Appeal No. 2001-1018
Application 09/211,688
check cash desk (24). Nothing in the Van Solt reference
discloses, teaches or suggests the method step of operating a
self-service checkout terminal so as to allow a customer to
enter the number of selected items into the self-service
checkout terminal in response to generation of an audit-
required control signal, which limitation is present in each
of claims 1, 13 and 18 on appeal. Nor does Van Solt disclose,
teach or suggest a self-service checkout terminal specifically
programmed to permit a self-audit to be performed by the
customer as set forth in appellants’ retail system of claim 7.
The examiner’s assertion (answer, page 5) that such
limitations are “not given any patentable weight” disregards
the essence of appellants’ invention and is based on the
entirely speculative and probably incorrect assumption that a
checkout terminal cannot distinguish or be set-up to
distinguish between a customer and a cashier. In a retail
transaction system, the checkout terminals are normally set-up
to require the employee to enter a PIN or employee number
prior to being activated to accept input of items for
purchase, thereby preventing a customer from using the
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