Prior art — US Patent 12026731

Analysis of Prior Art for U.S. Patent No. 12,026,731

The following analysis details the most relevant prior art cited against U.S. Patent No. 12,026,731, "Method for personalized marketing and advertising of retail products." Each cited reference is examined for its potential to anticipate the independent claims of the '731 patent under 35 U.S.C. § 102. The independent claims of the '731 patent broadly cover a system, a method, and a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for monitoring and analyzing the behavior of people in a location, such as a retail store, using information monitoring devices and a plurality of software modules, including demographic and tracking modules, to provide personalized marketing.

Key Cited Prior Art and Potential Anticipation:

Below are the most pertinent prior art references cited during the prosecution of the '731 patent.

1. U.S. Patent No. 8,630,917 (hereinafter '917)

Full Citation: US 8,630,917 B2
Title: System and method for providing in-store targeted marketing
Publication Date: January 14, 2014
Filing Date: March 2, 2012
Brief Description: The '917 patent discloses a system for delivering targeted advertisements to consumers in a retail environment. It describes using sensors to detect the presence of a consumer's mobile device and to identify the consumer. The system then determines the consumer's location within the store and delivers targeted content, such as advertisements or coupons, to their mobile device or to a nearby display screen based on their profile and location.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Independent Claim 1 (System): The '917 patent appears to describe many elements of the system claimed in the '731 patent. It discloses a server, monitoring devices (sensors for mobile devices), and databases. The system analyzes consumer information (demographics from a profile) and tracks their location. This could be argued to anticipate the core components of the claimed system.
- Independent Claim 2 (Method): The method described in the '917 patent involves gathering information about a consumer, tracking their location in-store, and analyzing this data to provide targeted marketing. This mirrors the steps outlined in the '731 patent's method claim.
- Independent Claim 3 (Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Storage Medium): As the '917 patent discloses a system and method, it inherently describes the software (non-transitory medium) that would perform these functions.

2. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0323671 (hereinafter '671)

Full Citation: US 2012/0323671 A1
Title: System and Method for Shopper-Specific In-Store Advertising
Publication Date: December 20, 2012
Filing Date: June 14, 2011
Brief Description: The '671 publication details a system that uses video cameras and facial recognition to identify a shopper's demographic information (age, gender). It also tracks the shopper's path through the store and their dwell time in different areas. Based on this collected data, the system presents targeted advertisements on digital displays within the store.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Independent Claim 1 (System): The '671 publication describes a system comprising cameras (information monitoring devices), a server for analysis, and databases. It explicitly mentions modules for demographic intelligence (facial recognition) and tracking a shopper's movement, which directly corresponds to the requirements of this claim.
- Independent Claim 2 (Method): The disclosed method of using cameras to gather demographic and location data, and then analyzing it to provide targeted advertising, strongly aligns with the method claimed in the '731 patent.
- Independent Claim 3 (Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Storage Medium): The functionality described in the '671 publication would necessarily be implemented via software on a non-transitory medium.

3. U.S. Patent No. 9,031,883 (hereinafter '883)

Full Citation: US 9,031,883 B2
Title: Methods and systems for providing location-based offers
Publication Date: May 12, 2015
Filing Date: September 28, 2012
Brief Description: The '883 patent focuses on a system that tracks a user's location via their mobile device and sends them relevant offers. It describes creating a user profile which can include demographic data. The system analyzes the user's location, profile, and historical data to determine which offers to send.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Independent Claim 1 (System): This patent discloses a system with a server, a user's mobile device as a tracking and information source (an information monitoring device), and databases. The system uses a profile for demographic information and tracks the user's location, which are key elements of the '731 patent's system claim.
- Independent Claim 2 (Method): The method of gathering user information (including demographics and location), and analyzing it to provide marketing communications (offers), is central to the '883 patent and is very similar to the method claimed in the '731 patent.
- Independent Claim 3 (Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Storage Medium): The described method would be executed by software stored on a non-transitory medium, thus potentially anticipating this claim.

4. U.S. Patent No. 8,874,474 (hereinafter '474)

Full Citation: US 8,874,474 B1
Title: Context-aware advertising
Publication Date: October 28, 2014
Filing Date: October 2, 2013
Brief Description: The '474 patent describes a system for providing context-aware advertising based on a variety of sensor data from a user's mobile device. This can include location, time, and even environmental factors. The system can also use demographic information associated with the user to tailor the advertisements.
Potential Anticipation of Claims:
- Independent Claim 1 (System): The '474 patent discloses a system with a server that processes data from mobile devices (information monitoring devices). It uses demographic information and tracks the user's context, which includes location. This aligns with the components of the system claim in the '731 patent.
- Independent Claim 2 (Method): The method of gathering user data (demographics and context/location) from a mobile device and analyzing it to deliver targeted advertising is a core teaching of the '474 patent and is analogous to the method of the '731 patent.
- Independent Claim 3 (Non-Transitory Computer-Readable Storage Medium): The software for implementing the described context-aware advertising system would reside on a non-transitory medium.