DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
Acknowledgement is made of Applicant’s Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) form PTO-1149 filed 09/30/2024. This IDS has been considered.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-3 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Smith et al. (US 2010/0000801; “Smith”).
Regarding claim 1, Smith discloses a scale (5) (¶ [0006]; see figure 1a), comprising a weigh station (15) for receiving items to be weighed (¶ [0024]), an operator interface (20) configured to display information associated with scale operations, the operator interface (20) comprising a touch-screen display (¶¶ [0024]-[0025]), a controller (no reference numeral, disclosed as microprocessor and operating system in ¶ [0024]) operably coupled to the operator interface to effect display of information thereon (¶ [0024]), the controller configured such that a home interface screen view (70) is displayed on the operator interface (20) (¶ [0030], see figure 4), wherein the home interface screen view (70) includes one or more selectable regions (75) that enable the operator to identify to the controller an item to be weighed (¶ [0030]), wherein the home interface screen view (70) includes no more than two pricing and labeling operation fields (¶ [0030], see figure 4).
Regarding claim 2, Smith discloses the no more than two pricing and labeling operation fields include a weight field (¶ [0030], see figure 4).
Regarding claim 3, Smith discloses the controller is configured such that, upon operator identification of the item to be weighed via one of the one or more selectable regions (75), the controller effects display of an identified item screen interface view (80) that includes at least five pricing and labeling operation fields (e.g. 90, 95, 100,105, 110, 115) (¶ [0030], see figure 5).
Regarding claim 6, Smith discloses the one or more selectable regions (75) that enable the operator to identify to the controller an item to be weighed includes a keypad region display numeric buttons (¶ [0030], see figure 4), and the identified item interface screen view (80) does not include the keypad region (¶ [0031], see figure 5).
Regarding claim 7, Smith discloses a scale (5) (¶ [0006]), comprising a weigh station (15) for receiving items to be weighed (¶ [0024]), an operator interface (20) configured to display information associated with scale operations, the operator interface (20) comprising a touch-screen display (¶¶ [0024]-[0025]), a controller (no reference numeral, disclosed as microprocessor and operating system in ¶ [0024]) operably coupled to the operator interface (20) to effect display of information thereon (¶ [0024]), the controller configured such that a home interface screen view (70) is displayed on the operator interface (20) (¶ [0030], see figure 4) wherein the home interface screen view (70) includes multiple fields, including one or more selectable regions (75) that enable the operator to identify to the controller an item to be weighed (¶ [0030]), upon operator identification of the item to be weighed via one of the one or more selectable regions (75), the controller effects display of an identified item screen interface view (80) that that has multiple fields that are different than the multiple fields of the home interface screen view (70) (¶ [0031], see figure 5).
Regarding claim 8, Smith discloses the multiple fields of the home interface screen view (70) include no more than two pricing and labeling operation fields (¶ [0030], see figure 4), the multiple fields of the identified item screen interface view include at least five pricing and labeling operation fields (¶ [0031], see figure 5).
Claims 1-5, 7, and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Dyer et al. (US 2015/0074581; “Dyer”).
Regarding claim 1, Dyer discloses a scale (10) ¶ [0002], see figure 1), comprising a weigh station (12) for receiving items to be weighed (¶ [0060]), an operator interface (18) configured to display information associated with scale operations, the operator interface (18) comprising a touch-screen display (¶ [0060]), a controller (50) operably coupled to the operator interface (18) to effect display of information thereon, the controller (50) configured such that a home interface screen view (70B) is displayed on the operator interface (18) wherein the home interface screen view (70B) includes one or more selectable regions (110) that enable the operator to identify to the controller (50) an item to be weighed (¶ [0074], see figure 10), wherein the home interface screen view (70B) includes no more than two pricing and labeling operation fields (¶¶ [0074, [0077], discloses figure 10 is one of several interface views that can be set as a home screen).
Regarding claim 2, Dyer discloses the no more than two pricing and labeling operation fields include a weight field (¶ [0074]; note “no more than two pricing and labeling options” includes the null group of no pricing and labeling operation fields).
Regarding claim 3, Dyer discloses the controller (50) is configured such that, upon operator identification of the item to be weighed via one of the one or more selectable regions (110), the controller (50) effects display of an identified item screen interface view (70A) that includes at least five pricing and labeling operation fields (e.g. 80A, 80B, 80C, 80D, 82B, 82C, 84A, 84B, 84C, 92A) (¶¶[0067], [0074], see figure 8).
Regarding claim 4, Dyer discloses the at least five pricing and labeling operation fields include a net weight field (80A), a unit price field (80C), a total price field (80D), a product image and/or product name field (82B), and a selectable label print button (92A) (¶ [0067], see figures 7 and 8).
Regarding claim 5, Dyer discloses the at least five pricing and labeling operation fields further include at least two of a tare weight field (80B), a sell by field (82C), a tare container field, a packed on field (84C), a best before field (84B) or an item location of origin field (84A) (¶ [0067], see figure 7 and 8).
Regarding claim 7, Dyer discloses a scale (10) (¶ [0002], see figure 1), comprising a weigh station (12) for receiving items to be weighed (¶ [0060]), an operator interface (18) configured to display information associated with scale operations, the operator interface (18) comprising a touch-screen display (¶ [0060]), a controller (50) operably coupled to the operator interface (18) to effect display of information thereon (¶ [0077]), the controller (50) configured such that a home interface screen view (70B) is displayed on the operator interface (18) wherein the home interface screen view (70B) includes multiple fields, including one or more selectable regions (110) that enable the operator to identify to the controller (50) an item to be weighed (¶ [0074], see figure 10), upon operator identification of the item to be weighed via one of the one or more selectable regions (110), the controller (50) effects display of an identified item screen interface view (70A) that that has multiple fields that are different than the multiple fields of the home interface screen view (70B) (¶ [0067] see figure 7).
Regarding claim 8, Dyer discloses the multiple fields of the home interface screen view (70B) include no more than two pricing and labeling operation fields (¶¶[0074], [0077], see figure 10), the multiple fields of the identified item screen interface view (70A) include at least five pricing and labeling operation fields (¶ [0074], see figure 7).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith.
Regarding claim 4, Smith discloses all the limitations of claim 3 on which this claim depends.
Smith further discloses the at least five pricing and labeling operation fields include a net weight field (90), a unit price field (95), a total price field (100), a product image and/or product name field (85) (¶ [0031], see figure 5).
Smith’s figure 5 does not show a selectable label print button.
However, Smith does explicitly describe an interactive screen comprising a print button, and allows for the scale to have lable printing functionality (¶ [0045]-[0046]; “[w]hen a "Print" button 215 is provided for the customer, the button may appear on one or more of the display screens such as, for example, the initial recipe display screen and/or the recipe detail screen (as shown in FIG. 10)”. Since this passage allows for the print button to appear on one or more display screens, one having ordinary skill in the art would readily appreciate and infer that a label print button can also be present on the display shown in the screen of figure 5, especially since there appears to be plenty of room.
Since Smith does allow for label printing functionality of the scale (see e.g. ¶ [0026]), it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing of the invention to include a label print button in figure 5 for the purpose of pringing a label containing all the information shown in in figure 5 prior to continuing with the disclosed optional recipes for the benefit of ensuring the food is properly labeled for check-out.
Regarding claim 5, Smith further teaches the at least five pricing and labeling operation fields further include at least two of a tare weight field (no reference numeral), a sell by field (110), a tare container field, a packed on field (105), a best before field (115) or an item location of origin field (¶ [0031], see figure 5).
Conclusion
US 2010/0185483 to Collins discloses multiple interface screens for a weighing scale including customizable home screens and secondary screens.
US 2013/0126248 to Yamaguchi discloses multiple interface screens for a weighing scale including customizable home screens and secondary screens.
USPN 7,875,813 to Hackathorne discloses multiple interface screens for a weighing scale including customizable home screens and secondary screens.
USPN 7,597,254 to Miller discloses multiple interface screens for a weighing scale including customizable home screens and secondary screens.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NATALIE HULS whose telephone number is (571)270-5914. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5 EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, John Breene can be reached at (571) 272-4107. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NATALIE HULS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2855
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