DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
This Action is in response to Application 18/983,082 filed 12/16/2024. Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
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 Objections
Claims 19 is objected to because of the following informalities: As stated in MPEP 608.1(m), “Each claim begins with a capital letter and ends with a period. Periods may not be used elsewhere in the claims except for abbreviations. See Fressola v. Manbeck, 36 USPQ2d 1211 (D.D.C. 1995).” Claim 19 currently contained multiple periods. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Interpretation
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(f):
(f) Element in Claim for a Combination. – An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure, material, or acts in support thereof, and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof.
The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. The broadest reasonable interpretation of a claim element (also commonly referred to as a claim limitation) is limited by the description in the specification when 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is invoked.
As explained in MPEP § 2181, subsection I, claim limitations that meet the following three-prong test will be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph:
(A) the claim limitation uses the term “means” or “step” or a term used as a substitute for “means” that is a generic placeholder (also called a nonce term or a non-structural term having no specific structural meaning) for performing the claimed function;
(B) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is modified by functional language, typically, but not always linked by the transition word “for” (e.g., “means for”) or another linking word or phrase, such as “configured to” or “so that”; and
(C) the term “means” or “step” or the generic placeholder is not modified by sufficient structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function.
Use of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim with functional language creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites sufficient structure, material, or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Absence of the word “means” (or “step”) in a claim creates a rebuttable presumption that the claim limitation is not to be treated in accordance with 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. The presumption that the claim limitation is not interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, is rebutted when the claim limitation recites function without reciting sufficient structure, material or acts to entirely perform the recited function.
Claim limitations in this application that use the word “means” (or “step”) are being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action. Conversely, claim limitations in this application that do not use the word “means” (or “step”) are not being interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, except as otherwise indicated in an Office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claims 12-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. As currently claimed, claim 12 recites “means for detecting, with a proximity sensing system associated with a merchant” which as discussed in paragraph 0281 of the originally filed specification, is not specifically defined as any particular hardware components. Furthermore, paragraph 0080 of the originally filed specification does discuss proximity sensors, the originally filed specification does not specifically discuss this sensor to be a component of a proximity system. Thus, the originally filed specification does not reasonably convey to one skill in the art the hardware representing the “means for detecting”.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim limitation “means for detecting” invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph. However, the written description fails to disclose the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the entire claimed function and to clearly link the structure, material, or acts to the function. Claim 12 recites “means for detecting, with a proximity sensing system associated with a merchant”. Paragraph 0281 of the originally filed specification discusses a proximity sensing system however fails to define any particular structure which defines the system. Furthermore, although paragraph 0080 does discusses a proximity sensor, the originally filed specification does not discuss or imply the sensor to be a part of the proximity system. Thus the ”means for detecting” does not reference structural element. Therefore, the claim is indefinite and is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112(f) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph;
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites what structure, material, or acts perform the entire claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links the structure, material, or acts disclosed therein to the function recited in the claim, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)).
If applicant is of the opinion that the written description of the specification already implicitly or inherently discloses the corresponding structure, material, or acts and clearly links them to the function so that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function, applicant should clarify the record by either:
(a) Amending the written description of the specification such that it expressly recites the corresponding structure, material, or acts for performing the claimed function and clearly links or associates the structure, material, or acts to the claimed function, without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(b) Stating on the record what the corresponding structure, material, or acts, which are implicitly or inherently set forth in the written description of the specification, perform the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim recites the concept of incentivizing consumers for transactions including managing donations, providing surveys, and providing rewards for surveys.
The concept of incentivizing consumer behavior, managing donations, and collecting feedback are, as drafted, concepts which are directed towards commercial/legal interactions. The concepts of incentivizing consumer behavior and collecting feedback are similar to OIP Technology which determines the concept of offer-based price optimization including collecting consumer feedback to be abstract. The concept of managing donations is further a commercial interaction as this is directing funds based on legal agreements. Accordingly, the claim recites a judicial exception.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites the additional elements of using proximity detection and sending/receiving information between different device. The devices are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function of storing information, and sending/receiving information) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Furthermore, although the invention further recites detecting a device, under the broadest reasonable interpretation in view of the specification, is still directed towards receiving information, such as receiving a signal to be processed by a generic computer processor. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a processor to perform the steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible.
The dependent claims are further directed towards the judicial exception without significantly more. The dependent claims provide limitations on when and the type of information being sent/received (such as claims 2-3, 5, 9-10), the information being recorded (such as claim 4), additional abstract steps such as outputting analytical reports similar to Electric Power Group (such as claim 6-7), comparing information (such as claim 8). These are still directed towards the judicial exception as these further define the abstract elements such as further defining the information and relationship between the information and additional abstract steps. They are not significantly more as they do not further integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and the additional element amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. The dependent claims is not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-7, 9-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tietzen et al. (US 20220405776 A1) (hereafter Tietzen).
As per claim 1:
A method comprising:
detecting, with a proximity sensing system associated with a merchant, a web enabled mobile computing device corresponding to a targeted consumer; (See Tietzen ¶0163, “A merchant may also request a list of members, based on a variety of criteria, including proximity of the location of a member to one or more locations of a merchant, member preferences, member age, or other member information. A skilled reader will recognize the variety of criteria that may be applied to a member search undertaken by a merchant, such as, for example, demographic or preference information as reflected in the marketing system data stored in the data storage area. This information may be utilized to determine the members that an incentive will be communicated to. The information may also be used to create new incentives.” Tietzen discloses detecting a mobile device of a consumer in proximity to merchant.)
receiving transaction data associated with a transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant as being indicative of an acceptance of the first sponsored offer; (See Tietzen ¶0170, “The marketing system of the present invention may be operable by the merchant to generate incentives, to track transactions, and to provide other information relating to participants and community programs. The marketing system of the present invention may further be operable by the merchant to generate analytic information providing an evaluation of the success of past incentives and other activities of the merchant.” Tietzen discloses receiving transaction data between a consumer and merchant including accepting an offer.)
recording a first obligation by the merchant to make a first donation to an affinity entity selected by the targeted customer; (See Tietzen ¶0256, “As the capture and storage of transaction details, for both online and offline transactions, may be critical to the effectiveness of the present invention, the marketing program may incorporate a means of obligating and/or otherwise requiring merchants to provide transaction details to the marketing program. For example, the provision of full and complete transaction details to the marketing program may be written as an obligation in any contract whereby the merchant becomes a participant of the marketing program. The administrator may check whether a merchant is meeting this obligation, for example by checking incentives against the transactions, or by any other checking means. A skilled reader will recognize that other means of requiring merchants to provide transaction details may also be applied.” See also Tietzen ¶0260, “After the transaction is completed the transaction data may be processed. This may involve accruing a donation to a community program, if a donation was incorporated into a merchant incentive generated by the transaction.” See also Tietzen ¶0174, “As another example, a marketing program interface may be configured to provide access to a charity to part of the marketing program. That interface may enable a member, or other participant, to select one or more charities and allocate contributions or donations to a charity, for example, such as in percentages or contribution tiers (where the first X dollars benefit supported organization A, the next Y dollars benefit supported organization Y, etc.), or a combination thereof, to one or more charities.” Tietzen discloses tracking and managing a donation associated with a transaction wherein the donation is to a charity selected by the consumer.)
sending a first interactive survey pertaining to the transaction with the merchant for delivery to the web enabled mobile computing device; (See Tietzen ¶0127, “A post-transaction survey 94 may be generated and communicated to the user if the user is a member of the marketing program. For example, the survey may be communicated to the member the next time the member logs into the marketing program, such that the survey appears as a pop-up on the sign-in page after log-in, or the survey is accessible by a link shown on the sign-in page, or so that the survey is available to a member that is signed into the marketing program via some other means. Alternatively, communicated to a communication means belonging to the member or a user that is not a member, and be available to the user on that communication means, for example, such as a communication means indicated by the member in the member's profile or a communication means indicated by the user at another point, such as during the transaction, that is capable of accessing a communication, such as a smart phone message, other chat session related activities, an email, a text, or some other communication.” Tietzen discloses sending a survey for the transaction to the consumer device.)
receiving a first survey response to the first survey from the web enabled mobile computing device; and
sending to the device a second offer from the merchant.
(See Tietzen ¶0168, “As another example, incentives may also be provided based upon the completion of a survey by a participant. Such an incentive may be: a coupon that is electronically, or otherwise, provided to a participant after a survey is completed; a donation that is made to a community program upon the completion of a survey; and/or entry in a sweepstakes. It may be possible that more than one incentive may be provided to one or more participants upon the completion of a survey.” Tietzen discloses receiving the survey results and providing an incentive/reward to the consumer device.)
As per claim 2:
The method as defined in Claim 1, further comprising sending to the web enabled mobile computing device a first offer from the merchant prior and corresponding to the transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0163, “A merchant may also request a list of members, based on a variety of criteria, including proximity of the location of a member to one or more locations of a merchant, member preferences, member age, or other member information. A skilled reader will recognize the variety of criteria that may be applied to a member search undertaken by a merchant, such as, for example, demographic or preference information as reflected in the marketing system data stored in the data storage area. This information may be utilized to determine the members that an incentive will be communicated to. The information may also be used to create new incentives.” Tietzen discloses providing an incentive based on a consumer device being in proximity to a merchant prior to a transaction.)
As per claim 3:
The method as defined in Claim 2, wherein the first offer is an incentive to the targeted customer to conduct one or more said transactions with one or more said merchants, wherein the incentive corresponds to a predetermined objective. (See Tietzen ¶0165, “The incentive may provide an inducement for the member, or other customers, to visit the merchant's store locations (or online website) where the incentive is offered and redeemable. The merchant may thereby increase the number of customers, the notoriety of the merchant's store, sales, goodwill, etc. The incentive may also produce a benefit for the community program if it is linked to a community program by, increasing awareness of the community program, increasing attendance at a community program, increasing donations to the community program, etc. Specific benefits accruing to any of a community program, merchant, member and/or any intermediary may be recognized by a report, review, results, list, etc., provided by the data mining tool, or the transaction linking utility in some instances.” Tietzen discloses the incentive to induce the consumer to conduct a transaction.)
As per claim 4:
The method as defined in Claim 3, further comprising recording a sweepstakes entry for the targeted customer to win a sweepstakes contest. (See Tietzen ¶0105, “An incentive may be communicated to a member through a variety of means, including a communication to a mobile device (e.g., a text, twitter, etc.), chat session activity, an email, a mailing, a telephone call, or any other means. The incentive may also be in many different forms, a sweepstake entry, a discount, a donation to a charity, rewards points, a coupon, or any other incentive form or combination of incentive forms (e.g., a donation to a charity and a discount, etc.).” Tietzen discloses the incentive to be a sweepstake entry.)
As per claim 5:
The method as defined in Claim 1, further comprising transmitting the amount of the first donation to a logical address corresponding to at least one of: the web enabled mobile computing device; and the affinity entity selected by the targeted customer. (See Tietzen ¶0174, “As another example, a marketing program interface may be configured to provide access to a charity to part of the marketing program. That interface may enable a member, or other participant, to select one or more charities and allocate contributions or donations to a charity, for example, such as in percentages or contribution tiers (where the first X dollars benefit supported organization A, the next Y dollars benefit supported organization Y, etc.), or a combination thereof, to one or more charities.” Tietzen discloses tracking and managing a donation associated with a transaction wherein the donation is to a charity selected by the consumer.)
As per claim 6:
The method as defined in Claim 1, further comprising generating an analytic data report relating to the transaction conducted by the targeted customer with the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0128, “The post-transaction survey may be completed by the member and the information included in the survey may be processed by the marketing program. For example, the post-transaction survey information may be processed to indicate a link between the transaction and any earlier activity, such as the query by the user, or any other activity. The information in the post-transaction survey may be utilized to confirm the transaction behavior of a user. This information may be stored by the marketing program and may be provided to the merchant, or other participants of the marketing program, in a variety of forms upon a variety of events, for example, such as the generation of a report by the merchant. The merchant may use this information to develop effective incentive programs, to evaluate the success of incentive programs, or for other purposes.” Tietzen discloses generating analytic reports based on the transaction information.)
As per claim 7:
The method as defined in Claim 1, further comprising generating a report containing data pertaining to the physical location of: the web enabled mobile computing device corresponding to the targeted customer; and the physical address corresponding to the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0128, “The post-transaction survey may be completed by the member and the information included in the survey may be processed by the marketing program. For example, the post-transaction survey information may be processed to indicate a link between the transaction and any earlier activity, such as the query by the user, or any other activity. The information in the post-transaction survey may be utilized to confirm the transaction behavior of a user. This information may be stored by the marketing program and may be provided to the merchant, or other participants of the marketing program, in a variety of forms upon a variety of events, for example, such as the generation of a report by the merchant. The merchant may use this information to develop effective incentive programs, to evaluate the success of incentive programs, or for other purposes.” Tietzen discloses generating analytic reports for the merchant at the location.)
As per claim 9:
The method as defined in Claim 1, wherein the first interactive survey pertaining to the transaction with the merchant for delivery to the web enabled mobile computing device requests information about the transaction from the targeted customer. (See Tietzen ¶0127, “A post-transaction survey 94 may be generated and communicated to the user if the user is a member of the marketing program. For example, the survey may be communicated to the member the next time the member logs into the marketing program, such that the survey appears as a pop-up on the sign-in page after log-in, or the survey is accessible by a link shown on the sign-in page, or so that the survey is available to a member that is signed into the marketing program via some other means. Alternatively, communicated to a communication means belonging to the member or a user that is not a member, and be available to the user on that communication means, for example, such as a communication means indicated by the member in the member's profile or a communication means indicated by the user at another point, such as during the transaction, that is capable of accessing a communication, such as a smart phone message, other chat session related activities, an email, a text, or some other communication.” Tietzen discloses providing the survey to the consumer device.)
As per claim 10:
The method as defined in Claim 1, further comprising generating signals for posting on at least one social network information regarding at least one of the targeted customer, the merchant, and the affinity entity selected the targeted customer. (See Tietzen ¶0192, “For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the benefit may be generated based upon a transaction between a member 41 and a merchant 40 in accordance with a merchant incentive, such as an incentive that provides a donation to an intermediary based upon a transaction. Once the benefit is received by the intermediary 42 (e.g., the community program, the foundation or other disseminating entity) the intermediary may either accept the benefit, for example if the intermediary is a community program. Or, if the intermediary is not a community program or other group that is to receive any benefit, then the intermediary may disseminate portions of, or the whole of, the benefit to one or more organizations 44, for example, such as charities, community programs, etc. The intermediary may also determine in some instances to redirect portions of, or the whole of, the benefit to an organization such as an emergency relief organization. The decision to redirect the benefit, or portions thereof, in this manner may be due to an emergency (e.g., such as the Haiti earthquake). Information outlets 48, for example, such as the media and social networks, etc., may disseminate information about the support for the organization 46 and build goodwill for the merchant.” Tietzen discloses the concept of generating social media post.)
As per claim 11:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium or media having stored thereon computer readable instructions for configuring a computer to perform the method as defined in Claim 1. (See Tietzen claim 6, “One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing software that is configured, when executed, to cause hardware to perform the method as recited in claim 1.” Tietzen discloses a computer readable medium.)
As per claim 12:
A system comprising:
means for detecting, with a proximity sensing system associated with a merchant, a web enabled mobile computing device corresponding to a targeted consumer; (See Tietzen ¶0163, “A merchant may also request a list of members, based on a variety of criteria, including proximity of the location of a member to one or more locations of a merchant, member preferences, member age, or other member information. A skilled reader will recognize the variety of criteria that may be applied to a member search undertaken by a merchant, such as, for example, demographic or preference information as reflected in the marketing system data stored in the data storage area. This information may be utilized to determine the members that an incentive will be communicated to. The information may also be used to create new incentives.” Tietzen discloses detecting a mobile device of a consumer in proximity to merchant.)
means for receiving transaction data associated with a transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant as being indicative of an acceptance of the first sponsored offer; (See Tietzen ¶0170, “The marketing system of the present invention may be operable by the merchant to generate incentives, to track transactions, and to provide other information relating to participants and community programs. The marketing system of the present invention may further be operable by the merchant to generate analytic information providing an evaluation of the success of past incentives and other activities of the merchant.” Tietzen discloses receiving transaction data between a consumer and merchant including accepting an offer.)
means for recording a first obligation by the merchant to make a first donation to an affinity entity selected by the targeted customer; (See Tietzen ¶0256, “As the capture and storage of transaction details, for both online and offline transactions, may be critical to the effectiveness of the present invention, the marketing program may incorporate a means of obligating and/or otherwise requiring merchants to provide transaction details to the marketing program. For example, the provision of full and complete transaction details to the marketing program may be written as an obligation in any contract whereby the merchant becomes a participant of the marketing program. The administrator may check whether a merchant is meeting this obligation, for example by checking incentives against the transactions, or by any other checking means. A skilled reader will recognize that other means of requiring merchants to provide transaction details may also be applied.” See also Tietzen ¶0260, “After the transaction is completed the transaction data may be processed. This may involve accruing a donation to a community program, if a donation was incorporated into a merchant incentive generated by the transaction.” See also Tietzen ¶0174, “As another example, a marketing program interface may be configured to provide access to a charity to part of the marketing program. That interface may enable a member, or other participant, to select one or more charities and allocate contributions or donations to a charity, for example, such as in percentages or contribution tiers (where the first X dollars benefit supported organization A, the next Y dollars benefit supported organization Y, etc.), or a combination thereof, to one or more charities.” Tietzen discloses tracking and managing a donation associated with a transaction wherein the donation is to a charity selected by the consumer.)
means for sending a first interactive survey pertaining to the transaction with the merchant for delivery to the web enabled mobile computing device; (See Tietzen ¶0127, “A post-transaction survey 94 may be generated and communicated to the user if the user is a member of the marketing program. For example, the survey may be communicated to the member the next time the member logs into the marketing program, such that the survey appears as a pop-up on the sign-in page after log-in, or the survey is accessible by a link shown on the sign-in page, or so that the survey is available to a member that is signed into the marketing program via some other means. Alternatively, communicated to a communication means belonging to the member or a user that is not a member, and be available to the user on that communication means, for example, such as a communication means indicated by the member in the member's profile or a communication means indicated by the user at another point, such as during the transaction, that is capable of accessing a communication, such as a smart phone message, other chat session related activities, an email, a text, or some other communication.” Tietzen discloses sending a survey for the transaction to the consumer device.)
means for receiving a first survey response to the first survey from the web enabled mobile computing device; and
means for sending to the device a second offer from the merchant.
(See Tietzen ¶0168, “As another example, incentives may also be provided based upon the completion of a survey by a participant. Such an incentive may be: a coupon that is electronically, or otherwise, provided to a participant after a survey is completed; a donation that is made to a community program upon the completion of a survey; and/or entry in a sweepstakes. It may be possible that more than one incentive may be provided to one or more participants upon the completion of a survey.” Tietzen discloses receiving the survey results and providing an incentive/reward to the consumer device.)
As per claim 13:
The system as defined in Claim 12, further comprising means for sending to the web enabled mobile computing device a first offer from the merchant prior and corresponding to the transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0163, “A merchant may also request a list of members, based on a variety of criteria, including proximity of the location of a member to one or more locations of a merchant, member preferences, member age, or other member information. A skilled reader will recognize the variety of criteria that may be applied to a member search undertaken by a merchant, such as, for example, demographic or preference information as reflected in the marketing system data stored in the data storage area. This information may be utilized to determine the members that an incentive will be communicated to. The information may also be used to create new incentives.” Tietzen discloses providing an incentive based on a consumer device being in proximity to a merchant prior to a transaction.)
As per claim 14:
The method as defined in Claim 13, wherein the first offer is an incentive to the targeted customer to conduct one or more said transactions with one or more said merchants, wherein the incentive corresponds to a predetermined objective. (See Tietzen ¶0165, “The incentive may provide an inducement for the member, or other customers, to visit the merchant's store locations (or online website) where the incentive is offered and redeemable. The merchant may thereby increase the number of customers, the notoriety of the merchant's store, sales, goodwill, etc. The incentive may also produce a benefit for the community program if it is linked to a community program by, increasing awareness of the community program, increasing attendance at a community program, increasing donations to the community program, etc. Specific benefits accruing to any of a community program, merchant, member and/or any intermediary may be recognized by a report, review, results, list, etc., provided by the data mining tool, or the transaction linking utility in some instances.” Tietzen discloses the incentive to induce the consumer to conduct a transaction.)
As per claim 15:
The method as defined in Claim 14, further comprising means for recording a sweepstakes entry for the targeted customer to win a sweepstakes contest. (See Tietzen ¶0105, “An incentive may be communicated to a member through a variety of means, including a communication to a mobile device (e.g., a text, twitter, etc.), chat session activity, an email, a mailing, a telephone call, or any other means. The incentive may also be in many different forms, a sweepstake entry, a discount, a donation to a charity, rewards points, a coupon, or any other incentive form or combination of incentive forms (e.g., a donation to a charity and a discount, etc.).” Tietzen discloses the incentive to be a sweepstake entry.)
As per claim 16:
The method as defined in Claim 12, further comprising means for transmitting the amount of the first donation to a logical address corresponding to at least one of: the web enabled mobile computing device; and the affinity entity selected by the targeted customer. (See Tietzen ¶0174, “As another example, a marketing program interface may be configured to provide access to a charity to part of the marketing program. That interface may enable a member, or other participant, to select one or more charities and allocate contributions or donations to a charity, for example, such as in percentages or contribution tiers (where the first X dollars benefit supported organization A, the next Y dollars benefit supported organization Y, etc.), or a combination thereof, to one or more charities.” Tietzen discloses tracking and managing a donation associated with a transaction wherein the donation is to a charity selected by the consumer.)
As per claim 17:
The method as defined in Claim 12, further comprising means for generating an analytic data report relating to the transaction conducted by the targeted customer with the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0128, “The post-transaction survey may be completed by the member and the information included in the survey may be processed by the marketing program. For example, the post-transaction survey information may be processed to indicate a link between the transaction and any earlier activity, such as the query by the user, or any other activity. The information in the post-transaction survey may be utilized to confirm the transaction behavior of a user. This information may be stored by the marketing program and may be provided to the merchant, or other participants of the marketing program, in a variety of forms upon a variety of events, for example, such as the generation of a report by the merchant. The merchant may use this information to develop effective incentive programs, to evaluate the success of incentive programs, or for other purposes.” Tietzen discloses generating analytic reports based on the transaction information.)
As per claim 18:
The method as defined in Claim 12, further comprising means for generating a report containing data pertaining to the physical location of: the web enabled mobile computing device corresponding to the targeted customer; and the physical address corresponding to the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0128, “The post-transaction survey may be completed by the member and the information included in the survey may be processed by the marketing program. For example, the post-transaction survey information may be processed to indicate a link between the transaction and any earlier activity, such as the query by the user, or any other activity. The information in the post-transaction survey may be utilized to confirm the transaction behavior of a user. This information may be stored by the marketing program and may be provided to the merchant, or other participants of the marketing program, in a variety of forms upon a variety of events, for example, such as the generation of a report by the merchant. The merchant may use this information to develop effective incentive programs, to evaluate the success of incentive programs, or for other purposes.” Tietzen discloses generating analytic reports for the merchant at the location.)
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 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.
Claim(s) 8, 19-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Tietzen et al. (US 20220405776 A1) (hereafter Tietzen), in view of Gerrans (US 20110112866 A1) (hereafter Gerrans).
As per claim 8:
Although Tietzen discloses the above-enclosed invention, Tietzen fails to explicitly disclose authenticating the consumer device.
However Gerrans as shown, which talks about location based content delivery and consumer interaction, teaches the concept of authenticating the consumer devices prior to transaction.
The method as defined in Claim 1, further comprising authenticating the web enabled mobile computing device prior to said transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant. (See Gerrans ¶0063, “The system of the present embodiment also includes, but is not limited to: a provider server having information related to the goods and/or services of the location-based business, the provider server accessible over a network from the location-based business; management software executing on a computer readable medium for managing the information on the provider server by an agent of the medical provider; authentication software executing on a computer readable medium for authenticating a mobile device based at least in part on the proximity of the mobile device to the medical provider; mobile interface software executing on a computer readable medium for providing the information from the provider server to a customer of the location-based business through the mobile device and for receiving data input from the customer wirelessly through the mobile device; and a business server having information related to back-office operations of the location-based business including customer information for the customer, the business server located at the location-based business and adapted to communicate with the provider server. The customer may complete a task related to a visit to the location-based business through the mobile device, and information about the task is communicated from the provider server to the business server.” Gerrans teaches the concept of authenticating the consumer device based on proximity prior to other commercial activities.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have utilized teachings of Gerrans with the invention of Tietzen. As shown Tietzen discloses utilizing proximity of consumer devices to a merchant location to determine and target incentives. Gerrans further teaches the concept of performing authentication of the consumer device upon proximity detection. Gerrans teaches this concept to properly identify the consumer and secure information which is sensitive to the consumer and merchant (See Gerrans ¶0013). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have utilized the teachings of Gerrans to ensure information is exchanged with the proper parties and ensuring information security.
As per claim 19:
A method comprising:
detecting, with a proximity sensing system associated with a merchant, a web enabled mobile computing device corresponding to a targeted consumer; (See Tietzen ¶0163, “A merchant may also request a list of members, based on a variety of criteria, including proximity of the location of a member to one or more locations of a merchant, member preferences, member age, or other member information. A skilled reader will recognize the variety of criteria that may be applied to a member search undertaken by a merchant, such as, for example, demographic or preference information as reflected in the marketing system data stored in the data storage area. This information may be utilized to determine the members that an incentive will be communicated to. The information may also be used to create new incentives.” Tietzen discloses detecting a mobile device of a consumer in proximity to merchant.)
receiving transaction data associated with the transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant as being indicative of an acceptance of the first sponsored offer; (See Tietzen ¶0170, “The marketing system of the present invention may be operable by the merchant to generate incentives, to track transactions, and to provide other information relating to participants and community programs. The marketing system of the present invention may further be operable by the merchant to generate analytic information providing an evaluation of the success of past incentives and other activities of the merchant.” Tietzen discloses receiving transaction data between a consumer and merchant including accepting an offer.)
recording a first obligation by the merchant to make a first donation to an affinity entity selected by the targeted customer; (See Tietzen ¶0256, “As the capture and storage of transaction details, for both online and offline transactions, may be critical to the effectiveness of the present invention, the marketing program may incorporate a means of obligating and/or otherwise requiring merchants to provide transaction details to the marketing program. For example, the provision of full and complete transaction details to the marketing program may be written as an obligation in any contract whereby the merchant becomes a participant of the marketing program. The administrator may check whether a merchant is meeting this obligation, for example by checking incentives against the transactions, or by any other checking means. A skilled reader will recognize that other means of requiring merchants to provide transaction details may also be applied.” See also Tietzen ¶0260, “After the transaction is completed the transaction data may be processed. This may involve accruing a donation to a community program, if a donation was incorporated into a merchant incentive generated by the transaction.” See also Tietzen ¶0174, “As another example, a marketing program interface may be configured to provide access to a charity to part of the marketing program. That interface may enable a member, or other participant, to select one or more charities and allocate contributions or donations to a charity, for example, such as in percentages or contribution tiers (where the first X dollars benefit supported organization A, the next Y dollars benefit supported organization Y, etc.), or a combination thereof, to one or more charities.” Tietzen discloses tracking and managing a donation associated with a transaction wherein the donation is to a charity selected by the consumer.)
sending a first interactive survey pertaining to the transaction with the merchant for delivery to the web enabled mobile computing device; (See Tietzen ¶0127, “A post-transaction survey 94 may be generated and communicated to the user if the user is a member of the marketing program. For example, the survey may be communicated to the member the next time the member logs into the marketing program, such that the survey appears as a pop-up on the sign-in page after log-in, or the survey is accessible by a link shown on the sign-in page, or so that the survey is available to a member that is signed into the marketing program via some other means. Alternatively, communicated to a communication means belonging to the member or a user that is not a member, and be available to the user on that communication means, for example, such as a communication means indicated by the member in the member's profile or a communication means indicated by the user at another point, such as during the transaction, that is capable of accessing a communication, such as a smart phone message, other chat session related activities, an email, a text, or some other communication.” Tietzen discloses sending a survey for the transaction to the consumer device.)
receiving a first survey response to the first survey from the web enabled mobile computing device;
sending to the device a second offer from the merchant;
(See Tietzen ¶0168, “As another example, incentives may also be provided based upon the completion of a survey by a participant. Such an incentive may be: a coupon that is electronically, or otherwise, provided to a participant after a survey is completed; a donation that is made to a community program upon the completion of a survey; and/or entry in a sweepstakes. It may be possible that more than one incentive may be provided to one or more participants upon the completion of a survey.” Tietzen discloses receiving the survey results and providing an incentive/reward to the consumer device.)
sending to the web enabled mobile computing device a first offer from the merchant prior and corresponding to the transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant; (See Tietzen ¶0163, “A merchant may also request a list of members, based on a variety of criteria, including proximity of the location of a member to one or more locations of a merchant, member preferences, member age, or other member information. A skilled reader will recognize the variety of criteria that may be applied to a member search undertaken by a merchant, such as, for example, demographic or preference information as reflected in the marketing system data stored in the data storage area. This information may be utilized to determine the members that an incentive will be communicated to. The information may also be used to create new incentives.” Tietzen discloses providing an incentive based on a consumer device being in proximity to a merchant prior to a transaction.)
recording a sweepstakes entry for the targeted customer to win a sweepstakes contest; (See Tietzen ¶0105, “An incentive may be communicated to a member through a variety of means, including a communication to a mobile device (e.g., a text, twitter, etc.), chat session activity, an email, a mailing, a telephone call, or any other means. The incentive may also be in many different forms, a sweepstake entry, a discount, a donation to a charity, rewards points, a coupon, or any other incentive form or combination of incentive forms (e.g., a donation to a charity and a discount, etc.).” Tietzen discloses the incentive to be a sweepstake entry.)
transmitting the amount of the first donation to a logical address corresponding to at least one of: the web enabled mobile computing device; and the affinity entity selected by the targeted customer; (See Tietzen ¶0174, “As another example, a marketing program interface may be configured to provide access to a charity to part of the marketing program. That interface may enable a member, or other participant, to select one or more charities and allocate contributions or donations to a charity, for example, such as in percentages or contribution tiers (where the first X dollars benefit supported organization A, the next Y dollars benefit supported organization Y, etc.), or a combination thereof, to one or more charities.” Tietzen discloses tracking and managing a donation associated with a transaction wherein the donation is to a charity selected by the consumer.)generating signals for posting on at least one social network information regarding at least one of the targeted customer, the merchant, and the affinity entity selected the targeted customer. and
generating a report that includes: data to the transaction conducted by the targeted customer with the merchant; and (See Tietzen ¶0128, “The post-transaction survey may be completed by the member and the information included in the survey may be processed by the marketing program. For example, the post-transaction survey information may be processed to indicate a link between the transaction and any earlier activity, such as the query by the user, or any other activity. The information in the post-transaction survey may be utilized to confirm the transaction behavior of a user. This information may be stored by the marketing program and may be provided to the merchant, or other participants of the marketing program, in a variety of forms upon a variety of events, for example, such as the generation of a report by the merchant. The merchant may use this information to develop effective incentive programs, to evaluate the success of incentive programs, or for other purposes.” Tietzen discloses generating analytic reports based on the transaction information.)
data pertaining to the physical location of: the web enabled mobile computing device corresponding to the targeted customer; and the physical address corresponding to the merchant. (See Tietzen ¶0128, “The post-transaction survey may be completed by the member and the information included in the survey may be processed by the marketing program. For example, the post-transaction survey information may be processed to indicate a link between the transaction and any earlier activity, such as the query by the user, or any other activity. The information in the post-transaction survey may be utilized to confirm the transaction behavior of a user. This information may be stored by the marketing program and may be provided to the merchant, or other participants of the marketing program, in a variety of forms upon a variety of events, for example, such as the generation of a report by the merchant. The merchant may use this information to develop effective incentive programs, to evaluate the success of incentive programs, or for other purposes.” Tietzen discloses generating analytic reports based on the transaction information.)
wherein: the first offer is an incentive to the targeted customer to conduct one or more said transactions with one or more said merchants, wherein the incentive corresponds to a predetermined objective; (See Tietzen ¶0165, “The incentive may provide an inducement for the member, or other customers, to visit the merchant's store locations (or online website) where the incentive is offered and redeemable. The merchant may thereby increase the number of customers, the notoriety of the merchant's store, sales, goodwill, etc. The incentive may also produce a benefit for the community program if it is linked to a community program by, increasing awareness of the community program, increasing attendance at a community program, increasing donations to the community program, etc. Specific benefits accruing to any of a community program, merchant, member and/or any intermediary may be recognized by a report, review, results, list, etc., provided by the data mining tool, or the transaction linking utility in some instances.” Tietzen discloses the incentive to induce the consumer to conduct a transaction.)
the first interactive survey pertaining to the transaction with the merchant for delivery to the web enabled mobile computing device requests information about the transaction from the targeted customer. (See Tietzen ¶0127, “A post-transaction survey 94 may be generated and communicated to the user if the user is a member of the marketing program. For example, the survey may be communicated to the member the next time the member logs into the marketing program, such that the survey appears as a pop-up on the sign-in page after log-in, or the survey is accessible by a link shown on the sign-in page, or so that the survey is available to a member that is signed into the marketing program via some other means. Alternatively, communicated to a communication means belonging to the member or a user that is not a member, and be available to the user on that communication means, for example, such as a communication means indicated by the member in the member's profile or a communication means indicated by the user at another point, such as during the transaction, that is capable of accessing a communication, such as a smart phone message, other chat session related activities, an email, a text, or some other communication.” Tietzen discloses providing the survey to the consumer device.)
Although Tietzen discloses the above-enclosed invention, Tietzen fails to explicitly disclose authenticating the consumer device.
However Gerrans as shown, which talks about location based content delivery and consumer interaction, teaches the concept of authenticating the consumer devices prior to transaction.
authenticating, prior to a transaction between the targeted customer and the merchant, the web enabled mobile computing device; (See Gerrans ¶0063, “The system of the present embodiment also includes, but is not limited to: a provider server having information related to the goods and/or services of the location-based business, the provider server accessible over a network from the location-based business; management software executing on a computer readable medium for managing the information on the provider server by an agent of the medical provider; authentication software executing on a computer readable medium for authenticating a mobile device based at least in part on the proximity of the mobile device to the medical provider; mobile interface software executing on a computer readable medium for providing the information from the provider server to a customer of the location-based business through the mobile device and for receiving data input from the customer wirelessly through the mobile device; and a business server having information related to back-office operations of the location-based business including customer information for the customer, the business server located at the location-based business and adapted to communicate with the provider server. The customer may complete a task related to a visit to the location-based business through the mobile device, and information about the task is communicated from the provider server to the business server.” Gerrans teaches the concept of authenticating the consumer device based on proximity prior to other commercial activities.)
Therefore it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have utilized teachings of Gerrans with the invention of Tietzen. As shown Tietzen discloses utilizing proximity of consumer devices to a merchant location to determine and target incentives. Gerrans further teaches the concept of performing authentication of the consumer device upon proximity detection. Gerrans teaches this concept to properly identify the consumer and secure information which is sensitive to the consumer and merchant (See Gerrans ¶0013). Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of filing to have utilized the teachings of Gerrans to ensure information is exchanged with the proper parties and ensuring information security.
As per claim 20:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium or media having stored thereon computer readable instructions for configuring a computer to perform the method as defined in Claim 19. (See Tietzen claim 6, “One or more non-transitory computer-readable media storing software that is configured, when executed, to cause hardware to perform the method as recited in claim 1.” Tietzen discloses a computer readable medium.)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VINCENT M CAO whose telephone number is (571)270-5598. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 11-7.
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, ILANA SPAR can be reached at (571) 270-7537. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/VINCENT M CAO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3622