DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 13, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is a regular utility application with a claim of priority to a JP parent Application filed August 5, 2024.
The IDS filed August 4, 2025 in this Application has been considered.
NOTE: Interviews are encouraged. Please use the AIR form, the link for which is found at the end of this Action, for scheduling an interview if such is desired.
Claims 1 - 16 are pending and examined as follows:
Claim Rejections – 35 USC § 101
2. 35 USC § 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture and composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
A. Rejection Based on Abstract Idea
Claims 1 – 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., an abstract idea) without significantly more. Furthermore, this rejection is based on the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (2019 PEG).
B. Statutory Categories
Independent Claim 1 is a method claim and therefore falls into the statutory category of a “process.”
C. The Claim Recites an Abstract Idea
Claim 1 is illustrative of the rejection of all claims on the grounds of abstract idea.
Claim 1 recites the limitation:
“acquiring, by a second terminal used by a store, first information related to a reservation of a financial transaction accepted by a first terminal; “
This limitation, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, constitutes a method of organizing human activity, specifically, fundamental economic principles or practices. That is, analyzing this limitation in the context of the claim as a whole, it recites a process that falls within the grouping of abstract ideas comprising certain methods of organizing human activity. Fundamental economic principles or practices are examples of such methods. In this case, the fundamental economic principle or practice is the common practice of ordering a product remotely from a retail store – such as on an online shopping site – and picking the product up at another location. This practice occurs millions of times every day. Even at the point of sale (POS), it is extremely common to pick up products previously purchased online.
Furthermore, the mere nominal recitation of a “terminal” or “payment” does not remove the claim from the category of common or abstract methods of organizing human activity. These terms are recited at such a high level of generality as to not alter the designation of reciting an abstract idea.
Thus, Claim 1 recites a judicial exception, namely, an abstract idea.
D. The Claim Does Not Integrate the Abstract Idea into a Practical Application
Moreover, this judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The possible “additional limitations” recited in the Claim that must be considered are as follows:
acquiring, by the second terminal, second information related to a payment for a product or service by a user who reserved the financial transaction;
performing, by the second terminal, a cash transaction based on the first information on the reservation in a case where a payment process is executed based on the second information.
1. Lack of Computer Components and Interaction Among Same
No additional computerized components are mentioned in these limitations – other than a second terminal. The only computer terms are recited only at a high level of generality. No other particular computer functions or computer component interactions within this system are recited. The few computer-related limitations are wholly generic in nature and are recited at such a high level of generality as to not provide any meaningful limitations on the claim.
The Claim merely recites acquiring information related to payment for a product or service and about a “reservation” and performing a cash transaction. These are high level, broad and abstract concepts. Furthermore, the claim lacks concrete assignments of specific functions among these various components. One example of such concrete assignment is to assign, in the claim, certain functions to specific components and recite them as interacting in specific ways. This is not the case with this Claim.
2. No Technical Solution to a Technical Problem
Analyzing these additional limitations individually, and taking the claim as a whole and as an ordered combination, it is clear that these additional limitations do not serve to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. They do not recite a technological solution to a technological problem. They do not improve the functioning of the computer system itself or represent an improvement to any technology or technical field. In fact, there are very few computerized system components or functions recited.
Thus, these limitations fail to recite with specificity any technical function or any improvement to the functioning of the computer system itself. Therefore, the claim lacks the specificity required to transform the claim from one claiming only an outcome or a result – performing a cash transaction in conjunction with a purchase of a product - to one claiming a specific way of achieving that outcome or result. See MPEP §2106.04(d)(I); 2106.04(d)(1); 2106.05(a)
3. The Claim Recites Mere Instructions to Apply the Abstract Idea
The recitation of these generic components amounts to no more than mere instructions “to apply” the abstract idea exception using generic computer components. It is clear that the claim recites only the idea of a solution or outcome i.e., the claim fails to recite details of how a solution to a problem is accomplished. Furthermore, the claim invokes computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform an existing process.
As noted above, the only possible computer components are recited at a high level of generality. This means that the abstract idea can be applied to an extremely general field of devices and systems. A claim having broad applicability across many fields of endeavor does not provide meaningful limitations that integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or amount to significantly more. For instance, a claim that generically recites an effect of the abstract idea exception, or claims every mode of accomplishing that idea, amounts to a claim that is merely adding the words "apply it" to the abstract idea. See MPEP §2106.05(f)
Accordingly, the additional elements or limitations listed above do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limitations on practicing the abstract idea. That is, the additional elements recited in the claim beyond the judicial exception(s) have been evaluated to determine whether those additional elements, considered individually and in combination, integrate the judicial exception(s) into a practical application. They do not.
F. Step 2B: The Claim Does Not Recite Significantly More than the Abstract Idea
This step involves the search for an “inventive concept.” However, it is clear from the case law and the MPEP that the considerations at issue are the same as those considered above with respect to the analysis of a practical application. See MPEP 2106.05(a) – (c) and (e). In other words, these analyses sharply overlap.
Therefore, based on the above analysis, the identified additional limitations do not provide “significantly more” than the abstract idea. The claim is therefore ineligible under §101. The other independent claims are, likewise, ineligible for the same reasons as they are virtually identical to Claim 1.
G. The Dependent Claims Do Not Recite Meaningful Additional Limitations
Similarly, Claim 2 recites the same abstract idea as Claim 1 by virtue of its dependency on Claim 1. Like Claim 1, this claim does not recite sufficient additional elements to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Claim 2 merely recites the abstract concept of money handling apparatus.
Claim 3 merely recites the abstract concept of payment for a product.
Claim 4 merely recites the abstract concept of obtaining an item via a locker.
Claim 5 merely recites the abstract concept of information related to a payment.
Claim 6 merely recites the abstract concept of the use of a locker.
Claim 7 merely recites the abstract concept of a sequence of a cash transaction and/or a purchase.
Claim 8 merely recites the abstract concept of reserving a purchase of a product and a cash transaction.
Claim 9 merely recites the abstract concept of the use of a third terminal.
Claim 10 merely recites the abstract concept of a delivery person.
Claim 11 merely recites the abstract concept of a second delivered cash or product.
Claim 12 merely recites the abstract concept of a delivery person.
Claim 13 merely recites the abstract concept of a financial server.
Claim 14 merely recites the abstract concept of a distribution store and a financial server.
Claim 15 merely recites the abstract concept of a single server to perform the functions of a financial server and a distribution server.
Claim 16 merely recites the abstract concept of withdrawal of cash and a purchased product.
None of these claims provide any additional meaningful limitations, non-generic computer components, or specific assignments of functionality among those components. Likewise, if at all, these claims recite only generic, computer-related limitations which are recited at such a high level of generality as to be devoid of any meaningful Limitations. These limitations do not recite improvements in the functioning of the computer or to any other technology or technical field.
Therefore, these claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application, nor do they amount to significantly more than the recited abstract idea because the additional elements, when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, constitute only a mere instruction to “apply” the abstract idea.
Thus, Claims 1 - 16 constitute ineligible subject matter under 35 USC § 101 as being directed to an abstract idea without more.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
Claims 1 - 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. §103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Publication No. 2022/0270059 to Higashiyama et al. (hereinafter “Glory 1”) in view of PCT Patent Publication No. WO 2022/080127 (hereinafter “Glory 2”).
Both of these publications are owned by Applicant who should be well familiar with their disclosures. Therefore, the mapping of the references to the claims, as set forth below, is considered an adequate explanation of the Rejection.
The Glory 1 reference is in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention – a cash handling/cash dispensing device in conjunction with a POS retain checkout device. .
The title is: Cash receiving system and cash receiving method
Glory 1 teaches as follows in the Abstract:
“A cash receiving system includes: a cash handling apparatus installed in each store; a store server configured to manage cash stored in the cash handling apparatus; a mobile terminal configured to input information on the cash to be withdrawn from the account of the user; a management server configured to receive the information from the mobile terminal, and transmit to the mobile terminal information on a store to receive the cash; and a financial institution server configured to receive information on the cash, and perform account handling for. When the store server has determined that the store has cash to be deposited into the account of the store, the management server notifies the user of information on the determination result..” (Emphasis Added)
The purpose of Glory 1 is on point with the claimed invention - to perform a cash transaction – at a POS device or terminal – in conjunction with a purchase transaction. This is illustrated in Glory 1 in Fig. 1:
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Thus, the POS device acts as a combined retail checkout register at a store (e.g. cash register) and an ATM of sorts:
“[0030] For example, a cash register, which is used for checkout at a checkout counter in the store when a customer purchases items, is used as the operation terminal 350, and a change machine connected to the cash register is used as the cash handling apparatus 400.” (Emphasis Added)
A “reservation” for the cash transaction is taught in Glory 1 in terms of “transaction information” which is created and transmitted in connection with the cash transaction:
“[0054] The management server 100 receives the selection result of the user P from the mobile terminal 200, creates transaction information for the user P to receive the cash at the selected store A, and transmits the transaction information to the mobile terminal 200 (step S104). The transaction information may include: user identification information (user ID) for identifying the user P; store identification information (store ID) for identifying the store A selected by the user P; information on the cash that the user P will receive from the store A; and authentication information for the transaction to receive the cash.
[0055] The authentication information included in the transaction information is a one-time password, for example. A third party is not able to know the one-time password. Therefore, the third party cannot counterfeit the transaction information and impersonate the user P, whereby security of cash handing over transaction performed at the store can be ensured.
[0056] The management server 100 transmits the transaction information to the store server 300a of the store A selected by the user P (step S105). In order to keep in the store the cash to be passed to the user P, the store server 300a starts management of cash currently stored in the cash handling apparatus 400a. Specifically, denominations and the quantity for each denomination of cash in the cash handling apparatus 400a are managed so that the user P, having arrived at the store A, can receive the requested amount of cash.” (Emphasis Added)
As taught in Glory 1, cash handling is performed in conjunction with product purchases at the POS – a combined cash handling and checkout POS, as illustrated above in Fig. 1. This self-checkout device is shown in Fig. 8:
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Its function is described in the specification as follows:
“[0117] FIG. 8B shows an example of a semi-self-checkout counter with which the clerk of the store inputs price information of items and the customer performs payment for the items. In this example, a cash register functions as the operation terminal 350, and a banknote depositing/dispensing unit 410 and a coin depositing/dispensing unit 420 connected to the cash register function as the cash handling apparatus 400.
[0118] The clerk operates the cash register to input price information of items. When the total price of items to be paid by the customer has been determined, the customer inserts cash into the cash handling apparatus 400 by him/herself. If there is change to be returned to the customer, the customer receives the change dispensed from the cash handling apparatus 400.
[0119] The checkout counter is provided with the display device 600 that displays the prices of the respective items and the total price to be paid at the time of checkout. The camera 310 is disposed on an upper part of the display device 600. The camera 310 is caused to read the QR code on the mobile terminal 200 of the customer who receives cash withdrawn from his/her bank account, as described in FIGS. 2 to 5. The display device 600 displays, on a part of the screen, benefit information to be informed to the customer. While the checkout is performed, the customer can confirm the benefit information displayed on the display device 600.
[0120] FIG. 8C shows an example of a self-checkout counter at which the customer of the store performs checkout. In this example, a touch panel type liquid crystal display device, with which the customer selects items, functions as the operation terminal 350. The cash handling apparatus 400 connected to the operation terminal 350 includes a banknote depositing/dispensing unit 410 and a coin depositing/dispensing unit 420.
[0121] The customer selects items to purchase from among items listed and displayed on the operation terminal 350. When items to be purchased by the customer and the total price of the items have been determined, the customer inserts cash into the cash handling apparatus 400 by him/herself. When there is change to be returned to the customer, the customer receives the change dispensed from the cash handling apparatus 400.” (Emphasis Added)
Accordingly, with regard to Claim 1, as outlined above, Glory 1 teaches:
Broadest reasonable interpretation:
The Claims of a patent application must be “given their broadest reasonable interpretation consistent with the specification.” See MPEP §2111. Under a broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI), words of the claim must be given their plain meaning, unless such meaning is inconsistent with the specification (e.g. the specification gives the term a special meaning). The plain meaning of a term means the ordinary and customary meaning given to the term by those of ordinary skill in the art at the relevant time.
In this case, the claim term “reservation” deserves analysis under the broadest reasonable interpretation standard. It is clear from the specification that this term relates – very broadly – to any kind of programming code or signal that defines or describes a future cash transaction within a store. Thus, the specification reads as follows in part:
“The method may further include: accepting, by the first terminal, a reservation of the product or the service in addition to the reservation of the financial transaction; and creating, by the second terminal, the second information including information on the reservation of the product or the service and information on the payment for the product or the service based on the reservation of the product or the service accepted by the first terminal.
That is, the user can reserve the product that the user plans to purchase or the service that the user wishes to receive, together with the reservation of the financial transaction. Offering the reservation of the product and another item improves the user convenience.”
This code is received by the user/consumer on his/her mobile computing device (i.e. “first terminal”), in the first instance, and then transmitted to the store’s server (“second terminal”) in the second instance.
Therefore, the “transaction information” taught by Glory 1 is considered to constitute the recited term “reservation.”
As for other claim terms, no specialized meaning is detected from the specification; therefore, the plain and ordinary meaning of the Claim terms will be given.
Discussion of Cited References:
Thus, Glory 1 in view of Glory 2 teach as follows:
[Claim 1] A method of processing a financial transaction, the method comprising: acquiring, by a second terminal used by a store, first information related to a reservation of a financial transaction accepted by a first terminal; (See at least Fig. 1 reproduced above and 0054 – 0061 quoted in part above.)
acquiring, by the second terminal, second information related to a payment for a product or service by a user who reserved the financial transaction; and performing, by the second terminal, a cash transaction based on the first information on the reservation in a case where a payment process is executed based on the second information. (See at least the same sections quoted immediately above which describe both the purchase and cash handling transactions. That is, see at least Glory 1: 0117 – 0121, quoted above. Note that the transaction information, as taught by Glory 1, may be displayed by the user in terms of a QR code, as explained in 0061 and 0116.)
Therefore, Glory 1 appears to teach all of the essential limitations of Claim 1; however, out of an abundance of caution, Glory 2 is cited for its teachings related to combining the above functions with delivering the purchased goods via a locker function.
Thus, Glory 2 is in the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention and Glory 1 – delivering purchased products at a store location or other locker location in the case where the goods have been previously purchased.
The title of Glory 2 is: Storage system
The Abstract is as follows:
“This storage system comprises: a management unit that manages item information about an item stored in a lockable storage unit and money amount information indicating the payment amount of money for the item, in association with each other; a communication unit that transmits the item information and the money amount information to an external payment processing device (communication terminal device) when the storage unit storing the item therein is locked, and that receives payment completion information indicating that the payment of the payment amount of money has been completed at the payment processing device (communication terminal device); and a locking control unit that locks the storage unit when the item is stored in the storage unit, and that unlocks the storage unit storing the item therein when a payment completion notification is received by the communication unit.” (Emphasis Added)
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the combined POS/cash handling apparatus of Glory 1 to add the delivery locker features of Glory 2. The motivation to make this modification comes from Glory 1. It teaches, as quoted and illustrated above, that the user can perform a “self-checkout” at the store for the purchase of goods or items and perform a cashout or cash deposit transaction at the same time. It would greatly enhance the efficiency and convenience of the system of Glory 1 to add the locker or lock box features of Glory 2, wherein the user could simply pick up the items previously purchased and paid for, at the same time as the cash handling transaction is performed. .
With regard to Claims 2 – 16, Glory 1 in view of Glory 2 teaches:
[Claim 2] The method of claim 1, wherein the second terminal is connected to a money handling apparatus that handles cash, the method further comprising: causing, by the second terminal, the money handling apparatus to handle cash in a case where the cash transaction is performed based on the first information. (See at least Glory 1 and Fig. 1 reproduced above.)
[Claim 3] The method of claim 1, wherein the second information is related to a payment for a product or service provided by the store. (See at least Glory 1: 0116 – 0121)
[Claim 4] The method of claim 3, wherein the product or an item derived from the service is provided to the user via a locker, the method further comprising: the locker being unlocked in conjunction with the execution, by the second terminal, of the payment process based on the second information. (See at least Glory 2: Abstract)
[Claim 5] The method of claim 1, wherein the second information is related to a payment for a product or service provided by a second store different from the store. (See at least Glory 1 and Fig. 1, wherein two stores are illustrated. A person of ordinary skill in the art would readily understand that the user could visit one of a plurality of stores.)
[Claim 6] The method of claim 5, wherein the product or an item derived from the service is provided to the user via a locker, the method further comprising: the locker being unlocked in conjunction with the execution, by the second terminal, of the payment process based on the second information. (See at least Glory 2: Abstract)
[Claim 7] The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing, by the second terminal, the cash transaction based on the first information and the payment process based on the second information individually or collectively. (See at least Glory 1: 0116 – 0121, wherein it would be obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art that the sequency of purchase vs. cash is obvious, and that a consumer could perform one transaction with or without the other and at the same or different times. These are obvious and discretionary choices of a person of ordinary skill in the art and obvious in view of at least Glory 1.)
[Claim 8] The method of claim 1, further comprising: accepting, by the first terminal, a reservation of the product or the service in addition to the reservation of the financial transaction; and creating, by the second terminal, the second information including information on the reservation of the product or the service and information on the payment for the product or the service based on the reservation of the product or the service accepted by the first terminal. (See at least Glory 1: 0057 – 0061)
[Claim 9] The method of claim 8, further comprising: outputting, by the second terminal, a command related to the delivery of cash withdrawn based on the first information, and the product or an item derived from the service, to a third terminal used for the executing the delivery. (See at least Glory 1: Fig. 1, wherein a second store also is provided with a cash handling device and a camera and can read the QR code in order to authorize the dispensing of cash.)
[Claim 10] The method of claim 9, wherein the third terminal is carried by a delivery person in charge of the delivery or mounted on an autonomous mobile object in charge of the delivery. (See at least Glory 1: 0051 and 0104 wherein a person such as a store manager performs the delivery function manually.)
[Claim 11] The method of claim 9, further comprising: outputting, by the second terminal, a command including a first delivery destination of the cash and a second delivery destination of the product or the item to the third terminal. (See at least Glory 1: 0053 wherein the user is presented with a list of stores whereby to perform the desired transactions and the user selects the store.)
[Claim 12] The method of claim 11, wherein the third terminal is carried by a delivery person in charge of the delivery or mounted on an autonomous mobile object in charge of the delivery. (See at least citations with respect to Claim 10 above.)
[Claim 13] The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, by the first terminal, the first information to a financial server; and acquiring, by the second terminal, the first information via the financial server. (See at least Glory 1, Fig. 1 wherein the “management server” is considered to constitute the recited term “financial server.”)
[Claim 14] The method of claim 8, wherein the store is a distributor store, the method further comprising: transmitting, by the first terminal, the first information to the financial server, and the reservation of the product or the service to a distribution server; and acquiring, by the second terminal, the first information via the financial server, and information on the reservation of the product or the service via the distribution server. (See at least Fig. 1 wherein the store server is considered to constitute the recited term “distributor server.”)
[Claim 15] The method of claim 14, wherein the financial server and the distribution server are included in a single server. (See at least Fig. 1 wherein the management server and the bank server could be one and the same, as easily envisioned by a person of ordinary skill in the art wherein the bank hosts the management server functions.)
[Claim 16] The method of claim 1, further comprising: performing, by the second terminal, a withdrawal transaction that is the cash transaction, in conjunction with the payment process. (See at least Glory 1: 0116-0121)
Conclusion
4. Applicant should carefully consider the following in connection with this Office Action:
A. Search and Prior Art
The search conducted in connection with this Office Action, as well as any previous Actions, encompassed the inventive concepts as defined in the Applicant’s specification. That is, the search(es) included concepts and features which are defined by the pending claims but also pertinent to significant although unclaimed subject matter. Accordingly, such search(es) were directed to the defined invention as well as the general state of the art, including references which are in the same field of endeavor as the present application as well as related fields (e.g. POS devices that can dispense cashback as part of a retail purchase transaction). Indeed, there is a plethora of prior art in these fields.
Therefore, in addition to prior art references cited and applied in connection with this and any previous Office Actions, the following prior art is also made of record but not relied upon in the current rejection:
U.S. Patent Publication No.2023/0070996 to Takemura et al. This reference relates to the concept of receiving cash deposits at the POS.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2021/0206516 to Watson et al. This reference relates to the concept of making a reservation for a cash transaction.
B. Responding to this Office Action
In view of the foregoing explanation of the scope of searches conducted in connection with the examination of this application, in preparing any response to this Action, Applicant is encouraged to carefully review the entire disclosures of the above-cited, unapplied references, as well as any previously cited references. It is likely that one or more such references disclose or suggest features which Applicant may seek to claim. Moreover, for the same reasons, Applicant is encouraged to review the entire disclosures of the references applied in the foregoing rejections and not just the sections mentioned.
C. Interviews and Compact Prosecution
The Office strongly encourages interviews as an important aspect of compact prosecution. Statistics and studies have shown that prosecution can be greatly advanced by way of interviews. Indeed, in many instances, during the course of one or more interviews, the Examiner and Applicant may reach an agreement on eligible and allowable subject matter that is supported by the specification.
Interviews are especially welcomed by this examiner at any stage of the prosecution process. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool (e.g. TEAMS). To facilitate the scheduling of an interview, the Examiner requests the use of the AIR form as follows:
USPTO Automated Interview Request http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
Other forms of interview requests filed in this application may result in a delay in scheduling the interview because of the time required to appear on the Examiner's docket. Thus, the use of the AIR form is strongly encouraged.
D. Communicating with the Office
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM BUNKER whose telephone number is (571)272-0017. The examiner can normally be reached on M - F 8:30AM - 5:30PM, Pacific.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Abhishek Vyas, can be reached at 571-270-1836. Information regarding the status of an application, whether published or unpublished, may be obtained from the “Patent Center” system. For more information about the Patent Center system, see https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/
/William (Bill) Bunker/
U.S. Patent Examiner
AU 3691
(571) 272-0017 - office
william.bunker@uspto.gov
July 9, 2026
/ABHISHEK VYAS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3691
Prosecution Insights