting settlement means that can be used by a user in the memory; and notifying, upon determining that the first settlement means, which is eligible for a refund, is not included among the settlement means that can be used, the user of the first settlement means, which is eligible for the refund, via an output interface of the vehicle.
The information processing method according to claim 2, further comprising: detecting settlement means that can be used by a user in the memory; and (See at least Goto [0064] In addition, the user may use a transport robot 10 for return process while using the transport robot 10 in the shopping support action mode. For example, the transport robot 10 in the shopping support action mode follows the user and executes a purchase payment process on the product 65 received from the user. The user can easily purchase the product 65 by passing the product 65 to the transport robot 10 in the shopping support action mode, but can return the product 65 by passing the purchased product 65 to the transport robot 10 for return. The transport robot 10 for return receives the purchased product 65 and executes a return/refund process. With this use system, the user can easily purchase and return a product.
notifying, upon determining that the first settlement means, which is eligible for a refund, is not included among the settlement means that can be used, the user of the first settlement means, which is eligible for the refund, via an output interface of the vehicle. (See at least Goto [0085] The return processor 74 sends, to the server device 60, the specified product ID and the position information of the package transport robot 10 when the product is received, as return data (S20). The settlement processor 80 executes a return/refund process (S22). The settlement processor 80 transmits the product ID and instruction information for canceling the purchase of the produce to the settlement server device, and receives a return result from the settlement server device.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Method for determine a new locations for a merchant of Gupta in view of with the Robot utilization system and transportation robot as taught by Goto in order to For a vehicle to perform a purchase process of a product and perform a return process of a product. (Goto (abstract))
Regarding Claim 4
Gupta does not specifically teach: The information processing method according to claim 2, further comprising dispatching a vehicle capable of notification of a method of using or registering the first settlement means, which is eligible for a refund.
However, Goto teaches at least at [0071] The output controller 124 notifies the user of the result of the return process. The output controller 124 may notify the user by displaying the result of the return process on the display 48. Further, the output controller 124 may notify the user by outputting sound from a speaker (not shown) provided in the main body 14.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Method for determine a new locations for a merchant of Gupta in view of with the Robot utilization system and transportation robot as taught by Goto in order to For a vehicle to perform a purchase process of a product and perform a return process of a product. (Goto (abstract))
Prior Art of Record Not Currently Relied Upon
Maynard (US 2017/0228802 A1) Teaches: Online real time business information
Tomida (US 2021/0287208 A1) Teaches: Mobile terminal and wallet system.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY MARK JAMES whose telephone number is (571)272-5155. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am - 5:00pm EST.
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/GREGORY M JAMES/Examiner, Art Unit 3692
/RYAN D DONLON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3692 March 25, 2026