Obviousness

The obviousness of US Patent 8,244,594 under 35 U.S.C. § 103 can be analyzed by combining existing prior art references that, when viewed by a Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSA), would suggest the claimed invention.

Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art (POSA):
A POSA in this field would be an individual with practical and theoretical knowledge of e-commerce systems, mobile computing, Global Positioning Systems (GPS) applications, real-time communication technologies (voice, video, data), and logistical management or optimization for delivery services. This individual would understand the integration of these technologies to facilitate commercial transactions and goods delivery.

Motivation to Combine:
The overarching motivation for a POSA to combine the identified prior art references would be to enhance the remote shopping experience by addressing the limitations of traditional online shopping (e.g., inability to physically inspect goods) and to improve the efficiency, transparency, and convenience of local goods acquisition and delivery. By integrating real-time visual inspection with efficient dispatch and delivery, a POSA would aim to create a comprehensive and superior remote acquisition and delivery service that meets customer demands for speed, reliability, and informed purchasing decisions.

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Prior Art Combination for Obviousness

The following combination of prior art references, all published before the priority date of US8244594 (August 26, 2009), would render the independent claims (Claim 1 and Claim 13) obvious:

1. US20080086386A1 to Bell ("Bell"): "Conducting Remote Shopping Events" (Published April 10, 2008)
2. US20080235038A1 to Szamel ("Szamel"): "Method, system and computer program for enabling live sales support" (Published September 25, 2008)
3. US7251621B1 to Weng ("Weng"): "Method and apparatus for the home delivery of local retail e-commerce orders" (Published July 31, 2007)
4. Common General Knowledge (CGK): By 2009, the use of GPS for navigation, location tracking, and fleet management in mobile devices and vehicles was widespread and well-understood.

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Analysis of Obviousness for Independent Claim 1

Claim 1 describes a method for remote acquisition and delivery of goods involving deploying agents with mobile systems (real-time video, GPS, communication), receiving a request, obtaining agent information (location, availability), selecting an agent, deploying the agent to the goods' location, transferring a real-time image of the goods to the customer, acquiring the goods, and delivering them.

The combination of Bell, Szamel, Weng, and CGK for GPS would render Claim 1 obvious as follows:

1. "deploying a plurality of delivery agents of a service provider to various geographic locations, each delivery agent having a mobile delivery agent system in communication with at least one remote server, wherein each mobile delivery agent system includes: a real-time video device, a global positioning device, and a communication device;"

   • Weng teaches "a plurality of local drivers" that serve as delivery agents for e-commerce orders, operating from "various geographic locations".
   • Bell discloses a "proxy shopper" who acts as a delivery agent during a "remote shopping event".
   • Szamel explicitly describes a "live presence device" carried by a store employee (functioning as a delivery agent) that includes "real-time audio and video communication" capabilities, fulfilling the "real-time video device" and "communication device" requirements. This device communicates with "online customers" via a "server," fulfilling the "in communication with at least one remote server" aspect.
   • The inclusion of a "global positioning device" (GPS) in such a mobile delivery agent system would be a matter of common general knowledge by 2009, as GPS was routinely integrated into mobile phones and vehicles for navigation and tracking. Weng's concept of optimizing delivery routes implicitly relies on knowing the location of its drivers, suggesting the use of GPS.

2. "receiving a first acquisition request from a first customer for a set of one or more goods;"

   • Bell teaches the concept of a customer initiating a "remote shopping event" to acquire items. Weng also describes receiving "e-commerce orders" from customers for goods.

3. "obtaining information, including location information based on signals from the global positioning devices and availability status information, on the plurality of delivery agents;"

   • Weng's system for managing and dispatching multiple local drivers requires obtaining "availability status information" and "location information" to assign orders efficiently. This location information would be derived from "global positioning devices" as is common general knowledge and implied by Weng's route optimization.

4. "obtaining a selection of one of the plurality of delivery agents for fulfilling the first acquisition request;"

   • Weng's system for managing a fleet of local drivers and assigning them tasks inherently involves the "selection" of a suitable driver (delivery agent) to fulfill an order.

5. "deploying one of the plurality of delivery agents to a location having the first set of one or more goods;"

   • Bell describes a "proxy shopper" being deployed to a physical store to acquire items. Weng also describes deploying drivers for pickups.

6. "electronically transferring an image of the first set of one or more goods to the first customer using the real-time video device;"

   • Szamel expressly teaches this, enabling a store employee with a "live presence device" to transmit "real-time audio and video" of products to an "online customer," allowing virtual inspection. A POSA would find it obvious to apply Szamel's real-time video functionality to Bell's proxy shopper to enhance the remote shopping experience.

7. "acquiring the first set of one or more goods via the delivery agent; and"

   • Bell's "proxy shopper" explicitly "acquires items on behalf of a remote customer". Weng's drivers also acquire goods as part of fulfilling e-commerce orders.

8. "delivering the first set of one or more goods to a delivery site selected by the first customer."

   • Weng specifically teaches the "home delivery of local retail e-commerce orders" to a customer's designated site. Bell also implies delivery as the culmination of a remote shopping transaction.

Conclusion for Claim 1: A POSA, motivated to provide a comprehensive and interactive remote shopping experience with efficient local delivery, would find it obvious to combine the proxy shopping and acquisition concept of Bell, the real-time video interaction of Szamel, and the efficient multi-agent delivery system of Weng, incorporating standard GPS technology for tracking and navigation.

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Analysis of Obviousness for Independent Claim 13

Claim 13 is similar to Claim 1 but adds a specific step: "after receiving the first acquisition request, calculating which of the plurality of delivery agents could most efficiently carry out the first acquisition request using the at least one remote server, with the calculation being based, at least in part, on a location having the first set one or more goods, a current location of the delivery agent as determined utilizing the global positioning device, and the delivery site."

The elements of Claim 13 that overlap with Claim 1 are rendered obvious for the same reasons as discussed above. The distinguishing feature is the explicit efficiency calculation for agent selection.

1. "after receiving the first acquisition request, calculating which of the plurality of delivery agents could most efficiently carry out the first acquisition request using the at least one remote server, with the calculation being based, at least in part, on a location having the first set one or more goods, a current location of the delivery agent as determined utilizing the global positioning device, and the delivery site;"
   • Weng teaches the optimization of "delivery routes" for "a plurality of local drivers" for e-commerce orders, which inherently involves "calculating" efficient assignments based on logistical factors. This system operates with "at least one remote server" and utilizes "delivery sites."
   • A POSA, armed with the knowledge from Weng about optimizing delivery, and knowing that agent "current location" data is available via "global positioning devices" (CGK/Weng implication) and that the "location having the first set of one or more goods" (i.e., the pickup location) is known from the acquisition request (Bell/Weng), would find it a routine optimization task to calculate the most efficient agent. This calculation would minimize travel time and cost by considering all three known points: agent's current location, goods' pickup location, and customer's delivery site. This is a standard problem in logistics optimization, and its application to the combined system would be obvious to improve efficiency.

Motivation for Combination for Claim 13: Building upon the motivation for Claim 1, a POSA would further seek to optimize the operational efficiency of such a remote acquisition and delivery service. Weng provides a clear teaching of logistical optimization for delivery agents. It would be an obvious step for a POSA to apply these known optimization principles (from Weng) to the agent selection process in the Bell/Szamel enhanced remote shopping system, using readily available GPS location data and known pickup/delivery addresses, to achieve the desired efficiency.

In summary, the combination of Bell, Szamel, Weng, and common general knowledge regarding GPS would render both independent claims 1 and 13 of US8244594 obvious to a Person of Ordinary Skill in the Art seeking to develop a more interactive and efficient remote acquisition and delivery system.