DETAILED ACTION
The communication is a First Action Non-Final on the merits. Claims 1-15, as originally filed, are currently pending and have been considered below.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 2025 January 16 was/were in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. § 120, 121, 365(c), or 371 is acknowledged. The instant application is a national phase application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT/JP2020/014503.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 13 recites the limitation "the second customer" in “and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the second customer as customer data on the basis of”. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: Claims 1-12, 13, 14 are directed towards a system. Claim 15 is directed towards a method. Thus, these claims, on their face, are directed to one of the statutory categories of 35 U.S.C. § 101.
Step 2A - Prong One: As per MPEP 2106.04, Prong One asks does the claim recite an abstract idea, law of nature, or natural phenomenon. In Prong One examiners evaluate whether the claim(s) recites a judicial exception; that is, whether the claim(s) set forth or describe a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea.
Claim 1 is presented here as a representative claim for specific analysis (The underlined claim terms here are interpreted as additional elements beyond the abstract idea.):
An information processing device comprising a display control unit configured to cause a display device installed at a position in a store to display an advertisement on the basis of:
customer data including information in which viewed advertisement information indicating an advertisement viewed by a first customer out of advertisements displayed on the display device,
purchased product information indicating a product purchased by the first customer,
and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the first customer are correlated;
and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.
The claims here are based on the recitation of an abstract idea (i.e. recitation other than the additional elements delineated here with underlining and further addressed per Step 2A - Prong Two and Step 2B). The claims recite the abstract idea of selecting advertisements based on user data of advertisements viewed, products purchased, and customer attributes which falls within certain methods of organizing human activity.
The phrase "certain methods of organizing human activity" applies to fundamental economic principles or practices including hedging insurance, mitigating risk; commercial or legal interactions including agreements in the form of contracts, legal obligations, advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors business relations; managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people including social activities teaching, and following rules or instructions. Refer to MPEP 2106.04(a)(2) II. A-C.
The Remaining Claims: The additional independent claims fail to recite any additional elements beyond those identified above. The dependent claims recite fail to recite any additional elements beyond those already identified except: “a storage unit configured to store the customer data” (claim 7); and “a communication unit configured to communicate with a server storing the customer data.” (claim 8).
The dependent claims further reiterate the same abstract idea with further embellishments: presenting ads according records in a table (claims 2, 3); presenting ads based on attributes of an additional person (claims 4, 5); attributes is frequency of purchase (claim 6); additional hardware components (claims 7, 8); details regarding customer information (claim 9); an additional point of sale (claim 10); conditions for display of ads (claims 11, 12). Therefore, the identified claims fall within the subject matter groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a)(2).
Step 2A - Prong Two: As per MPEP 2106.04.II.A.2, Prong Two determines if the claim(s) recite additional elements that integrate the judicial exception into a practical application.
As for the additional elements of: “An information processing device”, “a display control unit”, “a display device”, “a storage unit configured to store the customer data”, and “a communication unit configured to communicate with a server storing the customer data.”. To be patent-eligible, the elements additional to the identified abstract idea must amount to more than "an instruction to apply the abstract idea . . . using some unspecified, generic computer" to render the claim patent-eligible. Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 226 (2014). It would have been readily apparent to one having ordinary skill in the art (PHOSITA) at the time the invention was filed that the additional elements represent generic computing devices. Therefore, the claims amount to no more than a mere method, system, and/or computer program product to implement the abstract idea on a generic computer system. See MPEP § 2106.05(f).
The ordered combination of these additional elements amounts to generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment or field of use (MPEP 2106.05(h)). The ordered combination offers nothing more than employing a generic configuration of computer devices and computer functions. The claims do not amount to a practical application, similar to how limiting the abstract idea in Flook to petrochemical and oil-refining industries was insufficient.
Step 2B: As per MPEP 2106.05, the additional elements are analyzed, both individually and in combination, to determine whether an "inventive concept" is furnished by an element or combination of elements that is recited in the claim in addition to (beyond) the judicial exception, and is sufficient to ensure that the claim, as a whole, amounts to significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
As the claims do not contain additional elements other than those set forth above in Step 2A, the analysis is complete and the claims are found to be absent additional elements that amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
References of Record but not Applied in the Current Grounds of Rejection
The prior art listed below is made of record as considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and is not relied upon in the grounds of rejection presented in this Office action. Those starred with '*' were added to this list in this Office action. Those without "*" were added in a previous Office action and are not repeated on a PTO-892 Notice of References Cited form, but are maintained herein for informational purposes only.
* D. A. Mora Hernandez, in “How Computer Vision Provides Physical Retail with a Better View on Customers”, describes systems and techniques for using computer vision to enhance retail sales via a better understanding of customers.
Examiner's Note on the Format of the Prior Art Rejections
The prior art rejections below contain underlined markings of the limitations (e.g. sample limitation). The underlined portions of a claim are addressed at the end of the grounds of rejection for that claim. Examiner notes that the underlining of the claim language is not a statement that the primary reference does not teach that language, but simply that said claim language is addressed at the end of the grounds of rejection for that claim.
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.
Claim(s) 1, 7-12, 14, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
Shibuya et al. (Pub. #: US 2023/0142288 A1) in view of
Hicks (Pub. #: US 2009/0257620 A1).
Claim(s) 1:
An information processing device comprising a display control unit configured to cause a display device installed at a position in a store to display an advertisement on the basis of:
(Shibuya discloses an information processing device with an attached camera and signage that displays advertisements in a store in at least Figures 1A, 1B, and 8 and 0035-0039.)
customer data including information in which viewed advertisement information indicating an advertisement viewed by a first customer out of advertisements displayed on the display device,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information including the advertisements viewed by the customer in at least 0053, 0062-0064.)
purchased product information indicating a product purchased by the first customer,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information that includes a history of purchases made by the customer in at least 0053, 0061, 0064.)
and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the first customer are correlated;
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.
As for, "and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.": Shibuya discloses a video capture system that captures images of a customer within a store in at least 0035-0039 and 0088. Shibuya discloses a camera that likely captures the advertising display in at least Figure 1A. Shibuya does not appear to specify that the imaging area intentionally captures images of the advertisements on the display. However, Hicks teaches a technique of intentionally pointing a camera at an advertisement display in at least Figure 15, 0109-0113, and 0141-0147.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of camera-based audit of advertisement display taught by Hicks. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Hicks derives from the desire to audit the display of advertisements and to determine information regarding the advertisements performance and strategy (Hicks: 0002, 0003, 0147).
Claim(s) 7:
a storage unit configured to store the customer data.
(Shibuya discloses a memory storage medium and a database for storing "customer attribute information" and "history information" in at least Figure 2 and 0043-0049.)
Claim(s) 8:
a communication unit configured to communicate with a server storing the customer data.
(Shibuya discloses a memory storage medium and a database for storing "customer attribute information" and "history information" in at least Figure 2 and 0043-0049. Shibuya discloses a communication unit in at least 0044 and 0045.)
Claim(s) 9:
wherein the customer data includes information in which the viewed advertisement information, the purchased product information, the customer attribute information, and situation information indicating a situation in the first imaging area are correlated,
(Shibuya discloses a video capture system that captures images of a customer within a store in at least 0035-0039 and 0088. Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
and wherein the display control unit causes the display device to display an advertisement based on attributes of a person and the situation in the first imaging area on the basis of the first captured image and the customer data when the person is included in the first captured image.
(Shibuya discloses presenting specific products to users based on various conditions such as customer attributes which include viewed advertisements and products purchased in at least Figure 7, 0053, 0054, and 0069-0072.)
Claim(s) 10:
a generation unit configured to identify an advertisement viewed by the first customer out of advertisements displayed on the display device,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information including the advertisements viewed by the customer in at least 0053, 0062-0064.)
a product purchased by the first customer,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information that includes a history of purchases made by the customer in at least 0053, 0061, 0064.)
and attributes of the first customer on the basis of a second captured image in which a second imaging area including a position at which the first customer performs a procedure for purchasing a product in the area of the store is imaged and the first captured image
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086. Shibuya discloses a pair of cameras that captures a customer removing and/or replacing items on a shelf in at least 0087-0088, which is part of a procedure for purchasing a product.)
and to generate the customer data on the basis of the identified advertisement, the identified product, and the identified attributes.
(Shibuya discloses this information in a table format in at least Figure 7 and 0053 and 0054.)
Claim(s) 11:
wherein the display control unit causes the display device to display an advertisement according to a predetermined interrupt condition when the interrupt condition has been satisfied.
(Shibuya discloses waiting until a customer visits a store, which is an interrupt condition, to display advertisements based on product stock levels and customer attributes in at least 0066-0072.)
Claim(s) 12:
wherein the interrupt condition includes a plurality of conditions, and wherein the display control unit determines that the interrupt condition has been satisfied when at least one of the plurality of conditions has been satisfied and causes the display device to display an advertisement based on the satisfied at least one condition.
(Shibuya discloses waiting until a customer visits a store, which is an interrupt condition, to display advertisements based on product stock levels and customer attributes in at least 0066-0072.)
Claim(s) 14:
An information processing system comprising: a display device installed at a position in a store; and an information processing device configured to cause the display device to display an advertisement, wherein the information processing device comprises: a display control unit configured to cause the display device to display an advertisement on the basis of:
(Shibuya discloses an information processing device with an attached camera and signage that displays advertisements in a store in at least Figures 1A, 1B, and 8 and 0035-0039.)
customer data including information in which viewed advertisement information indicating an advertisement viewed by a first customer out of advertisements displayed on the display device,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information including the advertisements viewed by the customer in at least 0053, 0062-0064.)
purchased product information indicating a product purchased by the first customer,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information that includes a history of purchases made by the customer in at least 0053, 0061, 0064.)
and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the first customer are correlated;
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.
As for, "and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.": Shibuya discloses a video capture system that captures images of a customer within a store in at least 0035-0039 and 0088. Shibuya discloses a camera that likely captures the advertising display in at least Figure 1A. Shibuya does not appear to specify that the imaging area intentionally captures images of the advertisements on the display. However, Hicks teaches a technique of intentionally pointing a camera at an advertisement display in at least Figure 15, 0109-0113, and 0141-0147.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of camera-based audit of advertisement display taught by Hicks. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Hicks derives from the desire to audit the display of advertisements and to determine information regarding the advertisements performance and strategy (Hicks: 0002, 0003, 0147).
Claim(s) 15:
An information processing method comprising: causing a display device installed at a position in a store to display an advertisement on the basis of:
(Shibuya discloses an information processing device with an attached camera and signage that displays advertisements in a store in at least Figures 1A, 1B, and 8 and 0035-0039.)
customer data including information in which there are correlated viewed advertisement information indicating an advertisement viewed by a first customer out of advertisements displayed on the display device,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information including the advertisements viewed by the customer in at least 0053, 0062-0064.)
purchased product information indicating a product purchased by the first customer, and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the first customer;
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.
As for, "and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.": Shibuya discloses a video capture system that captures images of a customer within a store in at least 0035-0039 and 0088. Shibuya discloses a camera that likely captures the advertising display in at least Figure 1A. Shibuya does not appear to specify that the imaging area intentionally captures images of the advertisements on the display. However, Hicks teaches a technique of intentionally pointing a camera at an advertisement display in at least Figure 15, 0109-0113, and 0141-0147.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of camera-based audit of advertisement display taught by Hicks. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Hicks derives from the desire to audit the display of advertisements and to determine information regarding the advertisements performance and strategy (Hicks: 0002, 0003, 0147).
Claim(s) 2-6, 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over
Shibuya et al. (Pub. #: US 2023/0142288 A1) in view of
Hicks (Pub. #: US 2009/0257620 A1) in view of
Ko (Pub. #: KR 20220123867 A).
Claim(s) 2:
wherein the customer data is data in a table format including a record in which the viewed advertisement information, the purchased product information, and the customer attribute information are correlated,
(Shibuya discloses this information in a table format in at least Figure 7 and 0053 and 0054.)
wherein the display control unit identifies one or more first target records satisfying a first specific condition out of the customer data
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
and causes the display device to display an advertisement on the basis of the identified one or more first target records when no person is included in the first captured image,
and wherein the first specific condition is a record in which a product correlated with the advertisement indicated by the viewed advertisement information and a product indicated by the purchased product information match.
(Shibuya discloses presenting specific products to users based on various conditions such as customer attributes which include viewed advertisements and products purchased in at least Figure 7, 0053, 0054, and 0069-0072.)
As for, "and causes the display device to display an advertisement on the basis of the identified one or more first target records when no person is included in the first captured image,": Shibuya discloses detecting that no one is in video in at least 0068. Shibuya does not appear to specify using a condition to select an advertisement when no person is included in the first captured image. However, Ko teaches a technique of presenting advertisements on a display in the user's "movement line" based on the user being present in an additional camera (i.e., not at the exact camera for the display in the movement line) in at least Page 5, Line 22 - Page 6, Line 2.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of basing the advertisement on surrounding customers as taught by Ko. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Ko derives from both references pertaining to camera-based customer identification systems to select advertisements and in order to increase the competitiveness of offline advertising with online advertising (Ko: Page 3, Line 38 - Page 4, Line 2).
Claim(s) 3:
wherein the display control unit identifies the one or more first target records,
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
identifies a product with a highest identification frequency on the basis of the identified one or more first target records,
(Shibuya discloses selecting advertisements based on popularity and/or the most frequently purchased products in at least 0050, 0052-0054, and 0078. The "highest identification frequency" is interpreted to mean the product most frequently found in the records {see page 18, Ll. 3-14})
and causes the display device to display an advertisement of the identified product when no person is included in the first captured image.
As for, "and causes the display device to display an advertisement of the identified product when no person is included in the first captured image": Shibuya discloses detecting that no one is in video in at least 0068. Shibuya does not appear to specify using a condition to select an advertisement when no person is included in the first captured image. However, Ko teaches a technique of presenting advertisements on a display in the user's "movement line" based on the user being present in an additional camera (i.e., not at the exact camera for the display in the movement line) in at least Page 5, Line 22 - Page 6, Line 2.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of basing the advertisement on surrounding customers as taught by Ko. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Ko derives from both references pertaining to camera-based customer identification systems to select advertisements and in order to increase the competitiveness of offline advertising with online advertising (Ko: Page 3, Line 38 - Page 4, Line 2).
Claim(s) 4:
wherein the display control unit identifies attributes of a second person and causes the display device to display an advertisement on the basis of the identified attributes of the second person and the customer data when a second person is included in the first captured image.
Shibuya does not appear to specify identifying additional persons in camera images in order to select advertisements. However, Ko teaches a customer tracking system for advertisement selection where the advertisements are determined based on surrounding customers in at least Page 13, Line 38 - Page 14, Line 9.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of basing the advertisement on surrounding customers as taught by Ko. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Ko derives from both references pertaining to camera-based customer identification systems to select advertisements and in order to increase the competitiveness of offline advertising with online advertising (Ko: Page 3, Line 38 - Page 4, Line 2).
Claim(s) 5:
wherein the customer data is data in a table format including a record in which the viewed advertisement information, the purchased product information, and the customer attribute information are correlated,
(Shibuya discloses this information in a table format in at least Figure 7 and 0053 and 0054.)
wherein the display control unit identifies one or more first target records satisfying a second specific condition out of the customer data on the basis of the identified attributes of the second person and causes the display device to display an advertisement on the basis of the identified one or more first target records when the second person is included in the first captured image,
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
and wherein the second specific condition is a record which includes the customer attribute information indicating attributes of the second person and in which a product correlated with the advertisement indicated by the viewed advertisement information and a product indicated by the purchased product information match.
(Shibuya discloses presenting specific products to users based on various conditions such as customer attributes which include viewed advertisements and products purchased in at least Figure 7, 0053, 0054, and 0069-0072.)
As for, "second": Shibuya does not appear to specify identifying additional persons in camera images in order to select advertisements. However, Ko teaches a customer tracking system for advertisement selection where the advertisements are determined based on surrounding customers in at least Page 13, Line 38 - Page 14, Line 9.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of basing the advertisement on surrounding customers as taught by Ko. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Ko derives from both references pertaining to camera-based customer identification systems to select advertisements and in order to increase the competitiveness of offline advertising with online advertising (Ko: Page 3, Line 38 - Page 4, Line 2).
Claim(s) 6:
wherein the display control unit identifies the one or more first target records,
(Shibuya discloses determining customer attributes including via image/video captured from a camera in at least 0040, 0052, 0059, 0060, and 0086.)
identifies a product with a highest identification frequency on the basis of the identified one or more first target records,
(Shibuya discloses selecting advertisements based on popularity and/or the most frequently purchased products in at least 0050, 0052-0054, and 0078. The "highest identification frequency" is interpreted to mean the product most frequently found in the records {see page 18, Ll. 3-14})
and causes the display device to display an advertisement of the identified product when the second person is included in the first captured image.
As for, "and causes the display device to display an advertisement of the identified product when no person is included in the first captured image": Shibuya discloses detecting that no one is in video in at least 0068. Shibuya does not appear to specify using a condition to select an advertisement when no person is included in the first captured image. However, Ko teaches a technique of presenting advertisements on a display in the user's "movement line" based on the user being present in an additional camera (i.e., not at the exact camera for the display in the movement line) in at least Page 5, Line 22 - Page 6, Line 2.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of basing the advertisement on surrounding customers as taught by Ko. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Ko derives from both references pertaining to camera-based customer identification systems to select advertisements and in order to increase the competitiveness of offline advertising with online advertising (Ko: Page 3, Line 38 - Page 4, Line 2).
Claim(s) 13:
An information processing device comprising: a generation unit configured to generate information including:
(Shibuya discloses an information processing device with an attached camera and signage that displays advertisements in a store in at least Figures 1A, 1B, and 8 and 0035-0039.)
viewed advertisement information indicating an advertisement viewed by a first customer out of advertisements displayed on a display device installed in a store,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information including the advertisements viewed by the customer in at least 0053, 0062-0064.)
purchased product information indicating a product purchased by the first customer,
(Shibuya discloses recording customer information that includes a history of purchases made by the customer in at least 0053, 0061, 0064.)
and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the second customer as customer data on the basis of:
a second captured image in which a second imaging area including a position at which the first customer performs a procedure for purchasing a product in an area in the store is imaged;
and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.
As for, "and customer attribute information indicating attributes of the second customer as customer data on the basis of:" and "a second captured image in which a second imaging area including a position at which the first customer performs a procedure for purchasing a product in an area in the store is imaged;": Shibuya does not appear to specify identifying additional persons in camera images in order to select advertisements. However, Ko teaches a customer tracking system for advertisement selection where the advertisements are determined based on surrounding customers in at least Page 13, Line 38 - Page 14, Line 9.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya with the technique of basing the advertisement on surrounding customers as taught by Ko. Motivation to combine Shibuya with Ko derives from both references pertaining to camera-based customer identification systems to select advertisements and in order to increase the competitiveness of offline advertising with online advertising (Ko: Page 3, Line 38 - Page 4, Line 2).
As for, "and a first captured image in which a first imaging area including a position at which an advertisement displayed on the display device is visible is imaged.": Shibuya discloses a video capture system that captures images of a customer within a store in at least 0035-0039 and 0088. Shibuya discloses a camera that likely captures the advertising display in at least Figure 1A. Shibuya does not appear to specify that the imaging area intentionally captures images of the advertisements on the display. However, Hicks teaches a technique of intentionally pointing a camera at an advertisement display in at least Figure 15, 0109-0113, and 0141-0147.
It would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the camera-based customer identification and advertisement system of Shibuya, in view of Ko, with the technique of camera-based audit of advertisement display taught by Hicks. Motivation to combine Shibuya, in view of Ko, with Hicks derives from the desire to audit the display of advertisements and to determine information regarding the advertisements performance and strategy (Hicks: 0002, 0003, 0147).
Conclusion
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/SCOTT SNIDER/Examiner, Art Unit 3621