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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This communication is in response to the amendment filed on 02/11/2026 for the application No. 18/881,362, Claims 1-13 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1-13 have been rejected.
Examiner’s Note
Regarding to 101 compliance, Claims 1-13 are compliant with 101, according with the last "2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance" (2019 PEG), published in the MPEP 2103 through 2106.07(c). Examiner’s analysis is presented below in all the claims:
Claim 1 : Step 1 of 2019 PGE, does the claim fall within a Statutory Category? Yes. The claim recites a device (system).
Step 2A - Prong 1: Is a Judicial Exception recited in the claim? Yes. The claim recites the limitations of “…compare an advertising condition specified … and at least one of the position information and the periphery information; and associate the position information of each of output …with a comparison result from the comparison … and displaying the result on a map.”
The “compare and associate” limitation, as drafted, is a process and system that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations as certain methods of organizing human activity, advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors. The device or system to display advertisement content. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application? Yes. The claim recites additional limitations, such as, “acquire… position information about a plurality of output [device]; acquire periphery information about a periphery of output… [device];” And the Examiner analyses other supplementary elements in the claim in view of the instant disclosure: “An advertisement management device comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions; an advertising client; “using a GPS signal transmitted via a mobile communication network”; “a plurality of output devices from a navigation device”; “the periphery information captured by a camera”; “output, via one or more of the plurality of output devices, an advertisement content to a person walking, wherein the periphery information includes at least one of a walking speed and a walking direction of the person walking”.
The claim as a whole integrates the method of organizing human activity into a practical application. Specifically, the additional limitations recite a specific device or system to display advertisement content. Also the claim as a whole reflect the improvement described in the background,
“A camera C used in the periphery information acquisition means 12
may be a fixed camera or a pan tilt zoom (PTZ) camera. Image
information about the periphery of the camera may be acquired using an
25 omnidirectional camera capable of capturing an image or a moving image
of 360 degrees., paragraph 18
“The periphery information acquisition unit 112 of the present
example embodiment acquires image information acquired by the cameras
20 C 1, C2, C4, and C5 arranged at predetermined positions and the movable
cameras C3 and C6 mounted on the vehicles V3 and V 4, and converts the
image information into image information that can be processed by the
analysis comparison unit 113 described later. The cameras C 1 to C7 may
be, for example, fixed cameras or pan tilt zoom (PTZ) cameras. The
25 cameras C 1 to C7 may use an omnidirectional camera capable of capturing
an image or a moving image of 360 degrees to acquire image information
about the periphery of the camera”, paragraph 26.
“It is also possible to use a walking speed or a walking direction of
a person as an element attribute used for comparing the matching degree.
For example, in a case where a function of setting an advertisement rate to
be charged to an advertiser is provided, an advertisement cost in a case
20 where a traveling speed of a person exceeds a threshold may be
configured to be lower than an advertisement cost in a case where the
traveling speed does not exceed the threshold”, paragraph 39.
Thus, the claim as a whole is eligible because is not directed to the recited judicial exception (abstract idea).
Step 2B : claim provides an inventive concept? n/a
Claim 9: Step 1 of 2019 PGE, does the claim fall within a Statutory Category? Yes. The claim recites a method.
Step 2A - Prong 1: Is a Judicial Exception recited in the claim ? Yes. Because the same reasons pointed above.
Step 2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application? Yes. Because the same reasons pointed above. The claim is eligible.
Claim 10: Step 1 of 2019 PGE, does the claim fall within a Statutory Category? Yes. The claim recites a recording medium.
Step 2A - Prong 1: Is a Judicial Exception recited in the claim ? Yes. Because the same reasons pointed above.
Step 2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application? Yes. Because the same reasons pointed above. The claim is eligible.
Dependent claims 2-8, and 11-13, the claims recite elements such as
“wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: display advertisement content based on the comparison result”, etc. These elements integrate the system of organizing human activity into a practical application. The claims are eligible.
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 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 of this title, 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 set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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 1-2 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG. Pub. No. 20140249913 (Endo) in view of US PG. Pub. No. 20070185768 (Vengroff).
As to claims 1, 9 and 10, Endo discloses an advertisement management device (Fig. 1 see an information management center 20) comprising:
at least one memory storing instructions
(“[0069] Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle 10 comprises an electronic control unit 12, a communication unit 13, a memory unit 14, and a location detection unit 15….”, paragraph 69.
“[0072] The memory unit 14 contains a storage medium (such as a hard disk and semiconductor memory) and a drive device for the storage medium, and memorizes various programs and various data updatably. Here, as the various data memorized by the memory unit 14, for example, an information table with information such as an image (picture) data contained in advertisement information transmitted (delivered) from the information management center 20 so that it may be displayed on the body display part 11 and/or luminance about display using the body display part 11, as will be mentioned later, written therein”, paragraph 72.
“[0081] The memory unit 33 contains a storage medium (such as a hard disk and semiconductor memory) and a drive device for the storage medium, and memorizes various programs and various data. And in a predetermined storage location of the memory unit 33, a sales results database 33a which memorizes, in a searchable manner, results information which expresses the sales results of the various goods sold at the store 30, i.e., a sales volume, sales, etc., for every goods is built”, paragraph 81); and
at least one processor configured to execute the instructions (“an information management center 20 (advertisement provision device”, paragraph 66), to:
a) acquire using a GPS signal transmitted via a mobile communication network,
(“[0073] The location detection unit 15 detects current location of the vehicle 10. For this reason, for example, the location detection unit 15 acquires GPS (Global Positioning System) signals respectively detected from three or more GPS satellites and detects current location of the vehicle 10 (body display part 11) based on these GPS signals, or collaborates with the communication unit 13 to acquire a signal transmitted from a communication base station for mobile phone line networks and detects current location of the vehicle 10 (body display part 11) based on this transmitted signal, or detects current location of the vehicle 10 (body display part 11) based on both the GPS signals from the GPS satellites and the transmitted signal from the communication base station. And the location detection unit 15 is configured so as to output current location information expressing the detected current location to the electronic control unit 12. In addition, the location detection unit 15 is configured so as to be able to detect the direction of movement of the vehicle 10 by its current location detection function and also output direction-of-movement information expressing the detected direction of movement to the electronic control unit 12”, paragraph 73);
position information about a plurality of advertisement output devices from a navigation device;
(“[0073] The location detection unit 15 detects current location of the vehicle 10. For this reason, for example, the location detection unit 15 acquires GPS (Global Positioning System) signals respectively detected from three or more GPS satellites and detects current location of the vehicle 10 (body display part 11) based on these GPS signals, or collaborates with the communication unit 13 to acquire a signal transmitted from a communication base station for mobile phone line networks and detects current location of the vehicle 10 (body display part 11) based on this transmitted signal, or detects current location of the vehicle 10 (body display part 11) based on both the GPS signals from the GPS satellites and the transmitted signal from the communication base station. And the location detection unit 15 is configured so as to output current location information expressing the detected current location to the electronic control unit 12. In addition, the location detection unit 15 is configured so as to be able to detect the direction of movement of the vehicle 10 by its current location detection function and also output direction-of-movement information expressing the detected direction of movement to the electronic control unit 12”, paragraph 73);
b) acquire periphery information about a periphery of [the plurality ]output devices;
(“…in vehicles, it is configured so that an advertisement display device installed in the vehicles can receive the advertisement data, display an advertisement based on advertisement data according to its running area among the received advertisement data, and advertise to the person outside the vehicle”, paragraph 6.
“0020] Moreover, in these cases, said advertisement presentation means may be configured so as to afford a short-distance wireless communication with at least an information terminal device which exists in surroundings, and said results information acquisition means may comprise”, paragraph 20.
“[0038] Moreover, another aspect of the present invention is also in that a vehicle information delivery system which delivers information through a vehicle to a viewer who exists in the surroundings of said vehicle and views a variety of information comprises: a proximity situation acquisition means to acquire a situation where said vehicle is close to a mobile information terminal device which said viewer possesses or another vehicle other than said vehicle, on which said viewer is, a viewer information acquisition means to acquire information about said viewer from said mobile information terminal device or said another vehicle in the proximity of said vehicle, and an information delivery means to acquire advertisement information expressing a predetermined advertisement and to deliver it through said vehicle, based on said acquired information about said viewer. In this case, it is desirable that the information about said viewer acquired by said viewer information acquisition means is at least preference information including said viewer's preference”, paragraph 38);
the periphery information captured by a camera;
(“…, said advertisement presentation means may be configured so as to afford a short-distance wireless communication with at least an information terminal device which exists in surroundings, and said results information acquisition means may comprise; a communication results information acquisition means to acquire communication results information about a track record of a short-distance wireless communication between said advertisement presentation means and said information terminal device…”, paragraph 20.
“…a vehicle information delivery device which delivers information through a vehicle to a viewer who exists in the surroundings of said vehicle and views a variety of information, comprising an information acquisition means to acquire information about a user of said vehicle and information about a viewer who exists in the surroundings of said vehicle…”, paragraph 29.
“…another aspect of the present invention is also in that a vehicle information delivery system which delivers information through a vehicle to a viewer who exists in the surroundings of said vehicle and views a variety of information comprises: a proximity situation acquisition means to acquire a situation where said vehicle is close to a mobile information terminal device which said viewer possesses or another vehicle other than said vehicle, on which said viewer is, a viewer information acquisition means to acquire information about said viewer from said mobile information terminal device or said another vehicle in the proximity of said vehicle…”, paragraph 38)
c) compare an advertising condition specified by an advertising client and at least one of the position information and the periphery information;
(“[0089] And the electronic control unit 12 compares a current location of the vehicle 10 detected by the location detection unit 15 [position] with the area where the advertisement included in the advertisement information acquired from the information management center 20 is displayed, according to direction information, and judges whether the current location of the vehicle 10 exists in the area where the advertisement should be displayed. Moreover, the electronic control unit 12 judges whether the present time is in the period of time when the advertisement is displayed based on the period of time when the advertisement included in the advertisement information acquired [condition], from the information management center 20 should be displayed. And the electronic control unit 12 displays the advertisement with the body display part 11 based on the advertisement information when the current location of the vehicle 10 exists in the area where the advertisement should be displayed and the present time is in the period of time when the advertisement should be displayed. Thereby, an advertisement can be presented to general public (viewer) who exist in the surroundings of the vehicle 10 [periphery information] . The electronic control unit 12 is configured so as to transmit display start information expressing that the advertisement display has started to the information management center 20 when the advertisement based on advertisement information is thus displayed on the body display part 11. On the other hand, the electronic control unit 12 is configured so as to transmit display end information expressing that the advertisement display has been ended to the information management center 20 after the period of time to display has passed and advertisement display has been ended based on advertisement information”, paragraph 89.
“…Concretely, the information management server 21 transmits notice information
expressing the spot (destination) or a direction where the user of the information terminal device 40 (advertisement receiver) [position] demands riding together and touring to the vehicle 10. At this time, with respect to the demand of a touring [condition], the information management server 21 searches for the course to the destination expressed by the response information using map data and road data [periphery information] which are memorized in a touring matching database 23c. Here, since the information management server 21 has acquired current location information (direction-of-movement information) from the vehicle 10, the vehicle 10 and other vehicle 10 can move while touring (running side by side) when a part or all of the searched course to the destination specified by the viewer coincides (matches) with the direction of movement of the vehicle 10. For this reason, the information management server 21 judges whether it is possible to move while touring or not, and transmits notice information including this touring propriety information to the vehicle 10.”, paragraph 147. See also “…user of the information terminal device 40 (advertisement receiver) demands a touring…”, paragraph 148);
d) associate the position information of each of [the plurality] output device with a comparison result from the comparison
(“[0067] The vehicle 10 may be a display medium of an advertisement and may comprise a body display part 11 as a display part which displays and presents an advertisement comprising an image (picture) and/or a message, etc. outward from the vehicle 10 to general public. The body display part 11 may comprise a well-known light-emitting type
panel (for example, a plasma display panel, an organic electroluminescence display panel, etc.) and/or a transmissive type display panel (for example, a liquid-crystal-display panel with a back light, etc.), as well as a wellknown drive circuit (not shown) for operating these display panels.”, paragraph 67.
“[0059] FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an advertisement delivery program according to a modification of the present invention, which an information management server in an information management center executes.
[0060] FIG. 11 is a schematic view for explaining a display embodiment of a message as information displayed on a body display part of a vehicle by execution of the information delivery program in FIG. 10 when a driver and a viewer are in a specific relation.”, paragraph 59-60.
“…[0148] Furthermore, in a situation where the user of the vehicle 10 (advertisement deliverer) satisfies the demand, for example, the information management server 21 transmits the image data expressing the information (message) which shows that a demand to ride together is satisfied to the own vehicle 10 when the user of the information terminal device 40 (advertisement receiver) demands to ride together, and transmits image data expressing the
information (message and/or image…”, paragraph 148);
e) [display] the comparison result [on a map];
(Endo’s system teaches comparison results, “[0089] And the electronic control unit 12 compares a current location of the vehicle 10 detected by the location detection unit 15 [position] with the area where the advertisement included in the advertisement information acquired from the information management center 20 is displayed, according to direction information, and judges whether the current location of the vehicle 10 exists in the area where the advertisement should be displayed. Moreover, the electronic control unit 12 judges whether the present time is in the period of time when the advertisement is displayed based on the period of time when the advertisement included in the advertisement information acquired [condition], from the information management center 20 should be displayed. And the electronic control unit 12 displays the advertisement with the body display part 11 based on the advertisement information when the current location of the vehicle 10 exists in the area where the advertisement should be displayed and the present time is in the period of time when the advertisement should be displayed. Thereby, an advertisement can be presented to general public (viewer) who exist in the surroundings of the vehicle 10 [periphery information] . The electronic control unit 12 is configured so as to transmit display start information expressing that the advertisement display has started to the information management center 20 when the advertisement based on advertisement information is thus displayed on the body display part 11. On the other hand, the electronic control unit 12 is configured so as to transmit display end information expressing that the advertisement display has been ended to the information management center 20 after the period of time to display has passed and advertisement display has been ended based on advertisement information”, paragraph 89).
f) output, via one or more of the plurality of output devices, an advertisement
content to a person walking, wherein the periphery information includes at least one of a walking speed and [a walking direction of the person walking].
(Endo’s system discloses periphery information, “[0034] In accordance with this, when a user of a vehicle and a viewer on another vehicle is in a predetermined relation, for example, a relation in which their destination is the same or close to each other or their traveling direction is the same or close to [Examiner interprets as periphery information] each other, the user of the vehicle and the viewer on the another vehicle can move while touring (running side by side). And in this case, predetermined information linked to predetermined information (for example, an image and/or a picture) to be delivered to the viewer on the another vehicle through the vehicle can be delivered to the user of the vehicle through the another vehicle. Thereby, information (including advertisement information) which raises a sense of togetherness can be delivered to each other between the vehicle …”, paragraph 34.
“[0147] In Step S58, the information management server 21 receives the response information which expresses the concrete contents transmitted from the user of the information terminal device 40 (advertisement receiver) in response to the confirmation information transmitted at the above-mentioned Step S17. And the information management server 21 notifies the concrete contents expressed by the response information to the user of the vehicle 10 (advertisement deliverer). Concretely, the information management server 21 transmits notice information expressing the spot (destination) or a direction where the user of the information terminal device 40 (advertisement receiver) demands riding together [Examiner interprets as periphery information] and touring to the vehicle 10. At this time, with respect to the demand of a touring, the information management server 21 searches for the course to the destination expressed by the response information using map data and road data which are memorized in a touring matching database 23c. Here, since the information management server 21 has acquired current location information (direction-of-movement information) from the vehicle 10 [Examiner interprets as periphery information] , the vehicle 10 and other vehicle 10 can move while touring (running side by side) when a part or all of the searched course to the destination specified by the viewer coincides (matches) with the direction of movement of the vehicle 10…”, paragraph 147).
Endo does not disclose but Vengroff discloses
displaying the result on a map
(“…The mobile device may also include a GPS component or network-based location component for providing the user location to the search engine along with the query. In addition, the mobile device may include a location component that periodically determines the user location and current time and sends travel reports (e.g., location and time pairs) to the advertisement system. Upon receiving a query, the search engine generates a map of the area surrounding the user location and adds to the map locations that match the query. The advertisement system may also select an advertisement that matches the query that is near the user location and highlights the advertisement visit location on the map. …”, paragraph 24 and Fig. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Vengroff’s teaching with the teaching of Endo. One would have been motivated to provide capability to offer advertisements to a mobile device of a user when the user is in the vicinity examining or visiting locations and rendering the advertisement in a map in order to facilitate commercial business (see Vengroff abstract and paragraph 24).
a walking direction of the person walking.
(“[0018] In one embodiment, the advertisement system may provide advertisements to a location-based search engine that presents maps of locations of interest to users. The location-based search engine may provide a user interface for a mobile device ….. The search engine then requests the advertisement system to provide an advertisement that is appropriate for the user, the user's location, and the query. …. “, paragraph 18.
“…the advertisement system may consider an anticipated advertisement conversion rate (e.g., likelihood that the user will visit the visit location), bid amount of the advertisements, travel direction of the user, travel mode of the user (e.g., automobile, bicycle, or foot), historical patterns of the user, and so on. The advertisement system may factor in these various considerations in generating a goal score for each candidate advertisement that indicates its value in achieving the goal of the advertisement system. The advertisement system then selects to present the candidate advertisement with the highest goal score. …”, paragraph 21.
See also tracking of the travel path, that is a direction of traveling, “…The advertisement system may also track the travel path of each user. The advertisement system may receive from the users' mobile devices their current locations at various times. The advertisement system stores the time and location pairs as a travel log for each user. The advertisement system reconciles the impressions with the travel paths by analyzing the travel log of a user to determine whether the user traveled to the visit location of a presented advertisement within the visit window. If so, the advertisement system records an indication of a payable visit….”, paragraph 20).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Vengroff’s teaching with the teaching of Endo. One would have been motivated to provide capability to offer advertisements to a walking person considering periphery information in order to facilitate conversion rate of advertisements (see Vengroff paragraph 21).
As to claim 9, it comprises the same limitations than claim 1 above , therefore is rejected in similar manner.
As to claim 10, it comprises the same limitations than claim 1 above , therefore is rejected in similar manner.
Further the claim comprises a non transitory recording medium having stored therein a program causing a computer to execute:
(“[0077] The memory unit 23 contains a storage medium (such as a hard disk and semiconductor memory) and a drive device for the storage medium, and memorizes various programs including a below-mentioned program which the information management server 21 requires for comprehensively controlling the operation of the information management center 20 …”, paragraph 77).
As to claim 2, Endo discloses
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: display advertisement content based on the comparison result.
(“[0089] And the electronic control unit 12 compares a current location of the vehicle 10 detected by the location detection unit 15 [position] with the area where the advertisement included in the advertisement information acquired from the information management center 20 is displayed, according to direction information, and judges whether the current location of the vehicle 10 exists in the area where the advertisement should be displayed. Moreover, the electronic control unit 12 judges whether the present time is in the period of time when the advertisement is displayed based on the period of time when the advertisement included in the advertisement information acquired [condition], from the information management center 20 should be displayed. And the electronic control unit 12 displays the advertisement with the body display part 11 based on the advertisement information when the current location of the vehicle 10 exists in the area where the advertisement should be displayed and the present time is in the period of time when the advertisement should be displayed. Thereby, an advertisement can be presented to general public (viewer) who exist in the surroundings of the vehicle 10 [periphery information] . The electronic control unit 12 is configured so as to transmit display start information expressing that the advertisement display has started to the information management center 20 when the advertisement based on advertisement information is thus displayed on the body display part 11. On the other hand, the electronic control unit 12 is configured so as to transmit display end information expressing that the advertisement display has been ended to the information management center 20 after the period of time to display has passed and advertisement display has been ended based on advertisement information”, paragraph 89).
Claims 3-8, and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG. Pub. No. 20140249913 (Endo) in view of US PG. Pub. No. 20070185768 (Vengroff) in view of US PG. Pub. No. 20200320573 (Harrison).
As to claim 3, Endo does not disclose but Harrison discloses
wherein the comparison result is a matching degree.
(“…For example, an advertisement for luxury wristwatches is targeted to male and female working professionals between ages 35 and 50 years old. In one example, media content mapping module 172 assigns a high score to the match between the advertisement for luxury wristwatches with the demographic attributes of the likely occupants of the passing car (e.g., 85% match). In contrast, an advertisement for low-priced alcoholic beverages does not target male and female working professionals between ages 35 and 50 years old, nor retired females between ages 55 and 70 years old. As a result, media content mapping module 172 assigns a low score (e.g., 10%) to the match between the advertisement for low-priced alcoholic beverages and the likely occupants of the passing car. Based on the assigned scores, media content mapping module 172 selects media content 106 for presentation to the occupants of the passing car. ..”, paragraph 51).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Harrison’s teaching with the teaching of Endo. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to offer a matching degree when selecting media content in order to reach more potential customers (see Harrison paragraph 5).
As to claim 4, Endo does not disclose but Harrison discloses
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: in a case where the matching degree exceeds a predetermined threshold, display advertisement content relevant to a matching degree exceeding the threshold.
(“…For example, an advertisement for luxury wristwatches is targeted to male and female working professionals between ages 35 and 50 years old. In one example, media content mapping module 172 assigns a high score to the match between the advertisement for luxury wristwatches with the demographic attributes of the likely occupants of the passing car (e.g., 85% match). In contrast, an advertisement for low-priced alcoholic beverages does not target male and female working professionals between ages 35 and 50 years old, nor retired females between ages 55 and 70 years old. As a result, media content mapping module 172 assigns a low score (e.g., 10%) to the match between the advertisement for low-priced alcoholic beverages and the likely occupants of the passing car. Based on the assigned scores, media content mapping module 172 selects media content 106 for presentation to the occupants of the passing car. ..”, paragraph 51.
“…content mapping module 172 may query the database of display content for advertisements with a … score above a predetermined threshold that are associated with that … attribute….”, paragraph 52).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Harrison’s teaching with the teaching of Endo. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to offer a matching degree when selecting media content in order to reach more potential customers (see Harrison paragraph 5).
As to claim 5, Endo does not disclose but Harrison discloses
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
divide the map into a plurality of areas; (see zip code, paragraph 40)
acquire a matching degree for [ each of the areas] -an area-
( Harrison’s system has functionality for advertisement matching degree, “… In another example, content mapping module 172 may query the database of display content for advertisements with a demographic score above a predetermined threshold that are associated with that demographic attribute…”, paragraph 52. The Examiner notes that the zip code is part of demographic attribute.
Further, Harrison’s system comprise functionality such as “[0032] In some embodiments, a location code is associated with each image unit in a fixed location. The location code may be a predetermined code that indicates the location of image unit 170. In some embodiments, image unit 170 includes a location code with image information 104 communicated to computer 110”, paragraph 32. See also Fig. 2 and associated disclosure).
Endo does not disclose
acquire a matching degree for each of the areas what the map is divided into a plurality of areas.
But from Harrison’s teaching of location code associated with a image unit (paragraph 32) , zip codes (paragraph 40) and “advertisements with a demographic score above a predetermined threshold that are associated with that demographic attribute…”, (paragraph 52),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Harrison’s teaching with the teaching of Endo and the results would have been predictable.
As to claim 6, Endo does not disclose but Harrison discloses
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to:
[display] the matching degree for [each of] the areas.
(Harrison’s system has functionality for image that is divided into a plurality of areas. ,see zip code, paragraph 40.
Harrison’s system has functionality for matching degree for the areas, “… In another example, content mapping module 172 may query the database of display content for advertisements with a demographic score above a predetermined threshold that are associated with that demographic attribute…”, paragraph 52. The Examiner notes that the zip code is part of demographic attribute.
Further, Harrison’s system teaches “[0049] In the depicted embodiment, interactive media selection tool 105 includes a demography module 171 and a media content mapping module 172. In the depicted embodiment, media selection tool 105 receives image information 104 from image unit 170 and RF information 204 from WAP unit 200 and communicates content display instructions 144 to display 180….”, paragraph 49 ).
Endo does not disclose
display the matching degree for each of the areas.
But from Harrison teaching of (location code associated with a image unit (paragraph 32) , zip codes (paragraph 40) and “advertisements with a demographic score above a predetermined threshold that are associated with that demographic attribute…”, (paragraph 52),
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Harrison’s teaching with the teaching of Endo and the results would have been predictable.
As to claim 7, Endo does not disclose but Harrison discloses
wherein the at least one processor is further configured to execute the instructions to: [display] a type of the advertisement content.
Harrison’s system teaches type of advertising, “…based on the location of the image unit 170 and WAP unit 200 and publically available information about surrounding businesses, the type of employment may be inferred. The demographic profile of the likely occupants of the passing vehicles is mapped to advertising content by media content mapping module 172”, paragraph 61).
Endo does not disclose
[display] a type of the advertisement content.
But from Harrison’s teaching of type of advertising according to demographic profile (paragraph 61, location code associated with a image unit (paragraph 32) , and zip codes (paragraph 40) . It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Harrison’s teaching with the teaching of Endo and the results would have been predictable.
As to claim 8, Endo does not disclose but Harrison discloses
wherein the advertising condition includes a type of the advertisement content and an element attribute.
(Harrison’s system teaches element attribute, “…In response, content mapping module 172 receives an indication of the score of each advertisement associated with that demographic attribute. Content mapping module 172 then ranks the advertisements based on their score and selects the advertisements for presentation (e.g., the highest scoring advertisements..”, paragraph 52.
Harrison’s system teaches type of advertising, “…based on the location of the image unit 170 and WAP unit 200 and publically available information about surrounding businesses, the type of employment may be inferred. The demographic profile of the likely occupants of the passing vehicles is mapped to advertising content by media content mapping module 172”, paragraph 61).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Harrison’s teaching with the teaching of Endo. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to offer a matching degree that considers type of advertisement and element attribute when selecting media content in order to reach more potential customers (see Harrison paragraph 5).
As to claim 11, it comprises the same limitations than claim 5 above, therefore is rejected in similar manner.
As to claim 12, it comprises the same limitations than claim 5 above, therefore is rejected in similar manner.
As to claim 13, it comprises the same limitations than claim 5 above, therefore is rejected in similar manner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments of 2/11/2026 have been very carefully considered but are not persuasive.
The objection of claim 1 and 5 is withdrawn because Applicant amendment.
Rejection of claims 1-13 under 35 USC 101 is withdrawn because applicant’s amendment and Examiner’s note above.
Applicant argues (remarks 13-15)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-2 and 9-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US
20140249913 (Endo) in view of US 20070185768 (Vengroff).
Claims 3-8 and 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US
PG. Pub. No. 20140249913 (Endo) in view of US 20070185768 (Vengroff) in view of US
20200320573 (Harrison).
Independent Claim 1
With respect to claim I and the NFOA, the rejections in view of the cited art are
respectfully traversed….
In response the Examiner asserts that for clarification purposes, the prior office action of record did not have possession of the currently amended portion(s) of the claim(s) that the applicant is currently arguing. Action on these newly amended limitations is contained herein.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
“Ad-me: wireless advertising adapted to the user location, device and emotions”. IEEE. 2004. This article discloses “It has been predicted that the next phase of electronic business growth will be in the area of mobile e-commerce. The translation from "e " to "m " commerce, however, is not a straightforward task. This paper considers context sensitive advertising. According to analysts, wireless advertising will prove most successful when the advertisements merge seamlessly with the service content provided. This paper discusses key issues in the development of Ad-me (advertising for the mobile e-commerce user), a context-sensitive advertising system. Ad-me aims to deliver more palatable, less intrusive and personalized advertisements overlaid upon a mobile tourist guide. This paper describes the design and implementation of Ad-me and subsequently reflects upon the possibility of using user emotion to increase effectiveness of the advertising. The design of Ad-me adopts a multiagent systems (MAS) philosophy.”
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 extension fee 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 MARIA VICTORIA VANDERHORST whose telephone number is (571)270-3604. The examiner can normally be reached on business hours from Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ashraf Waseem can be reached on 571-270-3948. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MARIA V VANDERHORST/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621 4/18/2026
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