DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see Response to Office Action mailed 2 June 2026, filed 17 August 2026, with respect to Claim Rejections under 35 USC §112 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The Claim Rejections under 35 USC §112 of claims 2-4 and 14-16 has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see Response to Office Action mailed 2 June 2026, filed 17 August 2026, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-16 under 35 USC §102 and §103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Hudson et al. (US 2019/0130203 A1).
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 .
Election/Restrictions
Newly submitted claims 23-24 are directed to an invention that is independent or distinct from the invention originally claimed for the following reasons: Claim 1 discloses determining notification recipients based on a length of time a target action is performed, whereas claim 23 and claim 24 present alternative determinations which diverge from the claim from which they depend.
Since applicant has received an action on the merits for the originally presented invention, this invention has been constructively elected by original presentation for prosecution on the merits. Accordingly, claims 23-24 are withdrawn from consideration as being directed to a non-elected invention. See 37 CFR 1.142(b) and MPEP § 821.03.
To preserve a right to petition, the reply to this action must distinctly and specifically point out supposed errors in the restriction requirement. Otherwise, the election shall be treated as a final election without traverse. Traversal must be timely. Failure to timely traverse the requirement will result in the loss of right to petition under 37 CFR 1.144. If claims are subsequently added, applicant must indicate which of the subsequently added claims are readable upon the elected invention.
Should applicant traverse on the ground that the inventions are not patentably distinct, applicant should submit evidence or identify such evidence now of record showing the inventions to be obvious variants or clearly admit on the record that this is the case. In either instance, if the examiner finds one of the inventions unpatentable over the prior art, the evidence or admission may be used in a rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) of the other invention.
Claim Objections
Claims 22 and 24 are objected to because of the following informalities: The claims appear to be missing a period at the end. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-3 and 7-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senda (US 2022/0343673 A1).
Regarding Claims 1-3 and 12-15, Senda discloses an apparatus performing a method via CRM, the processing method comprising, by a computer: detecting that a target person captured in an image capturing at least one person in a facility performs a detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0047] Furthermore, the information processing system 1 of the present example embodiment detects a person who may be a person requiring assistance from among the users U, and notifies an attendant S of an alarm indicating the detection. A person requiring assistance is a person who needs assistance of others in performing an act, such as a wheelchair user who uses a wheelchair, a child, or the like]; determining a notification destination [Senda: ¶ [0126]: the management server 10 can identify the user terminal carried by the candidate for person requiring assistance who is to be the notification destination of the alarm, based on the position information or the like transmitted from the application executed in the user terminal], based on at least one [two or three] of a type of the detected detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0061] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the operation information DB 13. The operation information DB 13 uses the token ID, a passenger name, a reservation number, a departure place, a destination place, an airline code, a flight number, an operation date, a seat number, nationality, a passport number, surname, first name, date of birth, sex, a flag of person requiring assistance, and a type of person requiring assistance as data items], a position where the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: ¶ [0104] Next, the management server 10 notifies the attendant terminal 25 via the network NW of an alarm indicating that the candidate for person requiring assistance has been detected (step S1404). The alarm may include, for example, the position, the terminal ID, and the like of the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected; and ¶ [0126]: For example, the management server 10 can also notify a user terminal, which is a portable terminal carried and used by the user U detected as the candidate for person requiring assistance, of the alarm. In this case, the management server 10 can identify the user terminal carried by the candidate for person requiring assistance who is to be the notification destination of the alarm, based on the position information or the like transmitted from the application executed in the user terminal. Note that, when the alarm is sent to the signage terminal or the user terminal for the user U, information including guidance information (for example, information indicating the position of the wheelchair slope) can be sent as the alarm], a time length for which the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: ¶ [0060] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the passing history information DB 12. The passing history information DB 12 uses a passing history ID, the token ID, a passing time, a device name, a business system type, and a passing touch point as data items. The passing history ID is an identifier for uniquely identifying passing history information. The passing time is a time stamp when the touch point is passed], a time at which the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: ¶ [0065]: The detection time is the time when the face image of the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected. When the management server 10 detects a candidate for person requiring assistance, the management server 10 registers the candidate for person requiring assistance information in the candidate for person requiring assistance information DB 15 until the attendant S confirms whether the candidate for person requiring assistance is a person requiring assistance or not], and a certainty factor of a detection result; and notifying the determined notification destination of the detection of the detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0126]].
Senda may not explicitly disclose wherein, based on the time length for which the detected detection target action is performed being less than a threshold value, determine a first terminal as the notification destination, and wherein, based on the time length being equal or more than the threshold value, determine a second terminal different from the first terminal as the notification destination.
However, Hudson discloses wherein, based on the time length for which the detected detection target action is performed being less than a threshold value, determine a first terminal as the notification destination, and wherein, based on the time length being equal or more than the threshold value, determine a second terminal different from the first terminal as the notification destination [Hudson: ¶ [0082] The bollard can also time the length of the violation and take additional action as appropriate, including notifying the back office computing system when certain milestones occur, such as 10 minutes, 20 minutes, etc., and/or the bollard can also send notification to a towing service to tow the illegally-parked vehicle].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the time sensitive automated notification response of Hudson with the processing of Senda in order to provide improved customer service based on temporal need.
Regarding Claim 7, Senda in view of Hudson discloses all the limitations of Claim 1, and is analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the detection target action includes at least one of talking on a mobile phone, an action of operating an ATM while talking on a mobile phone, moving using a wheelchair [Senda: ¶ [0047] Furthermore, the information processing system 1 of the present example embodiment detects a person who may be a person requiring assistance from among the users U, and notifies an attendant S of an alarm indicating the detection. A person requiring assistance is a person who needs assistance of others in performing an act, such as a wheelchair user who uses a wheelchair], moving using a white cane, and an action of showing an interest in a predetermined material placed in the facility.
Regarding Claim 8, Senda in view of Hudson discloses all the limitations of Claim 1, and is analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the notification destination includes at least one of a terminal for a worker of the facility, a security terminal, a terminal for an administrator who manages the processing apparatus, a terminal for a visitor that is installed in the facility and outputs information toward a person in the facility, and a terminal for a provider that has provided the processing apparatus [Senda: ¶ [0104] Next, the management server 10 notifies the attendant terminal 25 via the network NW of an alarm indicating that the candidate for person requiring assistance has been detected (step S1404). The alarm may include, for example, the position, the terminal ID, and the like of the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected. Based on the current position of each attendant terminal 25 registered in the attendant terminal information DB 14, the management server 10 can limit the attendant terminal 25 to which the alarm is notified to one or more attendant terminals 25 having a predetermined positional relationship with the position of the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate requiring assistance is detected. For example, the management server 10 can limit the attendant terminal 25 for notifying the alarm to the attendant terminal 25 located within a predetermined distance from the position of the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected. For example, the management server 10 may limit the attendant terminal 25 for notifying the alarm to the attendant terminal 25 located at a position where the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected can be seen or at a position where the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected can be seen by moving slightly. Thus, the management server 10 can notify an alarm to the specific attendant terminal 25 among the plurality of attendant terminals 25].
Regarding Claim 9, Senda in view of Hudson discloses all the limitations of Claim 1, and is analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to: determine an additional notification content to be notified in addition to detection of the detection target action, [Senda: FIG. 17], based on at least one of the type of the detected detection target action, the position where the detected detection target action is performed, the time length for which the detected detection target action is performed, the time at which the detected detection target action is performed, [Senda: various as cited above], and a certainty factor of a detection result, and notify the determined notification destination of the determined additional notification content [Senda: ¶ [0126]].
Regarding Claim 10, Senda in view of Hudson discloses all the limitations of Claim 9, and is analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the additional notification content includes at least one of the image capturing a scene in which the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: FIG. 10], information indicating a basis for deciding that the detection target action is performed [Senda: FIG. 17], age of a person whose action is detected as the detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0047]: The age range of a child to be treated as a person requiring assistance may be set to a prescribed age range according to the contents of procedures], gender of the person whose action is detected as the detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0061] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the operation information DB 13. The operation information DB 13 uses the token ID, a passenger name, a reservation number, a departure place, a destination place, an airline code, a flight number, an operation date, a seat number, nationality, a passport number, surname, first name, date of birth, sex, a flag of person requiring assistance, and a type of person requiring assistance as data items. In this manner, the operation information DB 13 stores operation information related to a predetermined operation for each token ID. In the present example embodiment, “prescribed operation” means procedural operation performed at touch points P1 to P5, respectively], an external appearance feature of the person whose action is detected as the detection target action [Senda: FIG. 10], whether the person whose action is detected as the detection target action has a companion, information indicating a content of a past transaction by the person whose action is detected as the detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0211]: the operations in the present example embodiment include operations involving commercial transactions within the theme park TP. Therefore, the operation information includes payment information such as a credit card number. The management server 10 and the automated gate apparatus 50 can control entry and exit of the user U based on face authentication even for the user U whose payment information is not registered], and a current position of the person whose action is detected as the detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0104] Next, the management server 10 notifies the attendant terminal 25 via the network NW of an alarm indicating that the candidate for person requiring assistance has been detected (step S1404). The alarm may include, for example, the position, the terminal ID, and the like of the check-in terminal 20 at which the candidate for person requiring assistance is detected; and ¶ [0126]: For example, the management server 10 can also notify a user terminal, which is a portable terminal carried and used by the user U detected as the candidate for person requiring assistance, of the alarm. In this case, the management server 10 can identify the user terminal carried by the candidate for person requiring assistance who is to be the notification destination of the alarm, based on the position information or the like transmitted from the application executed in the user terminal. Note that, when the alarm is sent to the signage terminal or the user terminal for the user U, information including guidance information (for example, information indicating the position of the wheelchair slope) can be sent as the alarm].
Regarding Claim 11, Senda in view of Hudson discloses all the limitations of Claim 9, and is analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the determined notification destination comprises a plurality of notification destinations, and wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the one or more instructions to determine the additional notification content for each of the plurality of notification destinations [Senda: [0068] The CPU 101 is a processor that performs a predetermined operation according to a program stored in the storage device 103 and has a function of controlling each part of the management server 10].
Claim(s) 4 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senda in view of Hudson as applied to claims 1 and 12 above, and further in view of Okazaki et al. (US 2023/0267741 A1).
Regarding Claims 4 and 16, Senda in view of Hudson disclose(s) all the limitations of Claims 1, 12, and 13, respectively, and is/are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to those claims.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the computer determines the notification destination [Senda: ¶ [0126]], based on the type of the detected detection target action [Senda: ¶ [0061]], the position where the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: ¶ [0104]; and ¶ [0126]], the time length for which the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: ¶ [0060]], the time at which the detected detection target action is performed [Senda: ¶ [0065].
Senda may not explicitly disclose the certainty factor of a detection result.
However, Okazaki discloses the certainty factor of a detection result [Okazaki: ¶ [0006]: a detection result from the data acquired by the edge device such as the imaging apparatus is only made easy to search for the object using the certainty factor of the detection result].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the process of Senda in view of Hudson with the measured variable of Okazaki in order to improve operations (see, Okazaki: ¶ [0006]).
Claim(s) 5-6, and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Senda in view of Hudson as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Tusch et al. (US 2021/0279475 A1).
Regarding Claim 5, Senda in view of Hudson disclose(s) all the limitations of Claim 1 and is/are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses the computer acquires operation information indicating a content of operation on [terminal], and determines a notification destination for detection of the detection target action, further based on the operation information [Senda: ¶ [0061] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of information stored in the operation information DB 13. The operation information DB 13 uses the token ID, a passenger name, a reservation number, a departure place, a destination place, an airline code, a flight number, an operation date, a seat number, nationality, a passport number, surname, first name, date of birth, sex, a flag of person requiring assistance, and a type of person requiring assistance as data items. In this manner, the operation information DB 13 stores operation information related to a predetermined operation for each token ID. In the present example embodiment, “prescribed operation” means procedural operation performed at touch points P1 to P5, respectively].
Senda may not explicitly disclose wherein an automatic teller machine (ATM) is installed in the facility, the image includes an image capturing a user of the ATM.
However, Tusch discloses wherein an automatic teller machine (ATM) is installed in the facility, the image includes an image capturing a user of the ATM [Tusch: ¶ [1050] Automatic Teller Machines: Security & Protection for both machine and users—Any unusual behaviour at an ATM machine can be captured and recorded and subsequent transactions monitored e.g. for repetitive patterns of one person using multiple cards to take money out, or a person loitering with face pointing towards keypad while other users are entering their pin number, or unusual behaviour as someone physically tires to interfere with the ATM machine].
It would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to combine the process of Senda in view of Hudson with the intended use of Tusch in order to provide improved situational awareness to operators in specific situations.
Regarding Claim 6, Senda in view of Tusch disclose(s) all the limitations of Claim 5, and is/are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Tusch discloses wherein the operation information includes at least one of a transaction content and a transaction amount [Senda: ¶ [0213] The automatic change machine 912 automatically discharges money corresponding to the change amount calculated by the CPU 901 to the cash outlet when the total amount of money inputted to the cash inlet exceeds the payment amount for the purchase of goods or the use of services].
Regarding Claim 5, Senda in view of Hudson disclose(s) all the limitations of Claim 1 and is/are analyzed as previously discussed with respect to that claim.
Furthermore, Senda in view of Hudson discloses wherein the second terminal comprises a facility worker terminal [Senda: ¶ [0104]].
Senda may not explicitly disclose wherein the first terminal comprises a notification destination terminal for an ATM.
However, Tusch discloses wherein the first terminal comprises a notification destination terminal for an ATM [Tusch: ¶ [1050] Automatic Teller Machines: Security & Protection for both machine and users—Any unusual behaviour at an ATM machine can be captured and recorded and subsequent transactions monitored e.g. for repetitive patterns of one person using multiple cards to take money out, or a person loitering with face pointing towards keypad while other users are entering their pin number, or unusual behaviour as someone physically tires to interfere with the ATM machine].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claim 22 is 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.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance: While determination of notification recipients has been discloses based on many factors, the specific factors relative to another in the given requirements has not been found in the prior art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
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 JONATHAN R MESSMORE whose telephone number is (571)272-2773. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5 EST/EDT.
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/JONATHAN R MESSMORE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2482
