DETAILED ACTION
This is a Final office action on the merits in application number 18/773,074 This action is in response to Applicant’s Restriction Response dated 7/17/2026. Applicant selected Group II (Claims 5-13) without prejudice and Claims 1-4 and 14-16 are cancelled. Claims 5-13 are pending and have been examined on the merits herein.
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
Claims 5 and 6 are objected to because of the following informalities: Applicant uses the phrase “rate set by a user to incentive cash payments”. The term “incentive” is a noun being used as a verb and is not grammatically correct. The correct term is “incentivize”. Appropriate correction is required.
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.
Examiner is using the “step” annotation from the flowchart of MPEP 2106 (III), and MPEP 2106.04 and MPEP 2106.05 for clarity.
Claims 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1:
Independent Claims 5 and 6 and Dependent Claims 7-13 recite a method (process) thereby falling into one of the four statutory categories of invention.
Step 2A, prong 1:
Applicant recites the following elements in Claim 5 (and similarly in Claim 6):
A method for formula determination to calculate a listed price comprising: assigning a cash discount rate to an account, wherein the cash discount rate is the rate set by a user to incentive cash payments; determining an effective processing rate, wherein the effective processing rate is the processing rate charged for processing card payment transactions; assigning a tax rate to the account, wherein the tax rate is used for a tax on an item; generating a formula to calculate a listed price of the item using the cash discount rate and the tax rate, wherein the listed price is the increased price that includes an amount to cover the cost of processing card payments on the item and the tax.
Examiner has bolded the elements that are part of the abstract idea.
These elements recite selecting data elements in a program to calculate a total price of an item. These elements represent an abstract idea in the category of Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity in the subcategory of Commercial or Legal interactions because it is a common commercial practice for a retailer to calculate a total price of an item by combining data elements. These elements further represent an abstract idea in the category of Mental Processes since a human can calculate a total price in their head. These elements further represent an abstract idea in the category of Mathematical Concepts because Applicant recites a mathematical equation.
Claim 5 (and similarly Claim 6) thus recites an abstract idea. Dependent Claims 7-13 contain the same abstract idea by virtue of their dependency on Claim 6. Accordingly Claims 5-13 recite an abstract idea.
Step 2A, prong 2:
None of the claims recite additional elements in addition to the abstract idea discussed above. The claims as a whole do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limitations on practicing the abstract idea. Claims 5-13 are therefore directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B: As discussed above, Applicant claims the abstract idea of selecting data elements in a program to calculate a total price of an item. As discussed above, Applicant does not recite any additional elements. Applicant does not claim or teach in their specification any special purpose hardware or improvements thereof. Therefore, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Dependent Claims 7-13 contain the same abstract idea by virtue of their dependency on Claim 6 and further limit the abstract idea by further limiting the data.
Claims 5-13 are not patent eligible.
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.
Claims 5-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by NPL_GlobalPayments_2021 (GlobalPayments).
Regarding Claim 5:
GlobalPayments teaches setting up the back office for a retail Point of Sale device including internally setting up cash discount and sales taxes options for each item and displaying and/or printing on a receipt various combinations of cash discount/ no cash discount and taxable / not taxable line items and total. GlobalPayments teaches: A method for formula determination to calculate a listed price comprising: assigning a cash discount rate to an account, wherein the cash discount rate is the rate set by a user to incentive cash payments; determining an effective processing rate, wherein the effective processing rate is the processing rate charged for processing card payment transactions; Examiner is interpreting based on context that the “effective processing rate” is equivalent to the “cash discount” since payment is conventionally cash or charge. For example, if the purchase is cash then the cash price is X and if the same purchase is credit then the credit price is X + 2%, where the 2% is the effective processing rate/cash discount. Equivalently, if the credit price is Y then the cash price is Y-2%. GlobalPayments teaches this on ([page 10] “how to use discounts for cash purchases…a flat rate of 3% to 4% is supported” and also see [page 14] illustrates an input form where the user enters the cash discount rate on an account).
assigning a tax rate to the account, wherein the tax rate is used for a tax on an item; GlobalPayments teaches this on ([page 20] “basic tax setup… define a global tax record to represent a tax that will apply to all taxable items… set each menu item to use an appropriate tax type” and also see [page 22] “setting a menu item’s tax type”).
generating a formula to calculate a listed price of the item using the cash discount rate and the tax rate, wherein the listed price is the increased price that includes an amount to cover the cost of processing card payments on the item and the tax. GlobalPayments teaches this: ([page 6] illustrates the results of the calculation showing the amount with the cash discount and with the sales tax and also see [pages 48- 50] that detail setting up a new item and selecting price, tax and if cash discount is available for each item).
Regarding Claim 6:
GlobalPayments teaches: A method for listed price determination to generate a listed price comprising: assigning a cash discount rate to an account, wherein the cash discount rate is the rate set by a user to incentive cash payments; ([page 10] “how to use discounts for cash purchases…a flat rate of 3% to 4% is supported” and also see [page 14] illustrates an input form where the user enters the cash discount rate on an account).
assigning a tax rate to the account, wherein the tax rate is used for a tax on an item; ([page 20] “basic tax setup… define a global tax record to represent a tax that will apply to all taxable items… set each menu item to use an appropriate tax type” and also see [page 22] “setting a menu item’s tax type”).
assigning an account-level program setting; adding the item to the account; selecting a tax profile; assigning a cash price to the item; determining whether the item has tax using the tax profile; generating an additional amount to cover the cost of processing card payment transactions; adding the additional amount to the cash price to generate the listed price for the item. GlobalPayments teaches this: ([page 6] illustrates the results of the calculation showing the amount with the cash discount and with the sales tax and also see [pages 48- 50] that detail setting up a new item and selecting price, tax and if cash discount is available for each item).
Regarding Claim 7:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 6 wherein the account-level program setting comprises single pricing, and wherein single pricing displays the listed price and adds a cash discount if the user pays with cash. ([page 6-7] “after the customer chooses a payment option and pays the ticket, the POS will only list the prices of the applied calculation method (either Cash Prices or Card Prices) on newly printed receipts”).
Regarding Claim 8:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6-7. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 7 further comprising entering the listed price by the user wherein the cash price will automatically generate to equal the listed price less the cash discount. ([page 14] “Configuring a Cash Discount… (checkbox) Cash Discount is an auto discount for the use of cash and other eligible tenders” and [page 16-17] “Once you define a cash amount in the Admin Console, the POS will apply it automatically to any ticket paid in full with the cash tender”).
Regarding Claim 9:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 6 wherein the account-level program setting comprises dual pricing, and wherein dual pricing displays the cash price and the listed price. (see [page 4-5] “4. Select the Enable Dual Pricing check box. 5. In the Dual Pricing Calculation Method list, select the appropriate calculation method. If you select Percentage % Markup, the POS will use each item’s current price as its Cash Price, and calculate each items Card Price by adding a markup amount equal to a percentage (set in Dual Pricing Percentage box) of its current price. If you select percentage % Markdown, the POS will use each items’s current price as its Card Price, and calculate each item’s Cash Price by deducting a markdown amount equal to a percentage (set in Dual Pricing Percentage box) of its current price”).
Regarding Claim 10:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6 and 9. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 9 further comprising toggling between the cash price and listed price using a segmented switch. (see [page 4] see figure illustrating Dual Pricing and checkbox under “Enable Dual Pricing”).
Regarding Claim 11:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6 and 9. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 9 further comprising entering the listed price and cash price separately. (see [pages 48-50] which teaches creating a new item and entering a price for each item and teaches in item 13 a toggle box for preventing discounts for a particular item and also see page 16 “apply the cash discount manually”).
Regarding Claim 12:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 6 wherein the tax profile comprises taxable. (see [page 50-51] item 9 selecting “taxable” in the pull down menu).
Regarding Claim 13:
GlobalPayments teaches all of the elements of Claim 6. GlobalPayments also teaches: The method of claim 6 wherein the tax profile comprises non-taxable. (see [page 50-51] item 9 selecting “tax exempt” in the pull down menu).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KIMBERLY S BURSUM whose telephone number is (571)272-8213. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 AM - 6:30 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Florian (Ryan) m 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.
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/KIMBERLY S. BURSUM/Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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