Appeal No. 2004-1484
Application 09/438,396
such a method and apparatus wherein a portable device with a
memory, such as a smart card, tracks customer purchasing habits
related to plural profit margin categories. Another aspect of
the invention relates to a method and apparatus wherein a
portable device with a memory storing customer identification and
customer purchasing habits interfaces with a point of sale (POS)
terminal that stores customer information for only one customer
at a time and transmits the customer information only to the
portable device and modifies the stored information on the
portable device based on purchases by the one customer.
Independent claims 1, 7, 13, 14, 19 and 20 are representative of
the subject matter on appeal and a copy of those claims can be
found in the Appendix to appellant’s brief.
The prior art references of record relied upon by the
examiner in rejecting the appealed claims are:
Dorf 6,189,787 Feb. 20, 2001
Fernandez 6,266,647 Jul. 24, 2001
Walker et al. (Walker ‘573)1 6,327,573 Dec. 4, 2001
1 While the examiner, on page 3 of the answer, has listed
U.S. Patent No. 6,049,778 to Walker at al. as being prior art
relied upon in the rejections on appeal, we note that it is clear
from the record of the application, particularly the final
rejection (Paper No. 6, page 2), appellant’s brief (Paper No. 14,
page 9) and the statement of rejection set forth on page 3 of the
2
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