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 .
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.
Claim(s) 1 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Takabatake (US 2022/0139142).
With respect to claim 1, Takabatake discloses a gate device including a gate mechanism disposed along a passage through which a customer passes (see for example paragraphs [0002], [0024] and Fig. 1);
a light emitter provided above the gate mechanism for notifying users regarding gate operation or passage status (see for example paragraphs [0029], [0031] and Fig. 3);
a detector configured to detect a person passing through the passage (see for example paragraphs [0027], [0030] and Fig. 2);
a processor (control unit) configured to control the operation of the gate mechanism and the light emitter (see for example paragraphs [0026] and [0034]);
switching an operation mode of the gate mechanism between a first mode in which notification is made by the light emitter when the detector detects a person passing through the passage and a second mode in which no notification is made even when the detector detects a person passing through the passage (see for example paragraphs [0031] and [0046]);
changing a light emission state of the light emitter to different states depending on the operational state of the gate mechanism (see for example paragraphs [0031], [0037] and Fig. 4).
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 (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 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.
Claim(s) 2-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Takabatake in view of Khojastepour et al. (US 2020/026566, hereinafter Khojastepour).
With respect to claim 2, Takabatake discloses the gate apparatus but does not explicitly disclose an accounting machine located upstream of the passage that performs payment processing for a customer transaction.
However, Khojastepour discloses a retail checkout system associated with a gate or passage in which a customer performs a transaction prior to passing through the gate (see for example paragraphs [0018], [0036] and Fig. 1).
Further, Khojastepour discloses a checkout device receiving a customer operation to initiate a transaction and performing payment processing associated with the transaction (see for example paragraphs [0037] and [0042]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate the checkout/payment processing functionality of Khojastepour into the gate device of Takabatake in order to allow the gate system to coordinate with retail transaction processing systems.
With respect to claim 3, Takabatake discloses setting the gate apparatus to an initial operational state with a corresponding initial light emission state prior to user detection (see for example paragraphs [0031] and [0037]).
Takabatake further discloses changing the light emission state when the operational state of the gate changes (see for example paragraphs [0037] and [0046]).
Thus Takabatake discloses changing the light emission state from a first state to a second state upon occurrence of a system event, corresponding to receiving an instruction to start a transaction.
With respect to claim 4, Takabatake discloses determining whether the detector has detected a person approaching or passing through the gate (see for example paragraphs [0027] and [0030]).
Takabatake further discloses controlling the light emission state of the gate apparatus depending on the detection result (see for example paragraphs [0031] and [0037]).
With respect to claim 5, Khojastepour discloses changing an indicator lamp or display state during transaction or checkout processing (see for example paragraphs [0036], [0040] and Fig. 3).
Thus the reference teaches changing the light emission state while performing payment processing associated with a transaction.
With respect to claim 6, Khojastepour discloses transaction processing operations in which different transaction conditions may occur (see for example paragraphs [0040] and [0043]).
The reference further discloses determining whether a transaction condition requires intervention by store personnel (see for example paragraph [0045]).
With respect to claim 7, Khojastepour discloses events during transaction processing that require assistance from store personnel, such as irregular transaction conditions (see for example paragraphs [0043] and [0045]).
The system correspondingly changes the notification or indicator state to inform store personnel or the customer.
With respect to claim 8, Khojastepour discloses errors occurring during checkout or payment processing and system responses to those errors (see for example paragraphs [0044] and [0046]).
Such responses include different notification conditions depending on the type or severity of the error.
With respect to claim 9, Takabatake discloses changing the light emission state of the light emitter when the detector detects a person approaching or passing through the gate (see for example paragraphs [0031] and [0037]).
With respect to claim 10, Takabatake discloses a light emitter mounted on a structural portion of the gate apparatus to provide visible notification to approaching persons (see for example paragraphs [0029] and [0031]).
Mounting a lamp on a vertically extending pole or structure adjacent the passage is a known and obvious design choice in gate signaling systems.
Conclusion
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/ROKIB MASUD/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627