DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claims 1-10 are pending.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 and 6-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Tornwall, et al. (US 2015/0062560, herein Tornwall).1 Regarding claims 1 and 6, Tornwall teaches an unmanned store product checkout apparatus and method comprising: a first transfer unit for transferring a product to scan the product desired by a user to purchase (paragraph 0070: first conveyor belt 9); a first product recognition unit installed at a first point where transfer of the product begins by the first transfer unit, to recognize that the product is placed on the first transfer unit (paragraph 0071: sensor 7); a weight sensor installed at a lower one side of the first transfer unit, to measure a weight of the product (paragraph 0070: conveyor scales 8); a scan unit installed to be spaced apart from the first transfer unit toward the top as much as a preset distance, to scan a barcode and an image of the product transferred by the first transfer unit (paragraph 0081: barcode reader 15); a processor for identifying what the product is by using artificial intelligence learning data on the basis of the barcode and image of the product scanned by the scan unit and the weight of the product measured by the weight sensor (paragraph 0082: processor 6); a product classification unit including a second transfer unit arranged to be in contact with a second point (paragraph 0073: second conveyor belt 12), where transfer of the product by the first transfer unit is terminated, to move the product left and right to be classified into a first area or a second area and classify the product by operating the second transfer unit on the basis of a result of product identification (paragraph 0082); a calculation unit for calculating a total price by adding up both a first price obtained by adding prices of the products classified into the first area and a second price obtained by adding prices of the products classified into the second area and confirmed by a manager (paragraph 0068); a display unit for providing the user with the total price, which is calculated by the calculation unit, and a product list (paragraph 0072: display unit 11); and a control unit for controlling operations of the first transfer unit and the product classification unit on the basis of a result of product recognition performed by the first product recognition unit and a result of product identification performed by the processor (paragraph 0070). Regarding claim 2, Tornwall teaches a barcode scanner for recognizing the barcode of the product (paragraph 0081: barcode reader 15); and an image scanner for acquiring image information by scanning the image of the product (paragraph 0047: VIS sensor). Regarding claim 3, Tornwall teaches the processor identifies the product as a scanned product corresponding to identification information included in the barcode when the barcode is recognized (paragraph 0072), acquires a product name and a character string from the image information and identifies the product as a scanned product on the basis of the image information (paragraph 0072), the product name, and the character string using artificial intelligence learning data when the barcode is not recognized (paragraph 0109), compares the weight of the product measured using the weight sensor with weight information included in product information corresponding to the scanned product (paragraph 0093), transmits a first signal indicating that the product has been normally identified to the control unit when the product is verified as a scanned product as a result of the comparison (paragraph 0094), and transmits a second signal indicating that the product has not been normally identified to the control unit when the product is not verified as a scanned product or it is verified that the product is not a scanned product as a result of the comparison (paragraph 0095). Regarding claim 4, Tornwall teaches the control unit controls the product classification unit to move the product in a direction of the first area so that the product can be classified into the first area when the first signal is received from the processor, and controls the product classification unit to move the product in a direction of the second area so that the product can be classified into the second area when the second signal is received from the processor (paragraph 0073). Regarding claim 7, Tornwall teaches scanning a barcode and acquiring scanned product information corresponding to the barcode when the barcode of the product is recognized, and acquiring image information by scanning an entire image of the product when the barcode of the product is not recognized, specifying the product as an unconfirmed product when the barcode of the product is not recognized or the image information of the product is not acquired, and acquiring a product name of the product from the image information when the barcode of the product is not recognized after the step of scanning the product (paragraph 0072); and acquiring scanned product information corresponding to the product, of which the image information is acquired, on the basis of the image information and the product name using artificial intelligence learning data, wherein the artificial intelligence learning data includes data obtained by learning a size, a shape, a name, and a weight of products sold in an unmanned store (paragraph 0072). Regarding claim 8, Tornwall teaches after the step of recognizing a product placed on a first transfer unit, the step of measuring a weight of the product using a weight sensor, wherein the step of classifying the product includes the steps of: comparing weight information of a scanned product included in the scanned product information with a measured weight of the product (paragraph 0073); classifying the product into the first area to be sent to a user when the product is verified as the scanned product as a result of the comparison, and classifying the product into the second area to be sent to the manager when the product is verified as a different product as a result of the comparison or when the product is an unconfirmed product (paragraph 0082); and transmitting the number of products classified into the second area, device information, and the user information to a manager terminal (paragraph 0082).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5 and 9-10 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MATTHEW MIKELS whose telephone number is (571)270-5470. The examiner can normally be reached Monday to Thursday 7:30 AM ET - 5:00 PM ET, Friday 7:30 AM ET - 9:30 AM ET, the Examiner is on central time.2
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Thomas K Pham can be reached at 571-272-3689. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MATTHEW MIKELS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
1 In addition to the cited paragraphs, please see also the associated figures.
2 The Examiner can also be reached at matthew.mikels@uspto.gov.
