DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to the response to the amendment filed on 07/06/2026. Claims 1-8 have been amended and claims 9-20 have been newly added. Claims 1-20 are pending and currently under consideration for patentability.
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 .
Inventorship
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a), the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned at the time any inventions covered therein were made absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and invention dates of each claim that was not commonly owned at the time a later invention was made in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(c) and potential pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e), (f) or (g) prior art under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims are directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, natural phenomenon, or abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1: In a test for patent subject matter eligibility, claims 1-20 are found to be in accordance with Step 1 (see 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility), as they are related to a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. Claims 1-6, 9, 12, 15, and 18 recite a system, claims 7, 10, 13, 16, and 19 recite a method, and claim 8, 11, 14, 17, and 20 recite a computer-readable memory. When assessed under Step 2A, Prong I, they are found to be directed towards an abstract idea. The rationale for this finding is explained below:
Step 2A, Prong I: Under Step 2A, Prong I, claims 1-20 are directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, as they all recite a judicial exception. Independent Claims 1, 7, and 8 recite limitations directed to the abstract idea including “acquiring history information including an access time record and an identification information record unique to a printed material; performing an analysis based on reading of the printed material and a timing of the reading the identification information record and the access time record; and outputting a result of the analysis.” These further limitations are not seen as any more than the judicial exception. Claim 1, 7, and 8 recite additional limitations including “electronic content being accessed; a web server being connected to; and reading means reading unique identification information on the printed material.” This is a claim to collecting information, analyzing it, and reporting the result of the analysis, which falls within the "Mental Processes" grouping of abstract ideas identified in MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(III), because the claimed analyzing step is not limited to any particular technique and covers evaluation that could practically be performed in the human mind (or with the aid of pen and paper) upon reviewing a log correlating a printed material's identification information with the time it was accessed — e.g., noting which identification value was associated with which access time, or comparing access times across records. See CyberSource Corp. v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 654 F.3d 1366, 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2011) (a claim whose steps can practically be performed in the human mind is directed to a mental process, notwithstanding recitation of generic computer implementation). The claim additionally falls within the "Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity" grouping (MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2)(II)), specifically commercial interactions including marketing/advertising activity, because the acquired and analyzed data — the reading of identification information printed on advertising material — and the purpose of the analysis, as informed by the specification (e.g., ¶¶ 0030, 0046–0072, describing analysis of "the degrees of cooperation of the distributors to the advertiser," "behavioral patterns of the distributors," and "behavioral patterns of the users" for purposes of guiding future advertising distribution decisions), show that the claimed analysis is, at its core, an evaluation of advertising/marketing effectiveness. See Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 772 F.3d 709, 715 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (a process directed to structuring transactions involving advertising content is abstract). This "acquire data, analyze data, output/report result" pattern is the same pattern the Federal Circuit has repeatedly held abstract irrespective of the particular data domain involved. See Electric Power Group, LLC v. Alstom S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353–54 (Fed. Cir. 2016) ("[C]ollecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis" is "a familiar class of claims 'directed to' a patent-ineligible concept."); SAP America, Inc. v. InvestPic, LLC, 898 F.3d 1161, 1167–68 (Fed. Cir. 2018) (gathering and analyzing information of a specified type, and displaying certain results, without more, remains abstract); In re Killian, 45 F.4th 1373, 1381–82 (Fed. Cir. 2022) (collecting and analyzing information to reach a determination is abstract). Therefore, under Step 2A, Prong I, claims 1, 7, and 8 are directed towards an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong II: Step 2A, Prong II is to determine whether any claim recites any additional element that integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application. Claim 1, 7, and 8 recite additional limitations including “electronic content being accessed; a web server being connected to; and reading means reading unique identification information on the printed material.” These additional elements do no more than link the abstract idea to a generic technological environment or field of use, and do not recite any improvement to the functioning of a computer or to any other technology or technical field. Considered individually and as an ordered combination, they merely: generically obtain the data used in the abstract analysis, by way of conventional reading of a conventional identification code (e.g., specification ¶ 0018 describes the reading means as an ordinary smartphone camera executing an off-the-shelf two-dimensional code reader application) and conventional access of a conventional web server (specification ¶ 0017); and provide a generic field of use / technological environment (network-connected code-reading devices and servers) in which the abstract idea of acquiring, analyzing, and reporting access-time data is applied, without any recitation of how that environment is itself technically improved. No limitation recites, for example, an improvement to how the identification information is encoded or physically structured for more reliable or efficient reading, an improvement to network transmission or server-side data handling, or any other technical solution to a technical problem. The claim uses the reading means and web server as tools to gather data for the abstract mental/organizational process, rather than improving those tools or any underlying technology. See Electric Power Group, 830 F.3d at 1355 ("[N]othing in the claims, understood in light of the specification, requires anything other than off-the-shelf, conventional computer, network, and display technology for gathering, sending, and presenting the desired information."). Accordingly, the additional elements do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application, and the claim is directed to the abstract idea itself. These additional limitations are not found to integrate the judicial exception into a practical application because they are seen as adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f), adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g), and generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h). Accordingly, alone, and in combination, these additional elements are seen as using a computer or tool to perform an abstract idea, adding insignificant-extra-solution activity to the judicial exception. They do no more than link the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use, i.e. server/reading means, and therefore do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The courts decided that although the additional elements did limit the use of the abstract idea, the court explained that this type of limitation merely confines the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment and this fails to add an inventive concept to the claims (See Affinity Labs of Texas v. DirecTV, LLC,). Under Step 2A, Prong II, these claims remain directed towards an abstract idea.
Step 2B: Claim 1, 7, and 8 recite additional limitations including “electronic content being accessed; a web server being connected to; and reading means reading unique identification information on the printed material.” These additional limitations do not integrate the judicial exception (abstract idea) into a practical application because of the analysis provided in Step 2A, Prong II. The additional elements identified above — reading of an identification code by a reading means, accessing electronic content, and connecting to a web server — are each recited at a high level of generality and reflect activity that was well-understood, routine, and conventional to a skilled artisan in the field of printed-material/advertising tracking at the time of the invention. For example, the prior art of record demonstrates that generic identification-code reading, conventional web-server access logging, and processor-based analysis of the resulting access data were routine and conventional: Kato (US 2020/0372543 A1) discloses a generic analysis apparatus that acquires code-read history from a reader and a web server and outputs an analysis result (¶¶ 0014, 0017–0018, 0026, 0029–0031); Kandregula (US 9,218,610 B2) discloses conventional timestamping of a code-scan event for use in downstream analysis; and Burkhart (US 9,672,458 B2) and Azuma (US 9,208,421 B2) similarly reflect that the recited data-acquisition components were conventional in the art well before the effective filing date. This evidence supports a finding, consistent with Berkheimer v. HP Inc., 881 F.3d 1360, 1369 (Fed. Cir. 2018), that the additional elements were well-understood, routine, and conventional. The claim does not recite these conventional elements in any unconventional ordered combination; they are arranged in the ordinary sequence one of ordinary skill would expect (reading device generates an access event → server/content is accessed → the resulting record is analyzed → a result is output). Simply appending well-understood, routine, conventional activity, specified at a high level of generality, to a judicial exception does not provide an inventive concept. See Alice, 573 U.S. at 225–26; MPEP § 2106.05(d). Claims 1, 7, and 8 do not include additional elements or a combination of elements that result in the claims amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements listed amount to no more than mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component. In addition, the applicant’s specifications describe generic computer-based elements, ¶ [0014], for implementing “a server or a personal computer (PC)”, which do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea of itself, which is not enough to transform an abstract idea into eligible subject matter. There is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. Under Step 2B in a test for patent subject matter eligibility, these claims are not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 2-6 and 9-20 further recite the system of claim 1, method of claim 7, and computer-readable medium of claim 8. Dependent claims 2-6 and 9-20 when analyzed as a whole are held to be patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the additional recited limitation fail to establish that the claims are not directed to an abstract idea:
Under Step 2A, Prong I, these additional claims only further narrow the abstract idea set forth in claims 1, 7, and 8. Claims 2-6 and 9-20 describe the limitations for Presenting / Outputting results of an analysis including reading of printed material and timing of the reading – which is only further narrowing the scope of the abstract idea recited in the independent claims. For example, Claims 2, 15–17 recite a storage section; and plural ID/time records, which is merely seen as a generic data storage and record-keeping which is insufficient under Alice (mere data storage/organization is abstract) and Electric Power Group. Claims 3–6 recite degree of cooperation; time-based behavioral pattern of distributors; behavioral pattern of users; and poster placement effectiveness, which each further defines the content of the abstract analysis (a more specific business/marketing metric) without adding any technical means for performing it — this narrows the abstract idea without integrating it into a practical application. Cf. In re Killian, 45 F.4th at 1382 (specifying what is determined/analyzed, without more, does not confer eligibility).
Under Step 2A, Prong II, for dependent claims 2-6 and 9-20, there are no additional elements introduced. Thus, they do not present integration into a practical application, or amount to significantly more. For example, Claims 9–11 recite an access count record and claims 12–14 recite height/code-size metadata, which is merely seen as additional generic data fields fed into the same generic "analysis" — data-gathering refinements, not technical improvements.
Under Step 2B, the dependent claims do not include any additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Additionally, there is no improvement in the functioning of the computer or technological field, and there is no transformation of subject matter into a different state. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional claims do not provide any additional elements that would amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Under Step 2B, these claims are not patent eligible. For example, Claims 18–20 recite a 2D code encoded with a URL, however this is a well-known, conventional code format (confirmed by Kato, Kandregula, Burkhart, Azuma, all pre-dating the critical date) — conventional technology applied for its known purpose.
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) 1-8 and 15-20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 2020/0372543 to Kato in view of U.S. Patent 9,218,610 to Kandregula.
Claims 1, 7, and 8 are system, method, and computer-readable memory claims, respectively, with substantially indistinguishable features between each group. For purposes of compact prosecution, the Office has grouped the common method, system and non-transitory computer readable storage medium claims in applying applicable prior art.
With respect to Claim 1:
Kato teaches:
An analysis system comprising an analysis apparatus, and optionally a server in electronic communication with the analysis apparatus, the analysis apparatus comprising a hardware processor (Kato: ¶ [0026]:
the hardware processor or the server being configured to acquire history information including an [[access]] time record and an identification information record unique to a printed material in response to electronic content being accessed, or to a web server being connected to, at a time indicated by the [[access]] time record, the accessing of the electronic content or the connecting to the web server being performed in response to an electronic reader reading unique identification information on the printed material (i.e. acquiring history information of posted advertising material by reader via camera, wherein the history information includes the time the content was requested and identification information unique to the printed material such as advertiser id or request information) (Kato: ¶¶ [0066] [0067] “A person who is interested in the advertising material by seeing the posted advertising material causes a camera in a device such as a smartphone that the person has to read the two-dimensional code printed on the advertising material. The device possessed by the person who saw the advertising material is hereinafter referred to as a customer device. Upon receiving the operation, the customer device reads the two-dimensional code printed on the advertising material (step T14). The customer device decodes the read two-dimensional code to extract the URL, and transmits a connection request to the extracted URL to the posting server 25 (step T15). The connection request corresponds to the "access request based on the access information". Further, the customer device corresponds to the "request source device that made the access request" of the present disclosure. Upon receiving the connection request, the posting server 25 extracts the ID information included in the URL (step T16). Then, the posting server 25 transfers the received connection request to the preset web server 15 (step T17)…The posting server 25 searches the access history database 237 based on the ID information extracted from the URL, and detects a record in which the corresponding ID information is recorded. Then, the posting server 25 rewrites the access history of the corresponding record to "accessed" and records the access history (step T18).” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0046] “FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the request information management database 235 .In the request information management database 235, an e-mail address, reception date and time information, and request information are registered in association with the advertiser ID. The advertiser ID is identification information for identifying the advertiser 10, and is set by the advertiser 10 or the posting server 25 when the advertiser 10 starts using the service provided by the posting company. The e-mail address is an e-mail address of the advertiser corresponding to the advertiser ID. The reception date and time information is information indicating the reception date and time when the request information was received from the advertiser computer 13. The request information includes the distribution conditions and the advertisement data described above.”);
the hardware processor being configured to perform an analysis based on the identification information record and the [[access]] time record (i.e. analyze reaction level based on advertisement id and current date/time of reading) (Kato: ¶ [0068] “Also, for example, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the advertising material was distributed, the posting server 25 generates a report 300 on an advertisement effect for the distributed advertising material (step T18). FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the report 300 generated by the posting server 25. The posting server 25 calculates the reaction level for each distribution area and the reaction level for the entire distribution area based on the access history registered in the access history database 237, the position information, the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed by the distribution member 31, and the like. The reaction level for each distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the total number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the target distribution area. The reaction level for the entire distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the entire distribution area.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0072] “Next, the server controller 220 determines whether the current date and time is the decided date and time when the distribution member 31 who distributes the advertising material is decided (step S3). For example, in a case of determining the distribution member 31 every day, a decided time of the day can be set as the decided date and time. In a case of determining the distribution member 31 once a week, a decided time on a decided day of the week can be set as the decided date and time. When the current date and time is not the decided date and time (step S3/NO), the server controller 220 advances the process to the determination of step S9.”); and
the hardware processor being configured to output a result of the analysis (i.e. output report of analysis) (Kato: ¶ [0069] “In addition, the server controller 220 may display the reaction level for the distribution area in which the reaction level is equal to or more than the threshold value on the map 303 of the distribution area. Further, the report 300 describes, for example, a proposal of a distribution area in which it is better to distribute the advertising material at the next distribution of the advertising material. After generating the report 300, the posting server 25 transmits the generated report 300 to the advertiser computer 13 (step T20).” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0087] “When it is the date and time of generating the report 300 (step S26NES), the server controller 220 calculates the reaction level for each distribution area based on the access history and the position information registered in the access history database 237 (step S27). After calculating the reaction level for each distribution area, the server controller 220 generates the report 300 based on the calculated reaction level (step S28). The report 300 describes, for example, a reaction level for each distribution area, and a proposal of a distribution area in which it is better to distribute the advertising material at the next distribution of the advertising material. The server controller 220 transmits the generated report to the advertiser computer 13 (step S29).”).
Kato does not explicitly disclose the hardware processor or the server being configured to acquire history information including an access time record and an identification information record unique to a printed material in response to electronic content being accessed, or to a web server being connected to, at a time indicated by the access time record, the accessing of the electronic content or the connecting to the web server being performed in response to an electronic reader reading unique identification information on the printed material.
However, Kandregula further discloses the hardware processor or the server being configured to acquire history information including an access time record and an identification information record unique to a printed material in response to electronic content being accessed, or to a web server being connected to, at a time indicated by the access time record, the accessing of the electronic content or the connecting to the web server being performed in response to an electronic reader reading unique identification information on the printed material (i.e. acquire information such as timestamp of when printed material was scanned and identification information unique to the printed material such as panelist identifier) (Kandregula: ¶¶ [0073]-[0075] “A dynamic IP address is an IP address that may change over time. For example, at a first time a device may be assigned a first IP address while at a second time the device may be assigned a second IP address different from the first IP address. In the illustrated example, the on-device meter 132 is structured to record the IP address at the time of scanning the QR code. In some examples, the IP address 508 may provide an approximate geographic location of the mobile device. For example, the IP address 64.208.186.106 may be approximately located in New York City…The timestamp column 510 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 represents a time when information associated with the QR code (e.g., a website) was presented. However, the timestamp column 510 may alternatively represent a time when the QR code was scanned by the mobile device 130. Storing a timestamp (e.g., date and/or time) enables analysis of when users scanned a particular QR code (e.g., are users more likely to scan a QR code on a weekend, during a weekday, etc.)… The panelist identifier515 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 identifies the panelist that scanned the QR code. While in the illustrated example a panelist identifier is used, any other information that may be used to identify the panelist may additionally or alternatively be used such as, for example, a mobile device identifier, a panelist name, a cookie, etc. The presentation identifier 520 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 identifies the carrier-advertisement pair that was scanned and its placement by virtue of a look-up in column 415 of FIG. 4. While in the illustrated example the presentation identifier is used, any additional or alternative information may be used to identify the carrier-advertisement pair that was scanned such as, for example, the scanned QR code, the URL encoded by the scanned QR code, etc.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Kandregula’s hardware processor or the server being configured to acquire history information including an access time record and an identification information record unique to a printed material in response to electronic content being accessed, or to a web server being connected to, at a time indicated by the access time record, the accessing of the electronic content or the connecting to the web server being performed in response to an electronic reader reading unique identification information on the printed material; and the hardware processor being configured to perform an analysis based on the identification information record and the access time record to Kato’s hardware processor being configured to output a result of the analysis on the identification information record and the request time record. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “Such a company may be interested to know, for example, whether a poster carrying a QR code in a mall location is more effective than a billboard carrying a QR code in a downtown location, whether a television advertisement carrying a QR code is more effective than a newspaper advertisement carrying a QR code, etc. Such information enables companies to effectively plan marketing campaigns.” (Kandregula: ¶ [0019]).
With respect to Claims 7 and 8:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 1. Claim 7 recites – “An analysis method comprising” the steps of system claim 1. Claim 8 recites – “A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing a control program for causing a computer to execute processing comprising:” (Kato: ¶¶ [0002] [0038] [0103]) the steps of system claim 1. Claims 7 and 8 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 1. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 2:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, further comprising: a storage section configured to store the history information, wherein in the acquiring, the hardware processor is configured to acquire the history information from the storage section (i.e. access history information is stored and acquired via server) (Kato: ¶ [0031] “When the distribution conditions and the advertisement data are uploaded from the advertiser computer 13, the posting server 25 stores the uploaded distribution conditions and the advertisement data in a server storage unit 230 described later. The posting company 20 that manages the posting server 25 has contracted with a plurality of distribution members 31 who is in charge of distributing the advertisement.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0042] “The server storage unit 230 stores a control program 231 executed by the server processor 250, a distribution member registration database 233, a request information management database 235, an access history database 237, and other various pieces of data. The server processor 250 executes the control program 231 to control respective units of the posting server 25. The details of the control operation executed by the server processor 250 will be described with reference to the sequence diagram illustrated in FIG. 7 and the flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10.”).
With respect to Claim 3:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the printed material is one of a plurality of printed materials each including a unique identification information record, the plurality of printed materials being distributed by a plurality of distributors to a plurality of users in response to a request from an advertiser (i.e. advertising material include unique identification information such as two-dimensional code and is sent to distributors to be sent to users in response to advertiser request) (Kato: ¶ [0025] “The advertiser 10 is a provider of products and services, and uses the advertiser computer 13 and the like to generate advertisement data serving as a source of an advertising material in which an advertising material of products and services provided by the advertiser 10 is described. The advertisement data may be generated by the advertiser 10 operating the advertiser computer 13 or may be created by another company requested by the advertiser 10.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0057] “The distribution member device 33 receives the e-mail by the operation of the distribution member 31, and displays the received e-mail on the display unit 333. Further, the distribution member device 33 activates the application 353 by the operation of the distribution member 31. The device controller 350 accesses the web page provided by the posting server 25 by activating the application 353. Upon receiving the access from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 transmits an authentication information acquisition request to the distribution member device 33. When receiving the authentication information from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 performs an authentication process using the authentication information, and when the authentication is successful, displays the web page on the distribution member device 33.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0060] “The device controller 350 superimposes the converted two-dimensional code on the advertisement data (step T9). The advertisement data is provided with a superimposition position where the two-dimensional code is superimposed. This superimposition position is a position serving as a background of the advertising material, and does not include data relating to the advertisement. When requesting the advertiser 10 to create advertisement data, the posting company 20 notifies the advertiser 10 in advance of the range of the advertisement data on which the two-dimensional code is superimposed. The advertiser 10 creates the advertisement data so that the range notified by the posting company 20 does not include the data related to the advertisement.”),
wherein each identification information record is associated with one of the plurality of distributors in advance (i.e. identification information includes distributor information and conditions in advance) (Kato: ¶¶ [0056] [0057] “Next, the server controller 220 distributes the generated distribution data to each distribution member 31 decided in step 14. For example, the server controller 220 transmits a posting request e-mail to the e-mail addresses of all the decided distribution members 31…The distribution member device 33 receives the e-mail by the operation of the distribution member 31, and displays the received e-mail on the display unit 333. Further, the distribution member device 33 activates the application 353 by the operation of the distribution member 31. The device controller 350 accesses the web page provided by the posting server 25 by activating the application 353. Upon receiving the access from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 transmits an authentication information acquisition request to the distribution member device 33. When receiving the authentication information from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 performs an authentication process using the authentication information, and when the authentication is successful, displays the web page on the distribution member device 33.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0072] “Next, the server controller 220 determines whether the current date and time is the decided date and time when the distribution member 31 who distributes the advertising material is decided (step S3). For example, in a case of determining the distribution member 31 every day, a decided time of the day can be set as the decided date and time. In a case of determining the distribution member 31 once a week, a decided time on a decided day of the week can be set as the decided date and time. When the current date and time is not the decided date and time (step S3/NO), the server controller 220 advances the process to the determination of step S9.”), and
wherein the hardware processor is configured to analyze a degree of cooperation of each of the plurality of distributors (i.e. analyzes reaction level or degree of cooperation of each of the distributors) (Kato: ¶ [0068] “FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the report 300 generated by the posting server 25. The posting server 25 calculates the reaction level for each distribution area and the reaction level for the entire distribution area based on the access history registered in the access history database 237, the position information, the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed by the distribution member 31, and the like. The reaction level for each distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the total number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the target distribution area. The reaction level for the entire distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the entire distribution area.”).
With respect to Claim 4:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the printed material is one of a plurality of printed materials each including a unique identification information record, the plurality of printed materials being distributed by a plurality of distributors to a plurality of users in response to a request from an advertiser (i.e. advertising material include unique identification information such as two-dimensional code and is sent to distributors to be sent to users in response to advertiser request) (Kato: ¶ [0025] “The advertiser 10 is a provider of products and services, and uses the advertiser computer 13 and the like to generate advertisement data serving as a source of an advertising material in which an advertising material of products and services provided by the advertiser 10 is described. The advertisement data may be generated by the advertiser 10 operating the advertiser computer 13 or may be created by another company requested by the advertiser 10.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0057] “The distribution member device 33 receives the e-mail by the operation of the distribution member 31, and displays the received e-mail on the display unit 333. Further, the distribution member device 33 activates the application 353 by the operation of the distribution member 31. The device controller 350 accesses the web page provided by the posting server 25 by activating the application 353. Upon receiving the access from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 transmits an authentication information acquisition request to the distribution member device 33. When receiving the authentication information from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 performs an authentication process using the authentication information, and when the authentication is successful, displays the web page on the distribution member device 33.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0060] “The device controller 350 superimposes the converted two-dimensional code on the advertisement data (step T9). The advertisement data is provided with a superimposition position where the two-dimensional code is superimposed. This superimposition position is a position serving as a background of the advertising material, and does not include data relating to the advertisement. When requesting the advertiser 10 to create advertisement data, the posting company 20 notifies the advertiser 10 in advance of the range of the advertisement data on which the two-dimensional code is superimposed. The advertiser 10 creates the advertisement data so that the range notified by the posting company 20 does not include the data related to the advertisement.”),
wherein each identification information record is associated with one of the plurality of distributors in advance (i.e. identification information includes distributor information and conditions in advance) (Kato: ¶¶ [0056] [0057] “Next, the server controller 220 distributes the generated distribution data to each distribution member 31 decided in step 14. For example, the server controller 220 transmits a posting request e-mail to the e-mail addresses of all the decided distribution members 31…The distribution member device 33 receives the e-mail by the operation of the distribution member 31, and displays the received e-mail on the display unit 333. Further, the distribution member device 33 activates the application 353 by the operation of the distribution member 31. The device controller 350 accesses the web page provided by the posting server 25 by activating the application 353. Upon receiving the access from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 transmits an authentication information acquisition request to the distribution member device 33. When receiving the authentication information from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 performs an authentication process using the authentication information, and when the authentication is successful, displays the web page on the distribution member device 33.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0072] “Next, the server controller 220 determines whether the current date and time is the decided date and time when the distribution member 31 who distributes the advertising material is decided (step S3). For example, in a case of determining the distribution member 31 every day, a decided time of the day can be set as the decided date and time. In a case of determining the distribution member 31 once a week, a decided time on a decided day of the week can be set as the decided date and time. When the current date and time is not the decided date and time (step S3/NO), the server controller 220 advances the process to the determination of step S9.”), and
wherein the hardware processor is configured to analyze a [[time-based]] behavioral pattern of each of the plurality of distributors concerning distribution of the plurality of printed materials (i.e. analyzes reaction level transition per distribution area for each month or behavior pattern of each of the distributors) (Kato: ¶¶ [0068] [0069] “FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the report 300 generated by the posting server 25. The posting server 25 calculates the reaction level for each distribution area and the reaction level for the entire distribution area based on the access history registered in the access history database 237, the position information, the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed by the distribution member 31, and the like. The reaction level for each distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the total number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the target distribution area. The reaction level for the entire distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the entire distribution area…After calculating the reaction level for each distribution area, the server controller 220 generates the report 300 based on the calculated reaction level (step T19). For example, a reaction level 301 for the entire distribution area to which the advertising material was distributed and a reaction level transition 302 for each month are described in this report 300. In addition, the report 300 indicates a map 303 of the entire distribution area, and in the map 303, each distribution area is illustrated in different colors according to the reaction level. For example, the server controller 220 may identify a distribution area in which the reaction level is equal to or greater than a threshold value, and display the identified distribution area in a different color from the colors of the other distribution areas on the map 303. In addition, the server controller 220 may display the reaction level for the distribution area in which the reaction level is equal to or more than the threshold value on the map 303 of the distribution area.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0099] “In addition, the clerk operates the store terminal, extracts the ID information from the read coupon, and stores the extracted ID information in the storage unit of the store terminal. In addition, the clerk logs in to the posting server 25 by the advertiser ID, the password or the like that identifies the advertiser 10 for each set period such as one day or one week, and uploads the ID information read by the store terminal to the posting server 25.”).
Kato does not explicitly disclose wherein the hardware processor is configured to analyze a time-based behavioral pattern of each of the plurality of distributors concerning distribution of the plurality of printed materials.
However, Kandregula further discloses wherein the hardware processor is configured to analyze a time-based behavioral pattern of each of the plurality of distributors concerning distribution of the plurality of printed materials (i.e. time based behavior pattern such as if users are more likely to scan a QR code on a weekend or weekday) (Kandregula: ¶ [0074] “The timestamp column 510 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 represents a time when information associated with the QR code (e.g., a website) was presented. However, the timestamp colunm 510 may alternatively represent a time when the QR code was scanned by the mobile device 130. Storing a timestamp (e.g., date and/or time) enables analysis of when users scanned a particular QR code (e.g., are users more likely to scan a QR code on a weekend, during a weekday, etc.).”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Kandregula’s hardware processor is configured to analyze a time-based behavioral pattern of each of the plurality of distributors concerning distribution of the plurality of printed materials to Kato’s hardware processor is configured to analyze a behavioral pattern of each of the plurality of distributors concerning distribution of the plurality of printed materials. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “Such a company may be interested to know, for example, whether a poster carrying a QR code in a mall location is more effective than a billboard carrying a QR code in a downtown location, whether a television advertisement carrying a QR code is more effective than a newspaper advertisement carrying a QR code, etc. Such information enables companies to effectively plan marketing campaigns.” (Kandregula: ¶ [0019]).
With respect to Claim 5:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the printed material is one of a plurality of printed materials each including a unique identification information record, the plurality of printed materials being distributed by a plurality of distributors to a plurality of users in response to a request from an advertiser (i.e. advertising material include unique identification information such as two-dimensional code and is sent to distributors to be sent to users in response to advertiser request) (Kato: ¶ [0025] “The advertiser 10 is a provider of products and services, and uses the advertiser computer 13 and the like to generate advertisement data serving as a source of an advertising material in which an advertising material of products and services provided by the advertiser 10 is described. The advertisement data may be generated by the advertiser 10 operating the advertiser computer 13 or may be created by another company requested by the advertiser 10.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0057] “The distribution member device 33 receives the e-mail by the operation of the distribution member 31, and displays the received e-mail on the display unit 333. Further, the distribution member device 33 activates the application 353 by the operation of the distribution member 31. The device controller 350 accesses the web page provided by the posting server 25 by activating the application 353. Upon receiving the access from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 transmits an authentication information acquisition request to the distribution member device 33. When receiving the authentication information from the distribution member device 33, the posting server 25 performs an authentication process using the authentication information, and when the authentication is successful, displays the web page on the distribution member device 33.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0060] “The device controller 350 superimposes the converted two-dimensional code on the advertisement data (step T9). The advertisement data is provided with a superimposition position where the two-dimensional code is superimposed. This superimposition position is a position serving as a background of the advertising material, and does not include data relating to the advertisement. When requesting the advertiser 10 to create advertisement data, the posting company 20 notifies the advertiser 10 in advance of the range of the advertisement data on which the two-dimensional code is superimposed. The advertiser 10 creates the advertisement data so that the range notified by the posting company 20 does not include the data related to the advertisement.”), and
wherein the hardware processor is configured to analyze a behavioral pattern of each of the plurality of users resulting from distribution of a corresponding one of the plurality of printed materials (i.e. analyze customer’s reaction level to advertising material) (Kato: Element 304, “Summary” in Fig. 8 and ¶¶ [0085] [0087] “Further, the server controller 220 refers to the access history database 237 and detects a record associated with the ID information acquired from the customer device (step S24). The server controller 220 rewrites the access history of the detected record to "accessed" (step S25)…When it is the date and time of generating the report 300 (step S26NES), the server controller 220 calculates the reaction level for each distribution area based on the access history and the position information registered in the access history database 237 (step S27). After calculating the reaction level for each distribution area, the server controller 220 generates the report 300 based on the calculated reaction level (step S28). The report 300 describes, for example, a reaction level for each distribution area, and a proposal of a distribution area in which it is better to distribute the advertising material at the next distribution of the advertising material. The server controller 220 transmits the generated report to the advertiser computer 13 (step S29).”).
With respect to Claim 6:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the printed material is [[a poster]] placed in response to a request from an advertiser (Kato: ¶ [0090] “Further, the device controller 350 selects different pieces of ID information for each of the printed matters. Therefore, the pieces of ID information having different values are printed on the sheets of the advertising material created by the printer 35. Therefore, it is possible to distinguish the sheets of the advertising material generated by the printer 35.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0003] “In the related art, there has been known a system in which an advertising material having identification information embedded therein is distributed to determine an advertisement effect. For example, JP-A-2016-122271 disclose a marketing system in which paper media in which a paper medium ID is embedded are distributed, and the circumstances that led to the purchase of a product published on paper media are counted.”),
wherein the identification information is associated with placement position information of the [[poster]] (i.e. identification information is associated with placement position of advertisement material in distribution area) (Kato: ¶ [0064] “The device controller 350 decodes the two-dimensional code read by the camera 335 to extract ID information, and acquires position information from the GPS receiver 332. The device controller 350 stores the extracted ID information and the position information in association with each other in the device storage unit 351 as log data (step T12). While moving in the distribution area, the distribution member 31 move to the house or apartment as the distribution destination repeats an operation of operating the operation unit 334 to cause the distribution member device 33 to read the two-dimensional code and an operation of posting the advertising material to the post box to post all sheets of the advertising material.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶¶ [0093] [0095] “Therefore, when the distribution member 31 operates the operation unit 334 in distributing the advertising material, the posting server 25 can acquire the position where the advertising material is distributed and the ID information attached to the advertising material distributed at this position. Therefore, it is possible to identify the position where the advertising material is distributed…The server controller 220 stores, in the access history database 237, the ID information and the position information received from the distribution member device 33 in association with each other. Further, the server controller 220 detects the position information associated with the ID information acquired from the request source device that made the access request. Further, the server controller 220 identifies a distribution area where the reaction level for the distributed advertising material is equal to or larger than a threshold value based on the detected position information and the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material. Therefore, it is possible to identify a distribution area having a high reaction level for the advertising material. By distributing the advertising material again to the distribution area having the high reaction level, it is possible to reduce the risk that an effect corresponding to the advertising cost may not be obtained.”), and
wherein the hardware processor is configured to analyze an advertising effectiveness, based on the placement position information, reading of the [[poster]], and a timing of the reading (i.e. determine advertisement effect based on position information, user reading advertisement material, and (Kato: ¶ [0089] “Therefore, when the advertising material is distributed, it is possible to identify the distributed advertising material. For example, when distributing an advertising material, the ID information and the distribution position are registered in association with each other. When a person who saw the advertising material came to the store, the ID information from the advertising material brought by the person who saw the advertising material is identified, so that it is possible to identify the distribution area having a high reaction level to the advertising material. Also, by using information associated with the distribution period of the advertising material as the ID information, it is also possible to identify which period the advertising material which is distributed at has a higher reaction level. Furthermore, by associating the ID information with the identification information of the distribution member 31 who distributes the advertising material, it is possible to determine which distribution member 31 the advertising material which is distributed by has a higher reaction level. Therefore, it is possible to determine the advertisement effect on the distributed advertisement material with higher accuracy.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶¶ [0093] [0095] “Therefore, when the distribution member 31 operates the operation unit 334 in distributing the advertising material, the posting server 25 can acquire the position where the advertising material is distributed and the ID information attached to the advertising material distributed at this position. Therefore, it is possible to identify the position where the advertising material is distributed…The server controller 220 stores, in the access history database 237, the ID information and the position information received from the distribution member device 33 in association with each other. Further, the server controller 220 detects the position information associated with the ID information acquired from the request source device that made the access request. Further, the server controller 220 identifies a distribution area where the reaction level for the distributed advertising material is equal to or larger than a threshold value based on the detected position information and the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material. Therefore, it is possible to identify a distribution area having a high reaction level for the advertising material. By distributing the advertising material again to the distribution area having the high reaction level, it is possible to reduce the risk that an effect corresponding to the advertising cost may not be obtained.”).
Kato does not explicitly disclose wherein the printed material is a poster placed in response to a request from an advertiser.
However, Kandregula further discloses wherein the printed material is a poster placed in response to a request from an advertiser (i.e. printed advertising material is a physical poster, wherein the poster is placed in response by request of advertiser) (Kandregula: ¶ [0038] “The example magazine 150, the example billboard 160, and the example poster 170 of the illustrated example of FIG. 1 are example types of carriers ( e.g., types of displays) that may be used to display a QR code. Although the illustrated example of FIG. 1 shows the example magazine 150, the example billboard 160, and the example poster 170, any other type(s) of carrier(s) may additionally and/or alternatively be used to display a QR code such as, for example, a business card, a newspaper, a flyer, product packaging, a website, a kiosk, a television display, artwork, etc. In the illustrated example, the example magazine 150, the example Billboard 160, and the example poster 170 are each associated with a same product and/or a same advertisement. However, in some examples, the example magazine 150, the example Billboard 160, and the example poster 170 are each associated with different products and/or different advertisements from the same or different products.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0033] “Such a content provider and/or advertising entity 115 may wish to use QR codes displayed in various forms of advertising ( e.g., online, newspapers, magazines, billboards, posters, product packaging, etc.) The QR codes displayed on those advertisements enable end users to retrieve additional information about the advertisement and/or the products associated with those advertisements.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Kandregula’s printed material is a poster placed in response to a request from an advertiser to Kato’s printed material is paper placed in response to a request from an advertiser and wherein the analyzer analyzes an advertising effectiveness, based on the placement position information, reading of the paper, and a timing of the reading. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “Such a company may be interested to know, for example, whether a poster carrying a QR code in a mall location is more effective than a billboard carrying a QR code in a downtown location, whether a television advertisement carrying a QR code is more effective than a newspaper advertisement carrying a QR code, etc. Such information enables companies to effectively plan marketing campaigns.” (Kandregula: ¶ [0019]).
With respect to Claim 15:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the history information includes a plurality of identification information records and a plurality of [[access]] time records, and the analysis is based on the plurality of identification information records and the plurality of [[access]] time records (i.e. information includes reception date and time and advertiser ID, wherein reaction level is based on advertiser id and reception date/time) (Kato: ¶ [0046] “FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of the request information management database 235 .In the request information management database 235, an e-mail address, reception date and time information, and request information are registered in association with the advertiser ID. The advertiser ID is identification information for identifying the advertiser 10, and is set by the advertiser 10 or the posting server 25 when the advertiser 10 starts using the service provided by the posting company. The e-mail address is an e-mail address of the advertiser corresponding to the advertiser ID. The reception date and time information is information indicating the reception date and time when the request information was received from the advertiser computer 13. The request information includes the distribution conditions and the advertisement data described above.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0068] “Also, for example, when a predetermined time has elapsed since the advertising material was distributed, the posting server 25 generates a report 300 on an advertisement effect for the distributed advertising material (step T18). FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the report 300 generated by the posting server 25. The posting server 25 calculates the reaction level for each distribution area and the reaction level for the entire distribution area based on the access history registered in the access history database 237, the position information, the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed by the distribution member 31, and the like. The reaction level for each distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the total number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the target distribution area. The reaction level for the entire distribution area is obtained by dividing the number of pieces of ID information from which the posting server 25 was accessed by the number of distribution sheets of the advertising material distributed to the entire distribution area.” Furthermore, as cited in ¶ [0072] “Next, the server controller 220 determines whether the current date and time is the decided date and time when the distribution member 31 who distributes the advertising material is decided (step S3). For example, in a case of determining the distribution member 31 every day, a decided time of the day can be set as the decided date and time. In a case of determining the distribution member 31 once a week, a decided time on a decided day of the week can be set as the decided date and time. When the current date and time is not the decided date and time (step S3/NO), the server controller 220 advances the process to the determination of step S9.”).
Kato does not explicitly disclose wherein the history information includes a plurality of identification information records and a plurality of access time records, and the analysis is based on the plurality of identification information records and the plurality of access time records.
However, Kandregula further discloses wherein the history information includes a plurality of identification information records and a plurality of access time records, and the analysis is based on the plurality of identification information records and the plurality of access time records (i.e. history information includes panelist identifier and timestamp when QR code was scanned, wherein the analysis is based on the identification records and timestamps such as which panelist identifier was accessed and are users more likely to scan a QR code on a weekend or weekday) (Kandregula: ¶¶ [0073]-[0075] “A dynamic IP address is an IP address that may change over time. For example, at a first time a device may be assigned a first IP address while at a second time the device may be assigned a second IP address different from the first IP address. In the illustrated example, the on-device meter 132 is structured to record the IP address at the time of scanning the QR code. In some examples, the IP address 508 may provide an approximate geographic location of the mobile device. For example, the IP address 64.208.186.106 may be approximately located in New York City…The timestamp column 510 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 represents a time when information associated with the QR code (e.g., a website) was presented. However, the timestamp column 510 may alternatively represent a time when the QR code was scanned by the mobile device 130. Storing a timestamp (e.g., date and/or time) enables analysis of when users scanned a particular QR code (e.g., are users more likely to scan a QR code on a weekend, during a weekday, etc.)… The panelist identifier515 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 identifies the panelist that scanned the QR code. While in the illustrated example a panelist identifier is used, any other information that may be used to identify the panelist may additionally or alternatively be used such as, for example, a mobile device identifier, a panelist name, a cookie, etc. The presentation identifier 520 of the illustrated example of FIG. 5 identifies the carrier-advertisement pair that was scanned and its placement by virtue of a look-up in column 415 of FIG. 4. While in the illustrated example the presentation identifier is used, any additional or alternative information may be used to identify the carrier-advertisement pair that was scanned such as, for example, the scanned QR code, the URL encoded by the scanned QR code, etc.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Kandregula’s history information includes a plurality of identification information records and a plurality of access time records, and the analysis is based on the plurality of identification information records and the plurality of access time records to Kato’s history information includes a plurality of identification information records and a plurality of request time records, and the analysis is based on the plurality of identification information records and the plurality of request time records. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so because “Such a company may be interested to know, for example, whether a poster carrying a QR code in a mall location is more effective than a billboard carrying a QR code in a downtown location, whether a television advertisement carrying a QR code is more effective than a newspaper advertisement carrying a QR code, etc. Such information enables companies to effectively plan marketing campaigns.” (Kandregula: ¶ [0019]).
With respect to Claims 16 and 17:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 15. Claims 16 and 17 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 15. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
With respect to Claim 18:
Kato teaches:
The analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information on the printed material is a two-dimensional code encoded with a URL pointing to the electronic content (i.e. printed material is a 2D QR code that points to an URL associated with the content) (Kato: ¶ [0059] “Next, the device controller 350 extracts the URL list and the advertisement data from the received distribution data. The device controller 350 selects one URL from the extracted URL list, and converts the selected URL into a two-dimensional code (step TS). The two-dimensional code may be, for example, a matrix-type code such as a QR code or a stack-type code such as PDF417. QR code is a registered trademark. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where the URL is converted into a two-dimensional code will be described, but the URL may be converted into a one-dimensional code. The two-dimensional code corresponds to the "code information" of the present disclosure.”).
With respect to Claims 19 and 20:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 18. Claims 19 and 20 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 18. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
Claim(s) 9-11 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato in view of U.S. Patent 9,672,458 to Burkhart.
With respect to Claim 9:
Kato does not explicitly disclose the analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the history information further includes an access count record that is indicative of a number of times the printed material was accessed, and wherein the analysis is based on the access count record.
However, Burkhart further discloses wherein the history information further includes an access count record that is indicative of a number of times the printed material was accessed, and wherein the analysis is based on the access count record (i.e. incrementing scan count each time the QR code/printed material was scanned/accessed wherein the scan count is used to determine whether to change the QR code or not) (Burkhart: ¶¶ [0068] [0069] “At decision point 420, the process 400 makes a determination as to whether time-based rotation has been configured for the displayed QR code (or alternatively whether user-based scan count rotation has been configured). In response to determining that time-based rotation has not been configured for the displayed QR code (and that user-based scan count rotation has been configured), the process 400 increments a scan count of the displayed QR code at block 422. In response to incrementing the scan count of the displayed QR code at block 422, or in response to determining that time-based rotation has been configured for the displayed QR code (and that user-based scan count rotation has not been configured) at decision point 420, the process 400 returns to decision point 416 to again determine whether to change the encoding of the displayed QR code, and iterates as described above…As such, the process 400 may track/monitor both time and scan count and may determine to change the encoding of the displayed QR code in response to either time-based factors or user-based scan count. In response to determining at decision point 416 to change ( e.g., rotate) the displayed QR code to encode a new unique value, the process 400 returns to block 406 to determine new contemporaneous data elements related to the displayed item and item location (e.g., a new time, new temperature, etc.). The process 400 iterates as described above to generate a new encoding of the contemporaneous data elements related to the displayed item and item location, and displays a newly-encoded QR code.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Burkhart’s history information further includes an access count record that is indicative of a number of times the printed material was accessed, and wherein the analysis is based on the access count record to Kato’s hardware processor being configured to output a result of the analysis on the identification information record and the request time record. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order “to regulate or limit incentive consumption and to identify improper use of incentives.” (Burkhart: ¶ [0023]).
With respect to Claims 10 and 11:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 9. Claims 10 and 11 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 9. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
Claim(s) 12-14 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kato in view of U.S. Patent 9,208,421 to Azuma.
With respect to Claim 12:
Kato does not explicitly disclose the analysis system according to claim 1, wherein the identification information record is associated at least in part with at least one selected from: height information indicating a height of the printed material from a ground level; and size information of a code printed on the printed material and indicative of the identification information record.
However, Azuma further discloses:
wherein the identification information record is associated at least in part with at least one selected from: height information indicating a height of the printed material from a ground level; and size information of a code printed on the printed material and indicative of the identification information record (i.e. specify height and/or size information between indoor posters and outdoor posters of QR code/printed material, wherein the code size is selected and associated with the code/identification information as a function of the physical placement/viewing context of the printed material) (Azuma: Col. 15 Lines 27-40 “In the above-described Embodiment 2, a logo image and the number of cells forming a two-dimensional code are specified through the operation part 90 for creating a logo-added two-dimensional code. However, the present invention is not confined thereto. Instead of or in addition to specifying a logo image and the number of cells forming a two-dimensional code through the operation part 90, the size of cells forming a two-dimensional code (for example, 18 mm (25 mm including the margins) for use in business cards, 42 mm (60 mm including the margins) for use in indoor posters, and 116 mm (162 mm including the margins) for use in outdoor posters), the shape of cells to be superimposed on a logo image, and the colors of negative type and positive type cells can be specified.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, at the time the invention was made, to add Azuma’s identification information record is associated at least in part with at least one selected from: height information indicating a height of the printed material from a ground level; and size information of a code printed on the printed material and indicative of the identification information record to Kato’s hardware processor being configured to output a result of the analysis on the identification information record and the request time record. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so in order “to provide a logo-added two-dimensional code that can be read correctly” (Azuma: Col. 1 Lines 65-67).
With respect to Claims 13 and 14:
All limitations as recited have been analyzed and rejected to claim 12. Claims 13 and 14 do not teach or define any new limitations beyond claim 12. Therefore they are rejected under the same rationale.
Response to Arguments
Examiner notes that claims 1 and 2 have been amended in order to avoid the means-plus-function interpretation. Therefore, the interpretation(s) of claim(s) 1 and 2 under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) has been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments see pages 9-11 of the Remarks disclosed, filed on 07/06/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 101 rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-8 have been considered but are not persuasive. The Applicant asserts “As such, the claims further define the scalable and automatic acquisition of read/access time information to measure advertising impact. By performing analysis based on both the reading and its timing, and outputting the results to provide better advertising impact measurements, the claims provide improvements in advertising impact measurement technology. The acquisition of the history information in response to the printed material being read by the reader goes well beyond a mental step. According to the USPTO 101 Memo of August 4, 2025, the mental process category should not apply to encompass claim limitations that cannot practically be performed in the human mind. Furthermore, the Memo focuses on technical improvements. On page 4, the Memo states that "examiners can conclude that claims are eligible in Step 2A Prong Two by finding that a claim reflects an improvement to the functioning of a computer or to another technology or technical field." Here, the communication of access time in response to printed material being read by the reader facilitates the integration of both reading and timing and thus results in a better measure of advertising impact, and thus provides improvements in advertising impact measurement technology. Moreover, the amendments implement the alleged abstract idea in a practical application, consistent with the 2019 USPTO guidance on 35 U.S.C. § 101.” The Examiner respectfully disagrees. Eligibility is assessed based on what is actually claimed, not on the label attached to the field in which the claim operates. MPEP § 2106.05(h) is clear that merely limiting an abstract idea to a particular field of use or technological environment — here, branding the claimed acquire/analyze/output sequence as "advertising impact measurement technology" — does not integrate the exception into a practical application and also further describes the abstract idea of Certain Methods Of Organizing Human Activity such as commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations). Furthermore, Applicant argues that combining reading and timing data "results in a better measure of advertising impact." Under SAP America, 898 F.3d at 1167, an improvement to the accuracy or utility of an abstract analytical or organizational technique remains abstract, even where that improvement is characterized as an advance in a named "technology" or "measurement" field: "[C]laims focusing on 'certain independently abstract ideas that use computers as tools' do not become patent eligible merely because the abstract process, when performed more accurately, is more useful." The Memo's improvements consideration requires a "technological solution to a technological problem" and expressly instructs examiners to assess "the extent to which the claim covers a particular solution to a problem … as opposed to merely claiming the idea of a solution or outcome." Applicant's claim recites only the idea that acquiring both identity and timing data, and analyzing both, yields a better result — without reciting any particular technical mechanism by which that combination is achieved beyond conventional code-reading and conventional server logging. This is the "idea of a solution," not a "particular solution," under the Memo's own framework. Therefore, the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. § 101 is maintained above with an updated analysis.
Applicant’s arguments see pages 11-14 of the Remarks disclosed, filed on 07/06/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-5, 7, and 8 over Kato have been considered but are moot because the arguments do not apply to the new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of U.S. Patent 9,218,610 to Kandregula.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to Applicant’s disclosure. The following reference are cited to further show the state of the art:
U.S. Publication 2012/0143661 to Roberts for disclosing an exemplary method includes an enhanced content access system identifying a media content instance as being of interest to a user, including, in response to the identifying of the media content instance as being of interest to the user, an interactive e-poster corresponding to the media content instance within a library of e-posters associated with the user, and providing enhanced content associated with the media content instance for experiencing by the user by way of the interactive e-poster. Corresponding methods and systems are also disclosed.
U.S. Publication 2021/0166191 to Kurata for disclosing an advertisement system that issues a leaflet using a printer of a distributor who distributes a leaflet, the advertisement system includes a server storage unit that stores distributor information about a distributor, a reception unit that receives, from an advertiser, an advertisement request including a distribution condition related to a distribution of the leaflet, an identification unit that identifies the distributor who satisfies the distribution condition included in the advertisement request received by the reception unit based on the distributor information stored in the server storage unit, and a server communication unit that transmits, to the printer of the distributor identified by the identification unit, print data instructing issuance of the leaflet based on the advertisement request received by the reception unit.
U.S. Publication 2004/0258275 to Rhoads for disclosing a user detects data from a poster using a handheld appliance. The appliance then contacts a remote computer based on the data obtained from the poster, and can perform any of a variety of functions, such as purchasing tickets to a concert or movie, or downloading music. The data can be obtained from the poster in various ways, such as by optical sensing (e.g., of digital watermarks or bar codes) or by electromagnetic detection.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, 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 extension fee 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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Azam Ansari, whose telephone number is (571) 272-7047. The examiner can normally be reached from Monday to Friday between 8 AM and 4:30 PM.
If any attempt to reach the examiner by telephone is unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Waseem Ashraf, can be reached at (571) 270-3948.
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Applicants are invited to contact the Office to schedule either an in-person or a telephonic interview to discuss and resolve the issues set forth in this Office Action. Although an interview is not required, the Office believes that an interview can be of use to resolve any issues related to a patent application in an efficient and prompt manner.
/AZAM A ANSARI/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3621
September 8, 2026
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