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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This communication is in response to application No. 19/164,313, filed on 9/11/2025. Claims 1-17 are currently pending and have been examined. Claims 1-17 have been rejected as follow,
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 1-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.
Claims 1-17 are not compliant with 101, according with the last “2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance” (2019 PEG), published in the MPEP 2103 through 2106.07(c). Examiner’s analysis is presented below for all the claims
As to claim 1, Step 1 of 2019 PGE, does the claim fall within a Statutory Category? Yes. The claim recites an apparatus (a system).
Step 2A - Prong 1: Is a Judicial Exception recited in the claim? Yes. The claim recites the limitations of “generating an advertisement image, using the image and the additional data determined based on the reference information, …”
The “generating” limitation, as drafted, is a process and system that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitations as certain methods of organizing human activity, advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors.
The system to generate an advertisement image. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application? No. The claim recites additional limitations, such as, “acquiring an image of a product targeted for advertising; acquiring reference information to be used to determine additional data for the image;[AltContent: ] outputting the advertisement image … associated with a store that sells the product”. These are limitations toward accessing or receiving data. It is merely gathering data.
The Examiner analyses other supplementary elements in the claim in view of the instant disclosure:“An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations ..to a display”. The limitations comprise generic recited computer elements, software and data elements.
The use of “An information processing apparatus “, “a memory” and “a processor”, are merely generic computer elements. Per MPEP 2106 claiming a mental process or abstract idea performed by a generic hardware it is not sufficient to integrate the abstract idea because it merely reflects the use of conventional technology and amounts to only generally linking the use of an abstract idea to a particular technological environment. MPEP 2106.05(h).
Also, “An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations”, the claim invokes computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform the abstract idea. The use of a processor or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more. The combination of these additional elements can also be considered no more than mere instructions “to apply” the exception, See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Also the additional elements:
“acquiring an image of a product targeted for advertising; acquiring reference information to be used to determine additional data for the image;[AltContent: ] outputting the advertisement image … associated with a store that sells the product”. These are limitations toward accessing or receiving data. It is merely gathering data can be considered pre-solution and post-solution activity. The Examiner gives the broadest reasonable interpretation to the above elements. They are insignificant extra-solution activity. See MPEP 2106.05(g).
Accordingly, even in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The claim as a whole does not integrate the method of organizing human activity into a practical application. Thus, the claim is ineligible because is directed to the recited judicial exception (abstract idea).
Step 2B : claim provides an inventive concept? No.
As discussed with respect to Step 2A Prong Two, the additional elements in the claim,
“An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations”, amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception. i.e., mere instructions to apply an exception using generic hardware, software and data elements cannot integrate a judicial exception into a practical application at Step 2A or provide an inventive concept in Step 2B.
Further, additional limitations, such as,
“acquiring an image of a product targeted for advertising; acquiring reference information to be used to determine additional data for the image;[AltContent: ] outputting the advertisement image … associated with a store that sells the product”, were considered to be extra-solution activity in Step 2A, and thus it is re-evaluated in Step 2B to determine if it is more than what is well-understood, routine, conventional activity in the field. Again, these are limitations toward accessing or receiving data (gathering data). Accessing or receiving data is very well understood, routine and conventional computer task activity; It represents insignificant extra solution activity. Mere data-gathering step[s] cannot make an otherwise nonstaturory claim statutory In re Grams,888 F.2d 835, 840 (Fed. Cir. 1989) (quoting In re Meyer, 688 F.2d 789, 794 (CCPA 1982)).
Further, the instant specification does not provide any indication that the elements
“An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations”, are anything other than generic software and hardware, and the “i. Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information)” and the OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); court decisions cited in MPEP 2106.05(d)(II) indicate that merely computer receives and sends information over a network and presenting or displaying information, is a well‐understood, routine, conventional function when it is claimed in a merely generic manner (as it is here).
Accordingly, a conclusion that the ““An information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations”,
and also the additional elements:
“acquiring an image of a product targeted for advertising; acquiring reference information to be used to determine additional data for the image;[AltContent: ] outputting the advertisement image … associated with a store that sells the product” limitations (pointed above) are well-understood, routine, conventional activity is supported under Berkheimer Option 2. The claim is ineligible.
Claim 9: Step 1 of 2019 PGE, does the claim fall within a Statutory Category? Yes. The claim recites a method.
Step 2A - Prong 1: Is a Judicial Exception recited in the claim ? Yes. Because the same reasons pointed above.
Step 2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application? No. Because the same reasons pointed above.
Step 2B : claim provides an inventive concept? No. Because the same reasons pointed above. The claim is ineligible.
Claim 10: Step 1 of 2019 PGE, does the claim fall within a Statutory Category? Yes. The claim recites a computer-readable medium
Step 2A - Prong 1: Is a Judicial Exception recited in the claim ? Yes. Because the same reasons pointed above.
Step 2A - Prong 2: Integrated into a Practical Application? No. Because the same reasons pointed above.
Step 2B : claim provides an inventive concept? No. Because the same reasons pointed above. The claim is ineligible.
Dependent claims 2-8, and 11-17, the claims recite elements such as “acquiring at least one of delivery information on the product, inventory information on the product, time information on a region to which the store belongs, and climate information on the region to which the store belongs, as the reference information”, etc. These elements do not integrate the system of organizing human activity into a practical application. The claims are ineligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-5 and 9-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG. Pub. No. 20040204985 (Gibson) in view of US PG. Pub. No. 20050107158 (Kanisawa).
As to claims 1, 9, and 10, Gibson discloses
A product advertisement method performed by at least one computer (Fig. 1 and associated disclosure), the product advertisement method comprising:
a) acquiring an image of a product targeted for advertising;
(“[0031] Server 104 may be hosted by a business such as a hotel, retail store, public attraction, restaurant, movie theater, etc., and advertiser 103 is an entity whose goods and/or services would be of interest to user 110, such as a business that is local to the host business. Examples of advertiser 103 include, but are not limited to, a restaurant, store, tourist attraction, movie theater, hotel, etc”, paragraph 31.
[0040] The present invention comprises a system and method for providing image processing services and deriving revenue from such services as well as revenue from placement of advertising information passed on to users. Revenue may be generated from goods and services rendered according to the present invention, paragraph 40);
b) [acquiring reference information ] to be used to determine additional data for the image;
(“The present invention comprises a system and method for providing image processing services and deriving revenue from such services as well as revenue from placement of advertising information passed on to users. A local image service center connected to a server computing system, offers services for uploading image data from a storage medium to local and/or remote storage as well as other services for processing uploaded image data. Access to uploaded image data is available via a cable television system. Revenue is derived from the services provided as well as from advertisers whose information is passed along to users”, abstract.
“[0016] According to an aspect of the invention, a system configured to provide digital image services and generate revenue therefrom may include storage for advertising information and retrieved image data….”, paragraphs 16 and 17.
“0032] In one revenue generation approach described in more detail below, portal 105 is supplied by the same entity that supplies station 108 and storage media (e.g., removable storage media such as a readable or read/writable CD-ROM and DVD-ROM or Iomega's ZIP or CLICK disks, compact flash, smartMedia, etc.) for storing copies of the uploaded image data. However, it should be apparent that the goods and/or services described herein as being provided by a single entity may be provided by more than one entity.”, paragraph 32);
c) generating an advertisement image, using the image and the additional data determined based on the reference information; and
(“[0068] In a case that a view photos option 718 is selected in display 709, display 710 is provided which includes thumbnail images corresponding to image data stored in image database 102. Advertising information may be displayed in display 710. For example, advertising information may be displayed in border area 712 surrounding the thumbnail images”, paragraph 68 and Fig. 7. See also “generate a postcard that includes a photo taken in front of a restaurant as well as an advertisement”, paragraph 17 );
d) outputting the advertisement image to a display device associated with a store that sells the product.
(see Figs. 8A and 8B and associated disclosure. Special attention to element S806 in Fig. 8B.
“[0017] In response to an output request, the server outputs the advertising information with the image data. For example, the server may generate a postcard that includes a photo taken in front of a restaurant as well as an advertisement that includes a picture of the restaurant. …”, paragraph 17).
Gibson does not expressly disclose but Kanisawa discloses
acquiring reference information
(“…[0030] FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a configuration example of a product information database 32a of the product order management device 12 in the first embodiment of the present invention..”, paragraphs 30,
“[0077] FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a configuration example of the product information database 32a of the product order management device 12 in the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the diagram, information described below are stored as the "product information". "Product code" is an identifier that identifies a product. "Product name" is a name of the product that is identified by the "product code". "Price information" is information relating to a product price that is identified by the "product code". "Combination with other products information" is information relating to the combination when a product is sold in combination with other products…”, paragraph 77 and Fig. 6A.
“[0093] Here, we return to the description of the internal structure of the product order management device 12. Reference symbol 33 denotes a product information generation section that references the product information on the product information database 32a and generates the product display field 72 included on the product order screen 70 shown in FIG. 13 [Examiner interprets as to determine additional data for the image] on the display section 23 of the order terminal 10. Reference symbol 34 denotes an order information management section that associates the order information that the order terminal 10 retrieves with the orderer identification code that the identification information retrieval processing section 26 of the order terminal 10 retrieves, and manages them. …”, paragraph 77 and Figs. 1-3, 6A, 13 and 15A. See “product code “, “product image information” Fig. 6A, “advertising image information” and “advertising image code “ [Examiner equates as reference information] in Fig. 9).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kinasawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to acquire reference information such as a combination of “product code “, “product image information” Fig. 6A, “advertising image information” and “advertising image code “ in Fig. 9, in order to gain additional information for the advertisement image.
As to claim 1, it comprises the same limitations than claim 9 above, therefore is rejected in similar way. Further the claim comprises
an information processing apparatus comprising: at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor configured to execute the instructions to perform operations (see Gibson Figs. 1-3 and associated disclosure).
As to claim 10, it comprises the same limitations than claim 9 above, therefore is rejected in similar way. Further the claim comprises
A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium recording a program for causing, by being executed by at least one computer, the at least one computer to function as: perform operations
(“[0002] The present invention relates to supplying services for uploading and processing image data such as that image data captured using digital image acquisition devices including still and video cameras as well as image data stored on removable storage media including, but not limited to, compact flash, smartMedia and memory stick, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, ZIP disk and CLICK disk storage media. Image data may be retrieved locally using an image service that offers selectable services to process the image data and/or distribute the image data. Revenue is produced from the services selected by users as well as by revenue received from advertisers whose advertisements are passed on to the users”, paragraphs 2, 5 and 29).
As to claims 2 and 11, Gibson discloses wherein
[AltContent: ]the operations further comprise acquiring at least one of delivery information on the product, [inventory information on the product, time information on a region to which the store belongs, and climate information on the region to which the store belongs], as the reference information.
(“[0002] The present invention relates to supplying services for uploading and processing image data such as that image data captured using digital image acquisition devices including still and video cameras as well as image data stored on removable storage media including, but not limited to, compact flash, smartMedia and memory stick, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, ZIP disk and CLICK disk storage media. Image data may be retrieved locally using an image service that offers selectable services to process the image data and/or distribute the image data…”, paragraph 2.
“[0009] In a case that the kiosk has a computer system that is to be used to retrieve image data, the system includes software to allow a user to retrieve image data for transfer to external storage. In addition, a photo kiosk may offer the ability to generate hardcopy prints of the image data, retouch an image, and upload the image to the Internet. …”, paragraph 9).
Gibson does not expressly disclose but Kanisawa discloses
inventory information on the product
(“[0136] At this point, when the product information generation section 33 generates the screen information for the product order screen 70, the stock information reference processing section 36 prevents non-stocked product from being selected on the product order screen 70 according to the stock information referenced on the stock information database 32b. Also, the stock information reference processing section 36 requests the display information control section 35 to display over-stocked products preferentially. Thus, the display information control section 35 controls the product order screen 70 to display most preferentially products that are of the orderer's preference and that are over-stocked. Also, when the advertising image selection section 16w selects the advertising image too, it references the stock information on the stock information database 32b, and can select an advertising image for which the stock information has been taken into account…”, paragraph 136 and Figs. 3 and 13).
time information on a region to which the store belongs
(see “[0151] One embodiment of an advertising system including an ordering system has been described above. According to the combination of this ordering system and advertising system using the game, the service of a game that users can enjoy while not eating can be provided. Moreover, it has the effect of drawing more customers and increasing sales even outside mealtime hours, because there are customers visiting the store to play the game. Also, the "special menu" 73 (or game only) may be provided on an available terminal for users waiting for an available table. Furthermore, in order to increase user's turnover during meal time zones, use of the game may be restricted according to the time zone [the Examiner interprets the product/image can be restricted by time zone of the establishment ]”, paragraph 151. See also “An image control processing section controls a game playback device to employ an advertising image being an image for advertising a product or a service, as a character image used in a game screen…”, abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to integrate inventory information on the product in an advertisement, in order to influence a customer.
As to claims 3 and 12, Gibson does not disclose but Kanisawa discloses
wherein the operations further comprise generating the advertisement image by combining message data based on a delivery status of the product indicated by the delivery information with the image, as the additional data, in a case where the delivery information is acquired as the reference information.
(see "Ordered product status information", paragraph 85 and Fig. 7B).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to integrate product status information in an advertisement, in order to inform a customer.
As to claims 4 and 13, Gibson does not disclose but Kanisawa discloses
wherein the operations further comprise generating the advertisement image by combining message data based on an inventory quantity of the product indicated by the inventory information with the image, as the additional data, in a case where the inventory information is acquired as the reference information.
(see “stock quantity”, paragraph 80 and Fig. 6B).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to integrate product inventory or stock quantity information in an advertisement, in order to influence a customer.
As to claims 5 and 14, Gibson does not disclose
wherein the operations further comprise generating the advertisement image by combining message data based on a time indicated by the time information with the image, as the additional data, in a case where the time information is acquired as the reference information.
but Kanisawa discloses
([0115] Also, the image control processing section 16b has an advertising image selection section 16w that makes reference to information on the database 32, such as information relating to the store in which the order terminal 10 is installed, period of time, date, day of the week, and time elapsed since the user of the order terminal 10 was seated, and selects advertising images 81' of products that have potential to advertise more effectively from the advertising image information database 16v. Furthermore, the advertising image selection section 16w may specify the product having high advertising effectiveness based on the information outputted by the seating information management section 37, the status information judgment processing section 3, the search processing section 3A and so forth, and select the advertising image 81' of the product”, paragraph 115 and Figs. 11 and 15A)..
But, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching information of time when the product is ordered or period of time or date or day of the week or time elapse, on paragraph 115, or any other condition related to product marketing in an advertisement image , with the teaching of Gibson, in order to inform and favorable motivate potential customer.
Claims 6, 7, 8, 15, 16 and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US PG. Pub. No. 20040204985 (Gibson) in view of US PG. Pub. No. 20050107158 (Kanisawa) and in view of US PG. Pub. No. 20090309888 (Duncan).
As to claims 6 and 15, Gibson does not disclose but Duncan discloses
Wherein the advertisement image generation means generates the operations further comprise generating the advertisement image by combining message data based on temperature or weather indicated by the climate information with the image, as the additional data, in a case where the climate information is acquired as the reference information.
(Duncan is in the business of “ a real-time messaging system for an image display device”, abstract. Also, Duncan teaches “[0015] The inventors herein have recognized that in addition to stored image data, (e.g., presentations, graphics, text, photos, etc.) it may be desired to communicate instant image data to the image display devices. For example, instant image data may include, but is not limited to alerts, warnings and messages, e.g. weather alerts, facility lock down situation alerts, emergency warnings, instruction messages, public announcements, etc….”, paragraph 15 and Figs. 6 and 7 and associated disclosure).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Duncan’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson. One would have been motivated to provide functionality to integrate weather or climate information in order to integrate an alert message into image information.
As to claims 7 and 16, Gibson discloses
wherein the operations further comprise
a) acquiring two or more pieces of information among the delivery information on the product,
(“[0002] The present invention relates to supplying services for uploading and processing image data such as that image data captured using digital image acquisition devices …. Image data may be retrieved locally using an image service that offers selectable services to process the image data and/or distribute the image data…”, paragraph 2.
“[0009] In a case that the kiosk has a computer system that is to be used to retrieve image data, the system includes software to allow a user to retrieve image data for transfer to external storage. In addition, a photo kiosk may offer the ability to generate hardcopy prints of the image data, retouch an image, and upload the image to the Internet. …”, paragraph 9).
Gibson does not expressly disclose but Kanisawa discloses
inventory information on the product
(“[0136] …, when the advertising image selection section 16w selects the advertising image too, it references the stock information on the stock information database 32b, and can select an advertising image for which the stock information has been taken into account…”, paragraph 136 and Figs. 3, 6A and 13).
time information on a region to which the store belongs
(see “[0151] One embodiment of an advertising system including an ordering system has been described above. According to the combination of this ordering system and advertising system using the game, the service of a game that users can enjoy while not eating can be provided. Moreover, it has the effect of drawing more customers and increasing sales even outside mealtime hours, because there are customers visiting the store to play the game. Also, the "special menu" 73 (or game only) may be provided on an available terminal for users waiting for an available table. Furthermore, in order to increase user's turnover during meal time zones, use of the game may be restricted according to the time zone [the Examiner interprets the product/image can be restricted by time zone of the establishment ]”, paragraph 151. See also “An image control processing section controls a game playback device to employ an advertising image being an image for advertising a product or a service, as a character image used in a game screen…”, abstract).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson and the adding of the local time and stock information to an advertisement image would have yield predictable results.
b) generating the advertisement image by combining message data related to each of the two or more pieces of information with the image, as the additional data.
(Kanisawa’s system discloses, “[0148] Next, according to the advertising image 81' that is exposed every time the user turns over the card 81, the exposure count section 2A associates this with "advertising image data" that identifies the advertising image 81' and counts the "exposure count", and stores it in the game information storage section 22b [Examiner interprets as additional data]. Also, when the advertising images that the user consecutively turned over twice are the same product, the score computing processing section 16f computes the total score by adding the predefined score for the correct answer, and stores it in the game information storage section 22b as "score information" (step S6) [Examiner interprets as additional data]”, paragraph 148 and Figs. 15A and 16).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson, the combining of data to an advertisement image would have yield predictable results.
Gibson does not disclose but Duncan discloses,
the climate information on the region to which the store belongs, as the reference information,
(Duncan teaches “[0015] The inventors herein have recognized that in addition to stored image data, (e.g., presentations, graphics, text, photos, etc.) it may be desired to communicate instant image data to the image display devices. For example, instant image data may include, but is not limited to alerts, warnings and messages, e.g. weather alerts, facility lock down situation alerts, emergency warnings, instruction messages, public announcements, etc….”, paragraph 15 and Figs. 6 and 7 and associated disclosure).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Duncan’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson and the adding of the weather alerts to an advertisement image would have yield predictable results.
As to claims 8 and 17, Gibson does not expressly disclose
Wherein a) priority ranks are assigned for …[advertisement image information ], [ each of the delivery information on the product, the inventory information on the product, the time information on the region to which the store belongs, and the climate information on the region to which the store belongs], and
but Kanisawa discloses
priority ranks are assigned for …[advertisement image information ],
(“the advertising system there is further provided: a score computing device, which computes a score by carrying out predetermined calculations according to a course of a game; a score information database which sorts past scores in descending order and assigns ranks to them, and associates and stores top scores that are ranked above a predetermined rank with scorer information [Examiner interprets as additional data to be added to the image] , which is information related to the users who played the game and gained the top scores; and a score information display device which associates the top scores and the scorer information referenced from the score information database [Examiner interprets as additional data to be added to the image] and displays them on the display section. Therefore the score can be computed according to the course of the game having various advertising images exposed”, paragraphs 13 and 14 and Fig. 4).
Therefore, from Kanisawa’s teachings of priority ranks that are assigned for advertisement image information , paragraphs 13 and 14 and Fig. 4. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate
any kind of advertisement image related such as “the delivery information on the product, the inventory information on the product, the time information on the region to which the store belongs, and the climate information on the region to which the store belongs” to the Kanisawa’s method of scoring and ranking information and the incorporation would have yield predictable results.
b) the operations further comprise determining the additional data to be added to the image, based on the priority ranks for each of the two or more pieces of information.
(Kanisawa teaches additional data to be added to the image, “[0065] FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a configuration example of the game information storage section 22b of the order terminal 10 in the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the diagram, "game information" [Examiner interprets as additional data to be added to the image] temporarily stores information described below as information of the game that is displayed on the display section 23. Also, the type of game is selected on the game selection screen after the button 76 is pressed. "Game program" is information relating to a program that displays the selected game on the display section 23 on the order terminal 10. "Score information" is information relating to the score of the game being played by the user and the scores of previous games [Examiner interprets as additional data to be added to the image]. "Advertising information" is information relating to the advertising image exposed on the display section 23 as the character of the game, being information described below. "Used advertising image code" is information relating to an "advertising image code" that identifies the advertising image used as the character for the game. "Advertising image data" is image data of the advertising image that is identified by the "advertising image code". "Exposure count" is information relating to a count number that counts how many times an advertising image identified by the respective "advertising image code" is displayed as the character during the game[Examiner interprets as additional data to be added to the image]”, paragraph 65 and Fig. 5B.
“[0070] Moreover, the user can place an order for the product advertised on the advertising image 81' by specifying the advertising image 81'[Examiner interprets as additional data to be added to the image] and pressing an order button 82 (order detection device). . …. Furthermore, the game processing section 29 displays the score, computed using a predetermined formula according to the course of the game, in a score display area 84”, paragraph 70 and Fig. 15A).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate Kanisawa’s teaching with the teaching of Gibson, the combining of data to an advertisement image would have yield predictable results.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
“A Location-based Mobile Advertisement Publishing System for Vendors”. IEEE.2011.
“Advertisements or vouchers are commonly used today to attract the attention and the purchase of consumers by providing discount or detailed description to customers. Typically, vendors use text to describe characteristic introductions and images to express appealing looks. In order to allow consumers to retrieve more information such as location of vendors, an advertisement publishing system should be improved to meet the consumers' requirements. This work proposes a location-based mobile advertisement publishing system, a framework for vendor editing, and location-based service. The system is able to provide vendors not only the ability to edit advertisements, but also the means to publish advertisements to consumers. For vendors, the proposed system provides a low cost and effective way to implement digital advertisement publishing mechanisms. For realizing vendor opinions of mobile advertisement publishing interface, visiting vendors and interviewing with them are necessary. After interviewing with vendors, most vendors have positive responses and would like to consider the adaption of mobile advertisements if the cost is not higher than that of their current advertising methods.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARIA VICTORIA VANDERHORST whose telephone number is (571)270-3604. The examiner can normally be reached on business hours from Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ashraf Waseem can be reached on 571-270-3948. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARIA V VANDERHORST/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621 7/20/2026
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