DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of an amendment to the claims of application #19033002 received on 1/14/2026. Claims 1-2, 8-9 and 15-16 are amended. Claims 3-7, 10-14 and 17-20 are left in original form. Claims 1-20 are pending. All pending claims are considered and examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by McCormick (cited by Applicant IDS).
Regarding claim 1, McCormick discloses (Fig. 1) comprising:
a recycler controller configured to validate a till using at least one of a coin amount or a note amount (col. 5, lines 7-12; col. 9, lines 19-31), the coin amount received from a coin scale in communication with the recycler controller (col. 4, lines 65-57: the cash-handling device(s) may use the coins or notes detected or counted (e.g., by weighing) within a till), the note amount received from a cash recycler in communication with the recycler controller (col. 9, lines 19-31; col. 9, lines 39-42: The coin count information, in connection with any not count information, may be reconciled with the amount of cash previously dispensed to the same cashier to determine total sales amount received in cash); and
a fund optimization controller in communication with the recycler controller, the fund optimization controller configured to generate analytics for optimizing funds of the till (col. 4, lines 43-48: based on a calculated dispensing requirement; col. 5, lines 12-17; col. 9, lines 47-52: a proper dispense amount may be calculated or received from the cash management software in step 212. The proper dispense amount may be determined based on a variety of factors such as the time of the next shift, expected store traffic, and availability of cash items, etc) for at least one of a period or a location based on the coin amount and the note amount (col. 10, lines 37-44; col. 12, lines 4-15),
the fund optimization controller generating a prediction associated with the till using the analytics (col. 9, lines 47-52; col. 10, lines 37-44).
Regarding claim 2, McCormick discloses the apparatus of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein the prediction indicates a point when additional funds will be needed for the till (col. 10, lines 37-44: as needed). Since this is performed “as needed”, the system performs a decision, where the decision is previously shown to be based on a calculated proper amount.
Regarding claim 3, McCormick discloses the apparatus of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein the recycler controller is configured to generate one or more prompts associated with at least one of the coin amount or the note amount (col. 9, line 19-22).
Regarding claim 4, McCormick discloses the apparatus of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein the recycler controller is configured to detect a malfunction of the cash recycler (col. 14, lines 44-53).
Regarding claim 5, McCormick discloses the apparatus of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein the recycler controller is configured to manage authorized users of at least one of secured funds, the till, the cash recycler, or the coin scale (col. 6, lines 26-33).
Regarding claim 6, McCormick discloses the apparatus of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein the fund optimization controller is integrated with the recycler controller (col. 6, lines 26-67).
Regarding claim 7, McCormick discloses the apparatus of claim 1 above and further discloses wherein recycler controller is configured to generate a user interface based on a permission level, the user interface configured to be presented on a user device (col. 15, lines 39-52; col. 7, lines 56-67).
Regarding claim 8, McCormick discloses:
receiving, via a recycler controller, a coin amount from a coin scale in communication with the recycler controller (col. 4, lines 65-57: the cash-handling device(s) may use the coins or notes detected or counted (e.g., by weighing) within a till);
receiving, via the recycler controller, a note amount from a cash recycler in communication with the recycler controller (col. 9, lines 19-31; col. 9, lines 39-42: The coin count information, in connection with any not count information, may be reconciled with the amount of cash previously dispensed to the same cashier to determine total sales amount received in cash);
validating, via the recycler controller, a till using at least one of the coin amount or the note amount (col. 5, lines 7-12; col. 9, lines 19-31);
generating, via a fund optimization controller in communication with the recycler controller, analytics for optimizing funds of the till (col. 4, lines 43-48: based on a calculated dispensing requirement; col. 5, lines 12-17; col. 9, lines 47-52: a proper dispense amount may be calculated or received from the cash management software in step 212. The proper dispense amount may be determined based on a variety of factors such as the time of the next shift, expected store traffic, and availability of cash items, etc) for at least one of a period or a location based on the coin amount and the note amount (col. 10, lines 37-44; col. 12, lines 4-15); and
generating, via the fund optimization controller, a prediction associated with the till using the analytics (col. 9, lines 47-52; col. 10, lines 37-44).
Regarding claims 9-14, McCormick discloses the method of claim 8 above and claims 9-14 are directed to similar limitations as in claims 2-7 respectively and therefore rejected by the same reasoning.
Regarding claim 15, McCormick discloses: One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media storing computer- executable instructions for performing a computer process on a computing system, the computer process comprising:
receiving a coin amount from a coin scale (col. 4, lines 65-57: the cash-handling device(s) may use the coins or notes detected or counted (e.g., by weighing) within a till);
receiving a note amount from a cash recycler (col. 9, lines 19-31; col. 9, lines 39-42: The coin count information, in connection with any not count information, may be reconciled with the amount of cash previously dispensed to the same cashier to determine total sales amount received in cash);
validating a till using at least one of the coin amount or the note amount (col. 5, lines 7-12; col. 9, lines 19-31);
generating analytics for optimizing funds of the till (col. 4, lines 43-48: based on a calculated dispensing requirement; col. 5, lines 12-17; col. 9, lines 47-52: a proper dispense amount may be calculated or received from the cash management software in step 212. The proper dispense amount may be determined based on a variety of factors such as the time of the next shift, expected store traffic, and availability of cash items, etc) for at least one of a period or a location based on the coin amount and the note amount (col. 10, lines 37-44; col. 12, lines 4-15); and
generating a prediction associated with the till using the analytics (col. 9, lines 47-52; col. 10, lines 37-44).
Regarding claims 16-20, McCormick discloses the product of claim 15 above and claims 16-20 are directed to similar limitations as in claims 2-5 and 7 respectively and therefore rejected by the same reasoning.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/14/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. In response to Applicant’s argument that “McCormick merely describes rule-based threshold adjustment for all the cash devices in a location, such as a store. McCormick is silent regarding analytics for optimizing funds of a till for at least one of a period or a location based on a coin amount and a note amount and generating a prediction associated with the till using the analytics”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. A mixture of both rolled and loose coins, as well as banknotes, may be dispensed, from one or more devices into a till, to create or part-create a start-of-day (or start-of-shift) fund based on a calculated dispensing requirement (col. 4, lines 43-48). A proper dispense amount may be calculated or received from the cash management software in step 212. The proper dispense amount may be determined based on a variety of factors such as the time of the next shift, expected store traffic, and availability of cash items, etc. (col. 9, lines 47-52). It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the end-of-shift and the beginning-of-shift processes shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are also applicable to end-of-day or beginning-of-day processing and they do not necessarily have to occur at the end or the beginning of shifts or days. In fact, a cashier can take a till drawer to the coin management machine to reconcile and/or rebalance coin or cash contents of the till drawer during a regular shift or at other times as needed (col. 10, lines 37-44). Therefore, the time of the next shift, expected store traffic, and availability of cash items, etc. are utilized to calculate a proper dispense amount for the till for a start-of-day (or start-of-shift). This proper amount is considered equivalent to optimizing funds of a till for a day or shift. Furthermore, this rebalancing of the till is performed “as needed”, indicating that the system performs a decision regarding whether a till amount can be calculated that is sufficient for a day or a shift. Since the limitations of the claim are met by the disclosure in the prior art, the rejection is upheld.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/TOAN C LY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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