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 .
Double Patenting
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 § 2146 et seq. 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 filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
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Claims 1-20 rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1, 1, 2, 4, (2, 3), 4, 7, 8, 9, 1, 11, 1, 5, 14, 2, 1, 5, 5, 5, and 1 of U.S. Patent No 12211308 B2. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both are directed to replying a user query by combination of information received in visual and auditory form by and proximity of the item around the user. The only difference is the Claim 1 of the current application is broad in scope than the cited patent. However, claim 2 recites precisely similar features to claim 1 of the cited patent.
Current Application
US Patent No.12211308 B2
Claim 1. A processor comprising: one or more circuits to:
determine, from an auditory query of a user, an intent;
determine, from visual information associated with the user, one or more items in a vicinity of the user; and
generate, based on a relationship between the intent and the one or more items, a response to the auditory query.
Claim 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving an auditory query;
determining an intent of the auditory query;
determining the auditory query provides insufficient information to identify an item associated with the auditory query; requesting, responsive to the determination the audio query provides insufficient information, visual data associated with the item; receiving the visual data; identifying, based at least in part on the visual data, the item; and providing a response to the auditory query.
Claim 2. The processor of claim 1, wherein the one or more circuits are further to: determine the auditory query provides insufficient information to identify the one or more items; and identify, based at least in part on the visual information and the auditory query, the one or more items.
Claim 1.
Claim 3
Claim 2
Claim 4
Claim 4
Claim 5
Claim 2 and Claim 3
Claim 6
Claim 4
Claim 7
Claim 7
Claim 8
Claim 8
Claim 9
Claim 9
Claim 10
Claim 1
Claim 11
Claim 11
Claim 12
Claim 1
Claim 13
Claim 5
Claim 14
Claim 14
Claim 15
Claim 2
Claim 16
Claim 1
Claim 17
Claim 5
Claim 18
Claim 5
Claim 19
Claim 5
Claim 20
Claim 1
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 10 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by Roggeveen et al. ("Customer-interfacing retail technologies in 2020 & beyond: An integrative framework and research directions." Journal of retailing 96.3 (2020): 299-309).
Regarding Claim 1,
Roggeveen discloses A processor comprising: one or more circuits to: determine, from an auditory query of a user, an intent; (Roggeveen, pg. 301-303, discloses needs management technology, Technologies devoted to customer needs management enable data collection and analysis efforts to understand customer need, then provide personalization and recommendations to respond to those needs. Tactics to assess, anticipate and manage needs are crucial to manufactures, and sellers that seek to design appealing product offerings, as well as retailers that try to design an optimal portfolio of products. Table 1. Voice command technology, devices that answer questions related to shopping, can also make purchases smart; Robotic statics assistance, Store apps, product finder, apps guide customers by making recommendations, revealing where items are located, and plotting store map; voice activated command technology that answers user’s queries related to production information (intent of user to know information about a product)
determine, from visual information associated with the user, one or more items in a vicinity of the user; (Roggeveen, pg. 301-303, discloses Beacon Technology for App or cart-based technology that provides information about product, prices and promotions as people move a cart or mobile device through physical aisles, can also suggest paths through aisle; visual location of user is determined and products information related to user location is determined) and
generate, based on a relationship between the intent and the one or more items, a response to the auditory query. (Roggeveen, pg. 301-303, discloses needs management technology, technologies devoted to customer needs management enable data collection and analysis efforts to understand customer need, then provide personalization and recommendations to respond to those needs. Tactics to assess, anticipate and manage needs are crucial to manufactures, and sellers that seek to design appealing product offerings, as well as retailers that try to design an optimal portfolio of products. Table 1. Voice command technology, devices that answer questions related to shopping, can also make purchases smart; Robotic statics assistance, Store apps, product finder, apps guide customers by making recommendations, revealing where items are located, and plotting store map; store apps that answers user’s queries related to production information (intent of user to know information about a product and/or product information within the vicinity of user or customer).
Claims 10 and 16 recite method with steps and system with
Elements corresponding to the processor elements recited in Claim 1. Therefore, the
recited steps of the method claim 10 and elements of system claim 16 are
mapped to the proposed combination in the same manner as the corresponding elements of Claim 1.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1, 10 and 16 would be allowable over prior art and if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. non-statutory double patenting by timely submission and approval of eTD and 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2), set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claims 2-9, 11-15 and 17-20 would be allowable over prior art and if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. non-statutory double patenting by timely submission and approval of eTD, set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
US-20160259329-A1 (High et al., Apparatuses, components and methods are provided herein useful to provide assistance to customers and/or workers in a shopping facility. In some embodiments, a shopping facility personal assistance system comprises: a plurality of motorized transport units located in and configured to move through a shopping facility space; a plurality of user interface units, each corresponding to a respective motorized transport unit during use of the respective motorized transport unit; and a central computer system having a network interface such that the central computer system witlessly communicates with one or both of the plurality of motorized transport units and the plurality of user interface units, wherein the central computer system is configured to control movement of the plurality of motorized transport units through the shopping facility space based at least on inputs from the plurality of user interface units, Abstract; [0067] The audio input 416, in turn, provides a mechanism whereby, for example, a user provides verbal input to the control circuit 406. That verbal input can comprise, for example, instructions, inquiries, or information. So configured, a user can provide, for example, a question to the motorized transport unit 102 (such as, “Where are the towels?”). The control circuit 406 can cause that verbalized question to be transmitted to the central computer system 106 via the motorized transport unit's wireless transceiver 412. The central computer system 106 can process that verbal input to recognize the speech content and to then determine an appropriate response. That response might comprise, for example, transmitting back to the motorized transport unit 102 specific instructions regarding how to move the motorized transport unit 102 (via the aforementioned motorized wheel system 410) to the location in the shopping facility 101 where the towels are displayed; [0086] Route Optimization: In some embodiments, the central computer system automatically generates a travel route for one or more motorized transport units through the shopping facility space. In some embodiments, this route is based on one or more of a user provided list of items entered by the user via a user interface unit 114; user selected route preferences entered by the user via the user interface unit 114; user profile data received from a user information database (e.g., from one of databases 126); and product availability information from a retail inventory database (e.g., from one of databases 126). In some cases, the route intends to minimize the time it takes to get through the facility, and in some cases, may route the shopper to the least busy checkout area. Frequently, there will be multiple possible optimum routes. The route chosen may take the user by things the user is more likely to purchase (in case they forgot something), and away from things they are not likely to buy (to avoid embarrassment). That is, routing a customer through sporting goods, women's lingerie, baby food, or feminine products, who has never purchased such products based on past customer behavior would be non-productive, and potentially embarrassing to the customer. In some cases, a route may be determined from multiple possible routes based on past shopping behavior, e.g., if the customer typically buys a cold Diet Coke product, children's shoes or power tools, this information would be used to add weight to the best alternative routes, and determine the route accordingly; [0103] The location controller 602 may also be communicationally coupled with one or more databases 126. The databases 126 can store substantially any relevant information such as but not limited to store mapping information, lighting patterns, light source identifiers, light source mapping, motorized transport unit identifying information, capabilities of the motorized transport units, movable item container identifying information, product information, location information, commands, codes, code location mapping, software, applications, executables, log and/or historic information, customer information (e.g., preferences, log-in information, contact information, etc.), other such relevant information, and typically a combination of two or more of such information. Similarly, some or all of the information stored and/or accessible through the databases may be stored at one or more of the location controller 602, the central computer system 106, the motorized transport units 102, the movable item containers 104, the user interface units, and the like; [0104] As described above, the motorized transport units 102 are self-propelled and configured to move themselves throughout at least some, if not all of the shopping facility. In some embodiments, the motorized transport units 102 witlessly receive commands from the location controller 602 (or the control circuit) to direct the motorized transport units to desired locations and/or along desired routes within or outside of the shopping facility. The motorized transport units may additionally or alternatively be configured to operate autonomously and/or at least partially autonomously from the central computer system (CCS). Further, in some embodiments, the motorized transport units 102 are configured to be fixed with or removably cooperated with the movable item containers 104 to move the movable item containers throughout authorized areas of the shopping facility, and in some instances outside of the shopping facility. The movable item containers 104 are configured to be used by customers and/or shopping facility associates or other employees in transporting products through the shopping facility. For example, in some embodiments, the movable item containers can be baskets, bins, wheeled carts, wheeled pallets, advertising systems, and/or other such movable item containers. For simplicity, the embodiments below are described with respect to carts or shopping carts. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, however, that the movable item containers are not limited to carts, but can be other objects configured to carry products).
US-20190108578-A1 (Spivack et al., Systems and methods of Rewards Object Spawning And Augmented Reality Commerce Platform Supporting Multiple Seller Entities are disclosed. In one aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure include a method, which may be implemented on a system, to associating a virtual object with a physical location in a real world environment. The method can further include one or more of, rendering a model of the product offering, in the virtual object, enabling user interaction with the model of the product offering via the virtual object and/or updating the rendering of the model of the product offering, in the augmented reality environment, in response to the user interaction. The model of the product offering depicted in the virtual object can be rendered in 3D or substantially in 360 degree, Abstract)
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PINALBEN V PATEL whose telephone number is (571)270-5872. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10am - 8pm.
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/Pinalben Patel/Examiner, Art Unit 2673
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