Looking back six years: Wal-Mart and IBM

In Walmart's Old Mother Hubbard Patent the blog 12:01 Tuesday discussed Walmart's US patent 8,996,413, with first inventor Stuart Argue (listed at linkedin as Engineering Director @WalmartLabs ).

The first claim of US '413 is


A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a processing device of a commerce server, a video signal from a head mountable unit worn by a human customer shopping in a retail store;
identifying, by the processing device within one or more images corresponding to the video signal, a geometric figure positioned so that the geometric figure is exposed to view as a stock of a particular product sold within the retail store is depleted;
transmitting, by the processing device, a restock signal in response to said identifying step.



12:01 Tuesday discusses the claim. It is interesting to note that the term "geometric figure" appears in the claims, but not elsewhere in the specification.

12:01 Tuesday alludes to a post six years ago. IPBiz had recently alluded to distinct six year old posts relating to an IBM patent application on outsourcing.

One notes Wal-Mart obtained its method patent, but IBM abandoned its outsourcing method patent application.



Links:

http://www.1201tuesday.com/1201_tuesday/2015/03/walmarts-old-mother-hubbard-patent.html (text: As I wrote six years ago (to the day!), Meijer was more than enough Big Box for us. In fact, the full Walmart still isn’t allowed in Chicago, though there is an urban “Walmart Express” a few blocks from my house. )


http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-long-road-back.html (text: In passing, recall the IPBiz post on IBM's patent application on outsourcing:

http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2009/03/ibms-published-patent-application.html

IBM sent a letter abandoning application 20090083107 on 30 March 2009, six years ago.
This was four days after the application was published on 26 March 2009. )


Also: http://ipbiz.blogspot.com/2015/03/schumer-to-put-his-imprint-on-patent.html (text: A NBC Nightly News story on 3 April 09 discussed how an IBM Fishkill employee [Frederic (Rick) Clark] was offered the opportunity to keep his job, in India at the prevailing salary in India [20 to 25% of US].)