DETAILED ACTION
1. This communication is a first office action, non-final rejection on the merits. Claims 1-20, as originally filed, are currently pending and have been considered below.
Priority
2. The application is filed on 10/09/2024 but claims the benefit of foreign application number JP 2021-149352 filed on 09/14/2021 and continuation of U.S. application number 17860805 filed on 07/08/2022.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/15/2025 and 10/09/24 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Form PTO-1449 is signed and attached hereto.
Double Patenting
4. Claims 1, 5 and 16 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting over claims 1, 5 and 6 of U.S. Patent No. 12244073 B2 since the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the “right to exclude” already granted in the patent.
5. 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.
5. Claims 1, 5 and 16 of the application (18/910651) as shown in the table below contains every element of claims 1, 5 and 6 of the patented application.
Claims of instant application 18910651
Claims of U.S. Patent No. 12244073 B2
A commodity registration system comprising: an antenna; a reference tag configured to couple to or embed in a table or surface, wherein a relative position of the reference tag to the antenna is known; an actuator configured to reposition the antenna between a first position underneath the table or surface and a second position underneath the table or surface; and a control system configured to: use the antenna to acquire a plurality of reference signals wirelessly transmitted from the reference tag as the antenna is moved via the actuator; determine a reference phase change curve between the first position and the second position based on a phase of each of the plurality of reference signals acquired at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; use the antenna to acquire a plurality of target signals wirelessly transmitted from a target tag attached to a commodity for purchase that is placed on or proximate the table or surface as the antenna is moved via the actuator, the target tag different from the reference tag; determine a target phase change curve between the first position and the second position based on a phase of each of the plurality of target signals acquired at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase in response to a curvature of the target phase change curve being more abrupt than a curvature of the reference phase change curve.
5. A commodity registration system comprising: an antenna; a reference tag configured to couple to or embed in a table or surface, wherein a relative position of the reference tag to the antenna is known; an actuator configured to reposition the antenna between a first position underneath the table or surface and a second position underneath the table or surface; and a control system configured to: use the antenna to acquire a plurality of reference signals transmitted from the reference tag at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; use the antenna to acquire a plurality of target signals from a target tag at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position, the target tag attached to a commodity for purchase that is placed on or proximate the table or surface, the target tag different from the reference tag; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase based on a comparison between a reference phase characteristic of the plurality of reference signals and a target phase characteristic of the plurality of target signals.
16. A commodity registration system comprising: a non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: acquire a plurality of reference signals via an antenna at a plurality of positions between a first position and a second position, the plurality of reference signals wirelessly transmitted from a reference tag, wherein the reference tag is coupled to or embed in a table or surface, and wherein a relative position of the reference tag to the antenna is known; acquire a plurality of target signals via the antenna at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position, the plurality of target signals wirelessly transmitted from a target tag attached to a commodity for purchase that is placed on or proximate the table or surface, the target tag different from the reference tag; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase based on a comparison between a reference phase characteristic of the plurality of reference signals and a target phase characteristic of the plurality of target signals.
1. A commodity registration system comprising: a reference tag configured to couple to or embed in a table or surface; an antenna; an actuator configured to reposition the antenna between a first position underneath the table or surface and a second position underneath the table or surface; and a control system configured to: use the antenna to acquire (i) one or more reference signals wirelessly transmitted from the reference tag whose relative position to the antenna is known and (ii) one or more target signals wirelessly transmitted from a target tag attached to a commodity for purchase that is placed on or proximate the table or surface, the target tag different from the reference tag, wherein the one or more reference signals include a first reference signal acquired by the antenna at the first position and a second reference signal acquired by the antenna at the second position, and wherein the one or more target signals include a first target signal acquired by the antenna at the first position and a second target signal acquired by the antenna at the second position; determine that the one or more target signals transmitted from the target tag are invalid based on a phase characteristic of the one or more reference signals transmitted from the reference tag, wherein the phase characteristic of the one or more reference signals is a threshold phase difference determined based on a reference phase difference between the first reference signal and the second reference signal; determine a target phase difference between the first target signal and the second target signal; register the commodity for purchase in response to the target phase difference being less than the reference phase difference; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase in response to the target phase difference being greater than the threshold phase difference.
5. A commodity registration system comprising: an antenna; an actuator configured to reposition the antenna between a first position and a second position; and a control system configured to: use the antenna to acquire one or more reference signals wirelessly transmitted from a reference tag whose relative position to the antenna is known, the one or more reference signals including a first reference signal acquired by the antenna at the first position and a second reference signal acquired by the antenna at the second position; use the antenna to acquire one or more target signals wirelessly transmitted from a target tag coupled to a commodity and different from the reference tag, the one or more target signals including a first target signal acquired by the antenna at the first position and a second target signal acquired by the antenna at the second position; determine a reference phase difference between the first reference signal and the second reference signal; determine a target phase difference between the first target signal and the second target signal; register the commodity for purchase in response to the target phase difference being less than the reference phase difference; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase in response to the target phase difference being greater than the reference phase difference.
6. A commodity registration system comprising: an antenna; an actuator configured to reposition the antenna between a first position and a second position; and a control system configured to: use the antenna to acquire one or more reference signals wirelessly transmitted from a reference tag whose relative position to the antenna is known, the one or more reference signals including a plurality of reference signals acquired by the antenna at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; use the antenna to acquire one or more target signals wirelessly transmitted from a target tag coupled to a commodity and different from the reference tag, the one or more target signals include a plurality of target signals acquired by the antenna at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; and determine a reference phase change curve between the first position and the second position based on a phase of each of the plurality of reference signals acquired between the first position and the second position; determine a target phase change curve between the first position and the second position based on a phase of each of the plurality of target signals acquired at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; register the commodity for purchase in response to a curvature of the target phase change curve being gentler than a curvature of the reference phase change curve; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase in response to the curvature of the target phase change curve being more abrupt than the curvature of the reference phase change curve.
Reasons for Allowance
6. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Regarding claims 1, 5 and 16, the prior art of record, specifically Nakase (US 20150304611 A1) teaches a commodity promotion system comprising: detection unit comprising: a showcase where an RF tag is disposed between a reader antenna and a target article placement region having a target article placed thereon; and an RFID reader that reads management information from the RF tag through the reader antenna, the management information including signal strength information of a response signal output by the RF tag and tag information of the RF tag; output unit that presents a customer with information; commodity presence/absence determination unit that determines presence or absence of the target article on the basis of the signal strength information in the management information; commodity information storage unit that stores commodity information list in which the tag information, commodity presence/absence information indicating presence or absence of the target article (para 72, FIG. 6, the target article 105 is disposed in a position in which the distance between the target article 105 and the tag antenna 112 of the RF tag 104, para 152, chip is embeded in each RF tag 104, a chip-less RF tag, para 35, FIG. 13, system shows a placement of a target article and positional relationship between a RF tag and reader antenna in commodity system, para 93, RFID reader 103 cannot read the tag information, or the strength or phase of the reflection electromagnetic field received from the RF tag 104, para 140, FIGS. 16 to 18, relative positional relationship among target article 105, RF tag 104 and strip conductor 1024, detection unit, of course, operates even when it is rotated by 180 degrees and change surface ).
Prior art of record, Radhakrishnan (US 20100039237 A1) teaches a RFID reader for reading RFID tags, the RFID reader comprising: a clock generating clock signals; a transceiver; a control unit receiving the clock signals; and a memory accessible by the control unit and storing computer executable instructions that when executed by the control unit cause the control unit to generate a communication schedule based upon confirmed reservation requests, and to read the RFID tags employing the communication schedule (para 34, FIG. 10, data transmission phase, para 09, tag reading protocols are based on slotted ALOHA. In these protocols, each tag reading round comprises of three phases, para 44, to FIG. 1, shown therein and designated by reference numeral 10 is a RFID system 10 utilizing a framework for fast RFID tag reading in static and mobile environments).
Prior art of record, Gyori (US Patent 10206519 B1) teaches a auto-facing unit comprising: a base, the base having a front and a back and including: two or more rails, a back clip at the back of the base, a front clip at the front of the base, one or more back engagement features extending from the back of the base, one or more front indexing features extending downwards perpendicularly from the front of the base, a fixed magnet arranged proximate to an underside of the front of the base, and a position sensor to detect a position target; a data cable extending from the underside of the front of the base; and a moveable sled retained with respect to the base by the two or more rails, the movable sled comprising: a sled base including rail engagement features that mechanically engage the two or more rails such that the sled base moves in a linear fashion along the base (col. 26, lines 4-14, actuator 816 comprise one or more of a spring or motor, actuator 816 is being located on sled 812, actuator 816 comprise a linear motor, rotary motor, used to move sled 812 towards or away from front of base 802, col. 26, lines 43-50, force 820 applied by actuator 816).
However, the prior arts of record fail to teach, make obvious, or suggest, a
commodity registration system comprising: an antenna; a reference tag configured to couple to or embed in a table or surface, an actuator configured to reposition the antenna between a first position underneath the table or surface and a second position underneath the table or surface; and a control system configured to: determine a reference phase change curve between the first position and the second position based on a phase of each of the plurality of reference signals acquired at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; use the antenna to acquire a plurality of target signals wirelessly transmitted from a target tag attached to a commodity for purchase that is placed on or proximate the table or surface as the antenna is moved via the actuator, the target tag different from the reference tag; determine a target phase change curve between the first position and the second position based on a phase of each of the plurality of target signals acquired at a plurality of positions between the first position and the second position; and refrain from registering the commodity for purchase in response to a curvature of the target phase change curve being more abrupt than a curvature of the reference phase change curve, as presented in the claimed invention.
Conclusion
7. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MIRZA ALAM whose telephone number is (469) 295-9286. The examiner can normally be reached on 8:00AM-5:00PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Steven Lim can be reached on 571-270-1210. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MIRZA F ALAM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2688