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 .
Status of Claims
This is in reply to communication filed on 07/08/2026.
Claims 1, 4-5 and 8-9 have been amended.
Claims 3 and 7 have been canceled.
Claims 1-2, 4-6 and 8-10 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
In response to Applicant argument, filled on 07/08/2026, submitted under the title “Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 103” in pages 6-9. Applicant's arguments have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues that Arai separately provides customer display 12 for displaying transaction information and electronic signature pad 30 to acquiring the customer’s signature, and that the cited references fail to suggest incorporating these functions into the same customer display. The examiner respectfully disagrees as the rejection is based on the combined teachings of Arai and SHIMOIRISA, rather than Arai alone. Arai teaches electronic signature pad 30 having controller 60 and touch pad 64 for enabling signature input, detecting touch points, generating signature information, and transmitting the signature information to POS terminal 10 (see, e.g. Arai [0041-0042], [0049], [0061], [0073]). SHIMOIRISA further teaches tablet terminal 3a having a touchscreen that displays transaction information and a signature area and receives the customer’s signature under control of controller 100 (SHIMOIRISA [0031], [0054], [0060-0062]).
Applicant’s argument that SHIMOIRISA’s controller 100 resides in settlement terminal 3 rather than tablet terminal 3a does not render the combination nonobvious. The examiner respectfully disagrees as it would have been obvious to incorporate controller 100 into tablet terminal 3a to provide an integral, self-contained customer display while maintaining the same display and touchscreen control functions, an obvious integration of two known elements in the art while maintain their functionality is consistent with MPEP 2144.04(V)(B) and In re Larson. Accordingly, the proposed combination does not merely substitute Arai’s customer display 12 its signature pad; rather, it applies SHIMOIRISA’s teaching of providing transaction display and signature input functionality through the customer touchscreen to Arai’s POS/signature acquisition system.
Applicant further argues that the stated rational of permitting the customer to recognize the settlement contents does not explain why Arai’s components would be reconfigured. The examiner respectfully disagrees because the modification predictably consolidates the customer facing transaction display and signature input functions into a customer touchscreen through which the customer can review transaction information and provide the signature associated with that transaction. The modification therefore provides a compact, integrated customer interface while preserving the respective functions taught by the references. Accordingly, the rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC § 103 is maintained.
For claims 5 and 9, Applicant presents substantially the same arguments with respect to independent claims 5 and 9. For the reasons discussed above regarding claim 1, these arguments are likewise unpersuasive, and the rejections of claims 5 and 9 are maintained.
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.
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, 4-6 and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 103 as being unpatentable over Arai (US 20190018510 A1, hereinafter “Arai”) in view of SHIMOIRISA (US 20190066077 A1, hereinafter “SHIMOIRISA”).
Regarding claims 1, 5 and 9. Arai discloses a point of sale (POS) system for acquiring a signature of a customer, comprising:
a POS terminal; (Arai, [0019]; “As shown in FIG. 1, a settlement system 1 includes a POS terminal 10 … The POS terminal 10 performs, when a customer purchases a product, product registering processing of registering a product to be purchased, and settlement processing for a payment procedure of the customer regarding the purchased product. Note that the POS terminal 10 is an example of a settlement terminal”) and
a customer display including a touchscreen (Arai, [0019]; “As shown in FIG. 1, a settlement system 1 includes … an electronic signature pad 30 … The electronic signature pad 30 is a tablet terminal for electronically inputting a signature of the customer who performs settlement with a credit card”), and a processing module that is electrically connected to said touchscreen and said POS terminal, (Arai, [0047]; “The communication controlling module 84 controls the connection I/F 52 to perform communication between the POS terminal 10 and the electronic signature pad 30”, [0032]; “the electronic signature pad 30 includes a controller 60”, also see Arai’s electronic signature pad 30 contains a control unit for controlling its components and communicates with POS terminal 10 through the connection interface in Arai [0025-0030]) said processing module being configured to and
control said touchscreen to allow the customer to perform a signing operation on said signing area, (Arai, [0049]; “Under the condition that the state detecting module 90 has detected that the POS terminal 10 is in the predetermined state, the input preparing module 92 sets the electronic signature pad 30 to a state where a signature input is acceptable”, also see Arai teaching of preparing electronic signature pad 30 for receiving a customer’s signature and receiving the customer’s signature input, see Arai [0041- 0044])
control said touchscreen to detect touch points on said touchscreen (Arai, [0061]; “When the customer inputs the signature 36a to the electronic signature pad 30 in handwriting, the controller 60 scans the touchpad 64 … the controller 60 detects, as two-dimensional information, a group of dots at which the stylus pen 34 touches the touchpad 64”) and to generate multiple detecting signals that are related respectively to the touch points as the signing operation is being performed by the customer on said signing area of said touchscreen, (Arai, [0016]; “The touchpad includes an input screen for receiving a signature of a customer and detects a touch operation of the customer that is input to the input screen”, [0033]; “The touchpad 64 detects a position of the pen tip of the stylus pen 34 being in contact with the touchpad 64, on the basis of the detection principle of a resistive system, a capacitive system, or the like. Note that a stylus pen corresponding to the system of the touchpad 64 is used as the stylus pen 34”. Also see Arai [0028-0030], [0043-0044] for detecting the stylus input on the electronic signature pad)
generate signature data based on the detecting signals that are generated by said touchscreen during the signature acquisition procedure, (Arai, [0061]; “The controller 60 stores, as signature information, the detected two-dimensional information in the RAM 60c. In other words, in the case of FIG. 6B, the input signature 36a is stored in the RAM 60c”, also see Arai [0044] and [0062]) and
transmit the signature data to said POS terminal. (Arai, [0073]; “In Step S9, the input receiving module 94 detects whether a new signature is input or not for a predetermined time on the basis of scan results of the scanning processing module 98 … the controller 60 outputs the signature information, which is stored in the RAM 60c, to the POS terminal 10”. Also see Arai [0062] for that the POS terminal 10 receives the entered signature information (handwriting) form electronic signature pad 30)
Arai substantially discloses the claimed invention; however, Arai fails to explicitly disclose the “control said touchscreen to display a signing area on said touchscreen during a signature acquisition procedure for acquiring a signature of the customer; wherein said POS terminal is configured to transmit purchase information that is related to a purchase to be made by the customer to said processing module, and said processing module is further configured to, in response to receipt of the purchase information from said POS terminal, control said touchscreen to display the purchase information on said touchscreen”. However, SHIMOIRISA teaches:
control said touchscreen to display a signing area (SHIMOIRISA, Fig. 7; “W2”, [0071]; The signature column W2”, [0067]; “the tablet terminal 3 a makes the liquid crystal panel 32 a display the total amount display column W1, the signature column W2”) on said touchscreen during a signature acquisition procedure for acquiring a signature of the customer, (SHIMOIRISA, [0019]; “The controller makes the display a signature column for inputting a signature of the customer on the same screen as a screen on which the acquired total amount for each the currency kind, and accepts an input of the signature to the signature column by the customer via the display”, [0071]; “The signature column W2 is a column in which the customer performs a signature 305”. Also see SHIMOIRISA [0054-0062] for signature module 106 implementation that causes LCD panel 32a of tablet terminal 3a to display signature column W2 for receiving the customer’s signature)
wherein said POS terminal is configured to transmit purchase information (SHIMOIRISA teaching of transmit settlement amount, see SHIMOIRISA [0028] and [0038]) that is related to a purchase to be made by the customer to said processing module, (SHIMOIRISA teaches terminal 2 acquires commodity information including commodity name and price and stores the commodity information for all commodities involved in the transaction. It calculates the total amount based on that commodity information, see [0026-0027], and see SHIMOIRISA [0008] for generating customer’s payment amount/total prices as the settlement amount and transmitted information representing the generated settlement amount to settlement terminal 3 through LAN 8. Also see SHIMOIRISA [0026-0028] and [0038]) and
said processing module (SHIMOIRISA teaches controller 100/settlement terminal 3, see [0042-0043]. It would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to incorporate controller 100 into tablet terminal 3a to provide an integral, self-contained customer display while maintaining the same display and touchscreen control functions, as an obvious integration of two known elements in the art while maintain their functionality consistent with MPEP 2144.04(V)(B); Making Integral and In re Larson) is further configured to, in response to receipt of the purchase information from said POS terminal, control said touchscreen to display the purchase information on said touchscreen. (SHIMOIRISA teaches that controller 100 is connected to tablet terminal 3a and causes tablet terminal 3a to display the total amount for each currency, selection information, and a signature column, see [0043], and teaching the display module 104 makes the liquid crystal panel 32a of the tablet terminal 3a to be connected to the settlement terminal 3 display the total amount display column W1, check columns 301 a, 301 b (refer to FIG. 7), and so on, see [0060])
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Arai to include control said touchscreen to display a signing area on said touchscreen during a signature acquisition procedure for acquiring a signature of the customer; wherein said POS terminal is configured to transmit purchase information that is related to a purchase to be made by the customer to said processing module, and said processing module is further configured to, in response to receipt of the purchase information from said POS terminal, control said touchscreen to display the purchase information on said touchscreen, as taught by SHIMOIRISA, where this would be performed in order to make the customer correctly recognize the settlement contents, see SHIMOIRISA [0005], and provides a compact, integrated customer interface while preserving the respective functions taught by the references.
Regarding claims 2, 6 and 10. The combination of Arai in view of SHIMOIRISA disclose the POS system as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said processing module is further configured to, based on the detecting signals, control said touchscreen to display in real time, a stroke of the signature that is composed by the touch points detected by said touchscreen as the signing operation is being performed on said signing area of said touchscreen. (Arai, [0061] FIG. 6B shows a display state of the touchpad 64, which is based on the information stored in the RAM 60c of the controller 60, when the customer inputs a signature 36a to the electronic signature pad 30 in handwriting with the stylus pen 34”, [0011]; “FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of a display state of the touchpad of the electronic signature pad”)
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Regarding claims 4 and 8. The combination of Arai in view of SHIMOIRISA disclose the POS system as claimed in Claim [[3]] 1, wherein
Arai substantially discloses the claimed invention; however, Arai fails to explicitly disclose the “the purchase information includes a name of a good, a unit price of the good, and a total price for the purchase to be made by the customer”. However, SHIMOIRISA teaches:
the purchase information includes a name of a good, a unit price of the good, and a total price for the purchase to be made by the customer. (SHIMOIRISA, [0030-0031]; “The settlement terminal 3 is a device to settle the above-described total amount of the prices calculated by the POS terminal 2 … display information generated by the settlement terminal 3 is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 32 a”, [0038]; “The controller 600 connects to a display 22 for a salesclerk, a display 23 for a customer … Each of the displays 22, 23 displays the commodity name, a money amount of the commodity, a total amount of one transaction, and so on , and outputs an operation signal corresponding to the operation information”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Arai to include the purchase information includes a name of a good, a unit price of the good, and a total price for the purchase to be made by the customer, as taught by SHIMOIRISA, where this would be performed in order to make the customer correctly recognize the settlement contents. See SHIMOIRISA [0005].
Conclusion
1. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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.
2. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Guise et al. (US 20210326826 A1) for teaching a consumer terminal for a point-of-sale (POS) system used in performing a POS transaction between a merchant and a consumer. The consumer sign for the transaction, e.g., with a stylus or finger on an electronic signature capture device with a touch sensitive pad.
Allgeier et al. (US 20030074318 A1) for teaching generating a completed payment document ready for signature in image form and enabling signature in image form.
3. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AVIA SALMAN whose telephone number is (313)446-4901. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, FAHD OBEID can be reached at (571) 270-3324. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/AVIA SALMAN/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3627
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