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
Priority
This application is a continuation of U.S. Application No. 17/469,718, filed September 8, 2021.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statements (IDS) is submitted on 2/11/2025 was filed in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. According, the information disclosure statement has been considered by the examiner.
Claim Objections
Claims 2, 6, 9, 13, 16 and 20 are objected to because of the following informalities: Claims 2, 6, 9, 13, 16 and 20 recite “the digital venue system”. Examiner suggest amending the limitation to “a digital venue system”, or similar wording.
. Appropriate correction is required.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1-15 of US Patent Number 12127073 B2. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Instant Application 18895263
US Patent No.
12127073 B2
Interpretation/Differences
1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising stored instructions, the instructions when executed cause at least one processor to:
detect a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue;
determine, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue;
obtain a device user identifier associated with a user of the device;
transmit the device user identifier to the identity matching server;
receive, from the identity matching server, an anonymous identifier corresponding to the device user identifier;
receive, from the identity matching server, tracking data from the client device;
generate a customer journey timeline for the user describing the tracking data and the detection of the device within the venue; and
select, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline.
1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising stored instructions, the instructions when executed cause at least one processor to:
transmit a tracking pixel to a digital venue system, wherein the tracking pixel is configured to obtain tracking data from a client device for transmission to an identity matching server;
detect a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue;
determine, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue and configured to determine whether or not the device is located within the boundary of the venue based on one or more of a plurality of device parameters associated with the detected ping;
obtain a device user identifier associated with a user of the device;
transmit the device user identifier to the identity matching server;
receive, from the identity matching server, an anonymous identifier corresponding to the device user identifier;
receive, from the identity matching server, the tracking data obtained via the tracking pixel;
generate a customer journey timeline for the user describing the tracking data and the detection of the device within the venue; and
select, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline.
As can be seen from the side-by-side comparison, US Patent 12127073 B2 has every feature/limitation that the present application does with slight word changes with the exception of the bolded, italicized, and underlined feature in the present application.
2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server.
2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server.
3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of device parameters comprise at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data.
3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of device parameters comprise at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data.
4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier.
4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier.
5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to determine a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue.
5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to determine a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue.
6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system.
6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system.
7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to: determine, based on the ping, a MAC address of the device; and obtain the device user identifier based on the MAC address of the device.
7. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to: determine, based on the ping, a MAC address of the device; and obtain the device user identifier based on the MAC address of the device.
8. A method comprising:
detecting a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue;
determining, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue;
obtaining a device user identifier associated with a user of the device;
transmitting the device user identifier to the identity matching server;
receiving, from the identity matching server, an anonymous identifier corresponding to the device user identifier;
receiving, from the identity matching server, tracking data from the client device;
generating a customer journey timeline for the user describing the tracking data and the detection of the device within the venue; and
selecting, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline.
8. A method comprising:
transmitting a tracking pixel to a digital venue system, wherein the tracking pixel is configured to obtain tracking data from a client device for transmission to an identity matching server;
detecting a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue;
determining, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue and configured to determine whether or not the device is located within the boundary of the venue based on one or more of a plurality of device parameters associated with the detected ping;
obtaining a device user identifier associated with a user of the device;
transmitting the device user identifier to the identity matching server;
receiving, from the identity matching server, an anonymous identifier corresponding to the device user identifier;
receiving, from the identity matching server, the tracking data obtained via the tracking pixel;
generating a customer journey timeline for the user describing the tracking data and the detection of the device within the venue; and
selecting, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of device parameters comprises at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data.
10. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of device parameters comprises at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier.
11. The method of claim 8, wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue.
12. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system.
13. The method of claim 8, wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system.
14. The method of claim 8, further comprising: determining, based on the ping, a MAC address of the device; and obtaining the device user identifier based on the MAC address of the device.
14. The method of claim 8, further comprising: determining, based on the ping, a MAC address of the device; and obtaining the device user identifier based on the MAC address of the device.
15. A system comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing executable instructions and a hardware processor, the instructions, when executed by the hardware processor, configured to cause the system to:
detect a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue;
determine, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue;
obtain a device user identifier associated with a user of the device;
transmit the device user identifier to the identity matching server;
receive, from the identity matching server, an anonymous identifier corresponding to the device user identifier;
receive, from the identity matching server, tracking data from the client device;
generate a customer journey timeline for the user describing the tracking data and the detection of the device within the venue; and
select, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline.
15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising stored instructions, the instructions when executed cause at least one processor to:
detect a ping from a first client device associated with a user received by a wireless access point located within a venue associated with an entity;
determine, based on the ping, location data indicating that the first client device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue and configured to determine whether or not the first client device is located within the boundary of the venue based on one or more of a plurality of device parameters associated with the detected ping;
receive, from the entity, online tracking data of the user obtained via a tracking pixel on a second client device associated with the user;
map the location data for the first client device to the online tracking data for the second client device;
generate a customer journey timeline describing the location data and the online tracking data; and
select, for a website visited by the user of the first client device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server.
2. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server.
17. The system of claim 15, wherein the plurality of device parameters comprise at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data.
3. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the plurality of device parameters comprise at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data.
18. The system of claim 15, wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier.
4. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier.
19. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to determine a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue.
5. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to determine a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue.
20. The system of claim 15, wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system.
6. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1, wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system.
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 1-6, 8-13 and 15-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lang (US 20110055005 A1), in view of Rehman et al. (US 20180352384 A1), hereinafter Rehman, further in view of Narasimhan et al. (US 20180332136 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Lang teaches a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising stored instructions (Figure 2 and Paragraph 0064; software programs are loaded into the memory), the instructions when executed cause at least one processor (Figure 2 and Paragraph 0064; in order to execute the software programs in the memory to perform the process in the embodiments, a processor is present to perform the functions) to:
determine that the device is located within the venue based at least in part on a boundary of the venue (Paragraph 0069; the end user 12 then visited a store operated by the advertiser or a store where the ad 25 will be honored as if it is a coupon, or if the advertiser 300, 400 is a manufacturer and the store sells the manufacturer's product or service advertised);
obtain a device user identifier associated with a user of the device (Paragraphs 0054, 0068 and 0091; the mobile device 160 may be identifiable on the system 10 and system server 20 if user receive the ad via SMS phone number or banner ad that has cookie embedded that can be used to track the end user’s mobile device);
transmit the device user identifier to the identity matching server (Paragraphs 0054, 0055 and 0091; the identifier of the end user’s mobile device is communicated back to the system server 20);
receive, from the identity matching server, an anonymous identifier corresponding to the device user identifier (Paragraphs 0072 and 0076; communications and systems are all encrypted and anonymized);
receive, from the identity matching server, tracking data from the client device (Paragraphs 0067 and 0068; when the ad 25 is delivered to the mobile device 160 and subsequently opened on the display, the nature of the offer in the ad 25 is reviewed, the ad 25 is time and date stamped and optionally recorded with many other parameters. A record of the ad 25 is record in the advertisers ad delivery file to the end user 12 and all the relevant information regarding its delivery including but not limited to a unique id number and how or which way the ad was delivered to the device. It may also be recorded in the end user's file. Paragraphs 0070 and 0071, the end user’s identity is recorded in the ad folder 86, and the record is transmitted to either remote server 230 or the system server 20 for name matching);
generate a customer journey timeline for the user describing the tracking data and the detection of the device within the venue (Paragraphs 0017 and 0069; a report is generated informing the advertiser of a plurality of information from end user who received an ad and then completed a sales transaction at a physical location store. Paragraphs 0060, 0071 and 0072; name matching is performed to match the record of end user who received and opened the ad 25 recorded in the ad folder 86 and the record of customers went to physical location store and completed a sale transaction in the sales transaction record. Paragraphs 0015 and 0068; the sales transaction data may include location identification of the physical store, time and date of sales transactions and the identity of the customer. the ad 25 is time and date stamped and optionally recorded with many other parameters. Since the generated reports comprises information from both ad data and sales transaction data, thus it generates a customer journey timeline that includes the time and date of the ad received/opened to the time and date of the physical store visit and completed sales transaction).
Lang does not explicitly teach detect a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue; determine, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue by applying a machine-learned model trained based at least in part on a boundary of the venue. In an analogous art, Rehman teaches detect a ping from a device received by a wireless access point of a venue (Paragraph 0011; the access points can report the signal strength values of the wireless signals that each access point receives from client devices [the wireless signal received from client device is considered as a ping from a device], as well as the association status of each client device); determine, based on the ping, that the device is located within the venue (Paragraph 0011; determining that a client device is present in a site using frequent client mobility patterns; an example mobility pattern may be the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values of a client device reported by single AP or multiple APs with a given timestamp) by applying a machine-learned model trained (Paragraph 0011; a method for determining that a client device is present in a site using frequent client mobility patterns. The method can determine whether a particular client device is inside or outside of a site based on frequent mobility patterns exhibited by client devices in the site. Using these input data, the network device running the presence analytics can build a model, which includes the mobility patterns (or trails) of associated client devices) based at least in part on a boundary of the venue (Paragraphs 0012 and 0020; some of the client devices may be presented within the vicinity of the site, but outside the site, e.g., outside entry 105 but closely located to AP1 120. Input data 200 can be processed to remove outliers for the model, because APs located in the corners or near doorway can hear client devices that may be outside the site. Thus if the training data considers only data for client devices that are located inside the site not located on the outside of the site, boundary of the venue is considered). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Lang and Rehman because it would allow presence analysis and based on the analysis, businesses can develop or improve strategies for customer engagement, maximizing revenue opportunities, optimizing workspace, and increasing market presence (Rehman, Paragraph 0001).
The combination of Lang and Rehman does not explicitly teach select, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline. In an analogous art, Narasimhan teaches select, for a website visited by the user of the device, a version of the website from a plurality of website versions to display to a different visitor to the website based on the customer journey timeline (Paragraph 0040; in response to the request for a webpage from the mobile-client system 130, the device-detection system 170 may access information form the mobile-client system 130 that describes the mobile-client system 130 or describes its attributes. As an example, the device-detection system 170 may determine one or more attributes of the mobile-client system 130 based on a browsing history associated with the user (or the device) requesting a webpage. The browsing history of a user may be determined by accessing tracking cookies, tracking pixels, or other suitable browsing history data associated with the mobile-client system 130. Particular versions of webpages may be formatted or customized for devices with particular attributes. If the browsing history shows that the user has previously accessed such webpages, then the device-detection system 170 may determine that the mobile-client system 130 of the user has one or more attributes associated with those previously accessed webpages). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan because it would allow social-networking system to provide services to facilitate social interaction between or among users (Narasimhan, Paragraph 0003).
Regarding claim 8, claim 8 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1.
Regarding claim 15, claim 15 recites similar features as claim 1, therefore is rejected for at least the same reason as discussed above regarding claim 1. Further, Lang teaches a system comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing executable instructions (Figure 2 and Paragraph 0064; software programs are loaded into the memory) and a hardware processor, the instructions, when executed by the hardware processor, configured to cause the system to perform functions (Figure 2 and Paragraph 0064; the system server 20 comprises memory for storing plurality of software programs to perform the functions as shown in the figure. Examiner asserts that a processor is needed to execute the software programs loaded into the memory).
Regarding claims 2, 9 and 16, the combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan teaches all of the limitations of claims 1, 8 and 15, as described above. Further, Lang teaches wherein the digital venue system transmits the tracking data to the identity matching server (Paragraphs 0067 and 0068; when the ad 25 is delivered to the mobile device 160 and subsequently opened on the display, the nature of the offer in the ad 25 is reviewed, the ad 25 is time and date stamped and optionally recorded with many other parameters. A record of the ad 25 is record in the advertisers ad delivery file to the end user 12 and all the relevant information regarding its delivery including but not limited to a unique id number and how or which way the ad was delivered to the device. It may also be recorded in the end user's file. Paragraphs 0070 and 0071, the end user’s identity is recorded in the ad folder 86, and the record is transmitted to either remote server 230 or the system server 20 for name matching).
Regarding claims 3, 10 and 17, the combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan teaches all of the limitations of claims 1, 8 and 15, as described above. Further, Rehman teaches wherein the plurality of device parameters comprise at least one of: a signal strength of the ping, a time of the ping, a dwell time between a first ping and a last ping from the device, hours of operation of the venue, a signal strength of pings from devices that are connected to the wireless access point, a manufacturer identifier of MAC address, or employee device data (Paragraph 0011; an example mobility pattern may be the received signal strength indicator (RSSI) values of a client device reported by single AP or multiple APs with a given timestamp. The access points can report the signal strength values of the wireless signals that each access point receives from client devices, as well as the association status of each client device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Lang and Rehman because it would allow presence analysis and based on the analysis, businesses can develop or improve strategies for customer engagement, maximizing revenue opportunities, optimizing workspace, and increasing market presence (Rehman, Paragraph 0001).
Regarding claims 4, 11 and 18, the combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan teaches all of the limitations of claims 1, 8 and 15, as described above. Further, Lang teaches wherein the identity matching server converts the device user identifier into a corresponding anonymous identifier (Paragraphs 0072 and 0076; communication between remote server and the system server 20 and/or another component of the system is encrypted and anonymized. Further in Paragraphs 0054 and 0071; the communication may include identifiable information of the mobile device based on advertisement received via SMS. Thus the identifiable information such as the phone number is anonymized).
Regarding claims 5, 12 and 19, the combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan teaches all of the limitations of claims 1, 8 and 15, as described above. Further, Lang teaches wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to determine a number of times that the user visited the venue after receiving content corresponding to the venue (Paragraphs 0069 and 0102; the end user 12 then visits a store operated by the advertiser or a store where the ad 25 will be honored as if it is a coupon, and then completes a sales transaction for the product or service listed in the ad 25 using his or her credit card or debit card).
Regarding claims 6, 13 and 20, the combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan teaches all of the limitations of claims 1, 8 and 15, as described above. Further, Lang teaches wherein the tracking data describes webpages displayed to the client device by the digital venue system (Paragraphs 0085 and 0086; when the SMS/MMS message/ad 615 is delivered, it can be delivered with an advertising link that if “clicked” will either execute a program or take the consumer to a web page that will display an ad. Paragraphs 0091; if the viewer is a registered end user and clicked on the ad or link, then the entire banner ad or webpage is displayed and this action is recorded on the ads delivered folder 735 located on the system server 20. If the viewer is a registered end user 12 and yet does not `click` on the banner ad or link, the code 720 is still recorded in the ad delivered folder 735 if it can find the client software or another identifier (this is disclosed in Paragraph 0018 of Lang that the another identifier is sometimes referred to as cookie) and thus report the end used associated with the device back to the system server 11).
Claims 7 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lang in view of Rehman and Narasimhan, as applied in the claims above, further in view of Esquilla (US 20160283989 A1).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, the combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan teaches all of the limitations of claims 1 and 8, as described above.
The combination of Lang, Rehman and Narasimhan does not explicitly disclose wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to: determine, based on the ping, a MAC address of the device; and obtain the device user identifier based on the MAC address of the device. In an analogous art, Esquilla teaches wherein the instructions when executed cause the at least one processor to: determine, based on the ping, a MAC address of the device (Paragraph 0025; the mobile device transmit a unique identifier associated with a customer account such as the wireless device MAC address to the backend system 220. Thus the backend system 220 receives a signal [ping] from the mobile device and determine a MAC address of the device); and obtain the device user identifier based on the MAC address of the device (Paragraph 0025; the backend system then associates the customer’s presence with the facility in stored data, and a message may then be transmitted to the customer to a phone number or email address associated with the customer account. Thus email address is determined based on the MAC address of the device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Lang, Rehman, Narasimhan and Esquilla because it would allow the store provide coupons or other promotional content to the customer to welcome the customer to the facility (Esquilla, Paragraph 0025).
Pertinent Prior Art
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Robell et al. (US 20210365445 A1) teaches contact tracing services in an affordable and non-intrusive means for individuals to check in and check out of gathering places so that their contact information can be stored and made available to contact tracers.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Jing Gao whose telephone number is (571)270-7226. The examiner can normally be reached on 9am - 6pm M-F.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor Alison Slater can be reached on (571) 270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JING GAO/Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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