DETAILED ACTION
The following is a FINAL office action upon examination of the application number 16/752384.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
Claims 8 and 15 have been amended.
Claims 8, 11-15, 18-20, 23 and 26 are pending in the application and have been examined on the merits discussed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 8, 11-15, 18-20, 23, and 26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
(Step 1) Claims 8, 11-14, and 23 are directed to a method; thus these claims are directed to a process, which is one of the statutory categories of invention. Claims 15, 18-20, and 26 are directed to a non-transitory computer-readable medium, which is a manufacture, and this is a statutory category of invention.
(Step 2A – Prong 1) The claims recite an abstract idea instructing how to use anonymous customer purchase behavior to develop known customer profiles, which is described by claim limitations reciting:
receiving a plurality of anonymous customer transaction data sets…, each of said plurality of anonymous customer transaction data sets comprising a group of transactional data for an individual anonymous customer, wherein none of said plurality of anonymous customer transaction data sets have personally identifiable information (PII) associated therewith;
searching within each said group of transactional data for profile identification data identifying one or more traits, said one or more traits comprising: an age, a health profile and a gender;
searching within each said group of transactional data for purchase information data identifying said one or more traits;
generating a plurality of different anonymous customer profiles, said different customer profiles comprising: a plurality of predefined trait profiles and at least one retailer specific trait profile;
sorting each said group of transactional data for said individual anonymous customer into one or more of said plurality of different anonymous customer profiles;
evaluating said purchase information data in each said group of transactional data within each of said plurality of different anonymous customer profiles to identify a plurality of purchasing behavior characteristics for each of said plurality of different anonymous customer profiles;
continuously receiving additional anonymous customer transaction data sets;
continuously searching and sorting said additional anonymous customer transaction data sets into one or more of said plurality of different anonymous customer profiles;
updating said purchase behavior characteristics for each of said plurality of different anonymous customer profiles after said additional anonymous customer transaction data sets are added thereto;
receiving a plurality of known customer profiles, each of said plurality of known customer profiles comprising transactional data and one or more known customer traits;
matching, based on said one or more known customer traits, at least one anonymous customer profile of said plurality of anonymous customer profiles to each of said known customer profiles; and
assigning at least one purchasing behavior characteristics from said at least one anonymous customer profile to each of said known customer profiles.
The identified limitations in the claims describing using anonymous customer purchase behavior to develop known customer profiles (i.e., the abstract idea) fall within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas, which covers fundamental economic practices and marketing activities, or alternatively, the “Mental Processes” grouping of abstract ideas since the identified steps can be performed by a human, mentally or with pen and paper. Dependent claims 11, 12, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20, 23, and 26 recite limitations that further narrow/describe the abstract idea (i.e., generating a marketing strategy based on anonymous and known customer data); therefore, these claims are also found to recite an abstract idea.
(Step 2A – Prong 2) This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because additional elements such as the processor of a computer system in claim 8; and the non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising one or more instructions in claim 15, do not add a meaningful limitation to the abstract idea since these elements are only broadly applied to the abstract ideas at a high level of generality; thus, none of recited hardware offers a meaningful limitation beyond generally linking the abstract idea to a particular technological environment, in this case, implementation via a processor/computer.
Additional elements related to receiving…data sets electronically transmitted over a network connection do not provide an improvement to the computer or a technical field; further, these additional elements only add insignificant extra-solution activities (data transmission). Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
(Step 2B) The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because as discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the hardware additional elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (see Spec. paragraphs 50-51). Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Additional elements related to receiving…data sets electronically transmitted over a network connection do not provide an improvement to the computer or a technical field; further, these additional elements only add insignificant extra-solution activities (data transmission). With respect to data transmission limitations, the courts have recognized the use of computers to receive and transmit data as a well-understood, routine, and conventional, OIP Techs., Inc., v. Amazon.com, Inc., 788 F.3d 1359, 1363, 115 USPQ2d 1090, 1093 (Fed. Cir. 2015) (sending messages over a network); buySAFE, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 765 F.3d 1350, 1355, 112 USPQ2d 1093, 1096 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (computer receives and sends information over a network). With respect to data display limitations, the courts have found the presentation of data to be a well-understood, routine, conventional activity, OIP Techs., 788 F.3d at 1362-63, 115 USPQ2d at 1092-93 (see MPEP 2106.05(d)). In addition, when taken as an ordered combination, the ordered combination adds nothing that is not already present as when the elements are taken individually. There is no indication that the combination of elements improves the functioning of a computer or improves any other technology.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/3/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
With respect to the rejection under 35 USC 101, Applicant argues that the claims are not recite a Mental Process or Certain Methods or Organizing Human Activity.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. In Step 2A – prong one, the eligibility analysis evaluates whether the claim recites a judicial exception. As explained in MPEP 2106.04, subsection II, a claim “recites” a judicial exception when the judicial exception is “set forth” or “described” in the claim. A claim can recite a mental process even if includes additional elements. For instance, in CyberSource, the court determined that the step of "constructing a map of credit card numbers" was a limitation that was able to be performed "by writing down a list of credit card transactions made from a particular IP address." In making this determination, the court looked to the specification, which explained that the claimed map was nothing more than a listing of several (e.g., four) credit card transactions. The court concluded that this step was able to be performed mentally with a pen and paper, and therefore, it qualified as a mental process. 654 F.3d at 1372-73, 99 USPQ2d at 1695. See also Flook, 437 U.S. at 586, 198 USPQ at 196 (claimed "computations can be made by pencil and paper calculations"); Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1318, 120 USPQ2d at 1360 (although claimed as computer-implemented, steps of screening messages can be "performed by a human, mentally or with pen and paper").
Claims can recite a mental process even if they are claimed as being performed on a computer. The Supreme Court recognized this in Benson, determining that a mathematical algorithm for converting binary coded decimal to pure binary within a computer’s shift register was an abstract idea. The Court concluded that the algorithm could be performed purely mentally even though the claimed procedures "can be carried out in existing computers long in use, no new machinery being necessary." 409 U.S at 67, 175 USPQ at 675. See also Mortgage Grader, 811 F.3d at 1324, 117 USPQ2d at 1699 (concluding that concept of "anonymous loan shopping" recited in a computer system claim is an abstract idea because it could be "performed by humans without a computer").
Additional elements related to receiving…data sets electronically transmitted over a network connection do not provide an improvement to the computer or a technical field; further, these additional elements only add insignificant extra-solution activities (data transmission). Accordingly, these additional element do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
The courts have used the phrases "fundamental economic practices" or "fundamental economic principles" to describe concepts relating to the economy and commerce. Limitations in the claims reciting using anonymous customer purchase behavior to develop known customer profiles (i.e., the abstract idea) describe a concept related to commerce and/or marketing activity. Therefore, Examiner finds that the claims recite an abstract idea that falls within the Certain Methods or Organizing Human Activity grouping.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2019/0130422 (Sweeney) – discloses the use of retailer data and customer purchasing behavior to enhance transaction data.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALAN TORRICO-LOPEZ whose telephone number is (571)272-3247. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10AM-5PM.
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/ALAN TORRICO-LOPEZ/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3625
