DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
This Office Action is in response to RCE filed on 09/02/2026 and claims filed on 03/05/2026.
Claims 1-8 and 16-23 are pending and are examined hereon while claims 9-15 are canceled.
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 Arguments
With respect to rejection of claims under 35 U.S.C. 101, Applicant is of the opinion that claims 8-15 are canceled and claims 1-8 and 16-23 are amended to overcome the present rejection and disagrees with ejection including the reasoning thereof.
Examiner fully considers Applicant’s position, but respectfully disagree and as the Patent Board agreed with the Examiners Answer, the claimed invention remains to be directed to an abstract idea without significantly more as no amendments accompanied the RCE filing. Therefore, Examiner sustains the rejection as affirmed by the Patent Board Decision on 07/24//2026.
With respect to rejection of claims under 35 U.S.C. 103, Applicant is of the opinion that claims 8-15 are canceled and claims 1-8 and 16-23 are amended to overcome the present rejection and disagrees with rejection including the reasoning thereof.
Examiner fully considers Applicant’s position and as the Patent Board Reversed Examiners finding of the combination of Grassadonia, Thomas in view of Bacher notwithstanding, Examiner stays with the Board decision hence withdraws the rejection of the instant claims under 35 U.S.C. 103.
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 1-8 and 16-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Analysis
In the instant case, claims 1-8 are directed to a “Method” (Process). Claims 16-23 are directed to “A computer readable memory comprises: a first memory element that stores operational instructions… a second memory element that stores operational instructions… and a third memory element that stores operational instructions…” (Article of Manufacture). Therefore, these claims fall within the four statutory categories of invention.
The claims recite an abstract idea of processing/currency exchange, which is an abstract idea. Specifically, but for the additional elements, the claim under its broadest reasonable interpretation recites limitations grouped within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity,” grouping of abstract ideas in prong one of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test since the steps include commercial interactions, and managing relationships (See MPEP 2106.04 & 2106.04(a)). The use of a physical aid to help perform Organized Human Activity steps does not negate the Organized Human Activity nature of the limitations, but simply accounts for variations in memory capacity from one person to another. Further, claims can recite a Methods of Organized Human Activity even if they are claimed as being performed on a computer. See MPEP § 2106.04(a)(2), subsection III. The claim limitations reciting the abstract idea are grouped within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas as the claims involve locking up one kind of currency (“currency that is specifically chosen/created to be used by the payment service providers ”) for staking in an account to back real-time payments between sources (payors) and destinations (payees) after obtaining the currency from staking entities for backing currencies based payments of the currency payment system and initiating real-time payment processes to pay the destinations (payees) by exchanging amounts of the currency to amounts of the selected currencies as well as initiating nonreal-time payment reconciliation processes to reconcile the payment with backing account which is hedging of one currency against another (“selected currency”) with mitigating risk by only processing of payments and/or exchanging currencies based on specific conditions such as verifying receipt of the amount of currency via consensus in a commercial interaction between sources (payors), payment service providers and destinations (payees) based on business relations and maintained relationships between the sources (payors) selected currencies, payment service providers currencies and destinations (payees) currencies which is fundamental economic practices (hedging, mitigating risk), commercial interaction (business relations) and managing relationships (following rules or instructions). More specifically, the following non-underlined claim elements recite the abstract idea while the underlined, bolded claim elements recite additional elements according to MPEP 2106.04(a).
Claims 1, as similarly as 16,
a first memory element that stores operational instructions that, when executed by a network computing device of a cryptocurrency payment system, causes the network computing device to:
obtain system cryptocurrency from one or more staking entities for backing cryptocurrency-based payments of the cryptocurrency payment system;
store the system cryptocurrency within one or more cryptocurrency -based payment backing accounts of the cryptocurrency payment system; and
receive real-time payment information regarding a cryptocurrency-based payment from a source computing device to a destination computing device, wherein a digital wallet of the source computing device stores one or more cryptocurrencies, and wherein the destination computing device accepts a selected currency;
a second memory element that stores operational instructions that, when executed by the network computing device, causes the network computing device to:
lock an amount of the system cryptocurrency within the one or more cryptocurrency -based payment backing accounts to back the cryptocurrency-based payment such that the cryptocurrency-based payment can occur in real time;
obtain an amount of cryptocurrency of the one or more cryptocurrencies from the source computing device;
execute a real-time cryptocurrency-based payment process to pay the destination computing device in the selected currency in a real-time frame; and
a third memory element that stores operational instructions that, when executed by the network computing device, causes the network computing device to:
connect to a consensus network associated with a type of cryptocurrency of the amount of cryptocurrency; and
verify receipt of the amount of cryptocurrency via the consensus network to reconcile the cryptocurrency-based payment with a cryptocurrency-based payment backing account associated with the digital wallet, wherein the reconciliation of the cryptocurrency-based payment with the cryptocurrency-based payment backing account occurs within a second time frame, and wherein the second time frame is longer than the real-time frame.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because, when analyzed under prong two of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test (See MPEP 2106.04(d)), the additional elements are merely used as circuitry and tools to perform an abstract idea and generally link the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment. Specifically, these additional elements perform the steps or functions of the abstract idea. Viewed as a whole, the use of the additional elements as a tools to implement the abstract idea and generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it requires no more than a computer performing functions that correspond to acts required to carry out the abstract idea. The additional elements do not involve improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field (MPEP 2106.05(a)), and the claims do not apply or use the abstract idea in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception (MPEP 2106.05(e) and Vanda Memo). Therefore, the claims do not, for example, purport to improve the functioning of a computer. Nor do they effect an improvement in any other technology or technical field. Accordingly, the additional elements do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea, and the claims are directed to an abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when analyzed under step 2B of the Alice/Mayo test (See MPEP 2106.05), using the additional elements to perform the steps amounts to no more than using a computer or processor to automate and implement the abstract idea. As discussed above, taking the claim elements separately, these additional elements perform the steps or functions of the abstract idea. These functions correspond to the actions required to perform the abstract idea. Viewed as a whole, the combination of elements recited in the claims merely recite the concept of processing/currency exchange. Therefore, the use of these additional elements does no more than employ the computer as a tool to automate and implement the abstract idea. The use of a computer or processor to merely automate and implement the abstract idea cannot provide significantly more than the abstract idea itself (MPEP 2106.05 (f) & (h)). Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 2-8 and 17-23 further describe the abstract idea of processing/currency exchange. That is, although claims 3-7 and 18-22 recite further functional steps using the additional elements of source computing device, destination computing device and network computing device, those additional element are merely used as circuitry and tools to perform an abstract idea and generally link the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment. The dependent claims do not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or that provide significantly more than the abstract idea. Therefore, the dependent claims are also not patent eligible.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
PGPub Grassadonia et al. (US 2019/0034888 A1) as Grassadonia discloses:
a method for execution by a network computing device of a cryptocurrency payment system and a computer readable memory comprises: (Figs. 1, 11; Pars. [0141] “Computing system 700 can be for example a computing system of payment service 108…” [0144] “Processor 710 can include any general purpose processor and a hardware service or software service, such as services 732, 734, and 736 stored in storage device 730, configured to control processor 710 as well as a special-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design.”) to:
obtaining system cryptocurrency from one or more entities (“third party”) for backing cryptocurrency based payments of the cryptocurrency payment system; (Fig. 2; Pars. [0051], “An account can be funded by transferring currency in the form associated with the account from an external account (e.g., transferring a value of cryptocurrency to payment service and the value is credited as a balance in cryptocurrency ledger 204), or by purchasing currency in the form associated with the account from the payment service using currency in a different form (e.g., buying a value of cryptocurrency from payment service 108 using a value of fiat currency reflected in fiat currency ledger 206, and crediting the value of cryptocurrency in cryptocurrency ledger 204),” [0053] “In some embodiments, payment service 108 can individually acquire cryptocurrency from a third party source. Payment service 108 cryptocurrency wallet 215 can be associated with many different addresses, and can vary addresses used to acquire cryptocurrency so that its holdings are represented under a variety of addresses on block chain 220.”)
storing the system cryptocurrency within one or more cryptocurrency-based payment backing accounts of the cryptocurrency payment system; (Figs. 2, 6; Pars. [0050] “customer profile 132 can also include a ledger for any accounts managed by payment service 108 on behalf of customer 104. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, customer profile 132 includes customer cryptocurrency ledger 204, and a customer fiat currency ledger 206 indicating that customer 104 utilizes payment service 108 to manage accounts a cryptocurrency (such as bitcoin),” [0051] “An account can be funded by transferring currency in the form associated with the account from an external account (e.g., transferring a value of cryptocurrency to payment service and the value is credited as a balance in cryptocurrency ledger 204),” [0053] “In some embodiments, payment service 108 can individually acquire cryptocurrency from a third party source. Payment service 108 cryptocurrency wallet 215 can be associated with many different addresses, and can vary addresses used to acquire cryptocurrency so that its holdings are represented under a variety of addresses on block chain 220. When payment service 108 has its own holdings of cryptocurrency, customers, such as customer 104, can acquire cryptocurrency directly from payment service 108. In some embodiments, payment service can include logic for buying and selling cryptocurrency in order to maintain a desired level of cryptocurrency.” [0054] “While payment service 108 has credited customer 104's cryptocurrency ledger 204, the transferred cryptocurrency (data with address provided for receipt of transaction and a balance of cryptocurrency transferred in transaction) is stored in payment service 108's cryptocurrency wallet 215.” [0078] “Payment service can then debit cryptocurrency ledger 204 for the value calculated at step 312 and credit payment service 108's cryptocurrency ledger 219 with the same value.” [0081], [0087] “POS device 105 can transmit (310) the transaction details including the value owed in cryptocurrency. Just as in FIG. 4A, payment service 108 can debit (314) cryptocurrency ledger 204 of customer profile 132 and credit cryptocurrency ledger 219 of payment service 108.” [0121]-[0123] “In view 624 customer 104 can input an address of an external wallet that contains bitcoin so that bitcoin can be transferred to/from either cryptocurrency wallet 215 (FIG. 2 and FIG. 6) or cryptocurrency wallet 235 (FIG. 6) (depending on system configuration, see e.g., FIG. 2 and FIG. 6).”)
receiving real-time payment information regarding a cryptocurrency-based payment from a source computing device (“customer device 103”) to a destination computing device, (“POS device 105”) (Figs. 1A, 4A-5; Pars. [0021], [0025] “The present technology can process and approve a cryptocurrency transaction in near real time, i.e., in seconds.” [0095] “After receipt of transaction information, customer device 103 presents (412) payment options, and receives a selection (414) of a cryptocurrency payment option and sends an instruction to payment merchant 102 using the selected payment option to payment service 108.” [0096] “Once payment service receives the instruction to pay merchant 102, payment service can complete the transaction in the same manner as described with respect to steps 312, 314, 316, 318, and 320 described with respect to FIG. 4 above.”)
wherein the digital wallet of the source computing device stores one or more cryptocurrencies, (Figs. 2, 6; Par. [0052] “With specific reference to funding a cryptocurrency account, customer 104 may have a balance of cryptocurrency stored in third party digital wallet 212 on customer 104's computing device 103 unrelated to payment service 108…” [0106]) and
wherein the destination computing device accepts a selected currency; (Figs. 4A-5; Pars. [0021]-[0022], [0033] “During the transaction, POS device 105 can determine transaction information describing the transaction, such as… type of the currency,” [0045] “In another implementation, the customers send payments in virtual currencies via the payment service, while the payment service converts a first virtual currency into another virtual currency or a fiat currency of merchant's choice.” [0072] “Merchant profile 130… might indicate that it wants all POS transactions conducted in US dollars,” [0075], [0085] “FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of the present technology wherein merchant 102 through POS device 105 wishes to be paid in cryptocurrency…”)
obtain an amount of cryptocurrency of the one or more cryptocurrencies from the source computing device; (Fig. 9; Pars. [0051], [0052] “customer 104 can transfer all or a portion of the balance of the cryptocurrency stored in third party digital wallet 212 to payment service 108 as is well known to those of skill in the art. Such a transaction requires customer 104 to transfer an amount of the virtual currency in a message signed by customer 104's private key to an address provided by payment service 108. FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface screen 624 showing a user entering a third party digital wallet 212 address associated with the balance of cryptocurrency they would like to transfer into payment service 108.”)
executing a real-time cryptocurrency-based payment process to pay the destination computing device in the selected currency in a real-time frame; (Fig. 4A-B, 7A; Pars. [0021], [0074], [0077] “Payment service 108 receives the transaction details and encrypted cryptocurrency payment information, and calculates (312) a value in cryptocurrency using an exchange rate between the cryptocurrency and the fiat currency (US Dollars in this example) sufficient to cover the value owed to merchant 102.” [0078] “Payment service can then debit cryptocurrency ledger 204 for the value calculated at step 312 and credit payment service 108's cryptocurrency ledger 219 with the same value.” [0085] “FIG. 4B illustrates an embodiment of the present technology wherein merchant 102 through POS device 105 wishes to be paid in cryptocurrency and customer 104 through device 103 desires to pay in cryptocurrency.” [0112] “Since both merchant and customer are transacting directly with payment service 108, there is increased confidence that the transactions are legitimate, and therefore the transfers can be immediately registered, e.g. in near real time.”)
verify receipt of the amount of cryptocurrency via the consensus network (“miners”) to reconcile the cryptocurrency-based payment with a cryptocurrency-based payment backing account associated with the digital wallet, (Figs. 2, 6, 9; Pars. [0052] “With specific reference to funding a cryptocurrency account, customer 104 may have a balance of cryptocurrency stored in third party digital wallet 212 on customer 104's computing device 103 unrelated to payment service 108 and customer 104 can transfer all or a portion of the balance of the cryptocurrency stored in third party digital wallet 212 to payment service 108… Such a transaction requires customer 104 to transfer an amount of the virtual currency in a message signed by customer 104's private key to an address provided by payment service 108. FIG. 9 illustrates a user interface screen 624 showing a user entering a third party digital wallet 212 address associated with the balance of cryptocurrency they would like to transfer into payment service 108. The transaction is sent to miners to bundle the transaction into a block of transactions and to verify the authenticity of the transactions in the block. Once a miner has verified the block, the block is written to a public, distributed block chain 220 where payment service 108 can then verify that the transaction has been confirmed and can credit customer's cryptocurrency ledger 204 with the transferred amount.” [0104] “…where miners can verify the transactions and record the transactions in blocks on public block chain 220.”)
wherein the reconciliation of the cryptocurrency-based payment with the cryptocurrency-based payment backing account occurs within a second time frame, and wherein the second time frame is longer than the real-time frame. (Par. [0112] “While public block chain might still take minutes or an hour to record the transaction to the block chain,”
PGPub Thomas et al. (US 2016/0342983 A1) as Thomas discloses:
staking entities, (“parties”) (Figs. 2, 5; Par. [0125] “The storage 240 may store… the resource pools, such as the resource pools 242 and 244, for the various parties with resource tracked by the resource tracking computing device 200… The resource pools 242 and 244 may be records of resources owned by parties and tracked by the resource tracking computing device 200, including the types and quantities of the resources, and an identification of the party that owns or controls the resources in the resource pool.”)
locking an amount of the system cryptocurrency within the one or more cryptocurrency-based payment backing accounts to back the cryptocurrency-based payment such that the cryptocurrency-based payment can occur in real time; (Fig. 11-15; Pars. [0039] “In placing a hold on a certain quantity of the resources belonging to the sending party, the resource tracking system may prevent the transfer of that quantity of resources and/or specific resources unless and until the specific conditions of the hold are fulfilled… The hold may also be placed by transferring the held resources to a holding account on the resource tracking system. The holding account may be owned by the operator of the resource tracking system,” [0067]-[0068] “a resource may be a currency, cryptocurrency…” [0107] “a hold (or “lock”) timeout ledger refers to a specified amount of time that an intermediary will agree to have its resource held at a resource tracking system.” [0127] “When the hold authorization has been received, the resource manager 210 may be able to place a hold on the type and quantity of resources in the appropriate resource pool, as was indicated by the propose transfer. For example, the resource manager 210 may place a hold on resources recorded in the resource pool 242 when the proposed transfer indicates that resources are to be transferred from the resource pool 242 to the resource pool 244, and a hold authorization from the party that owns the resource pool 242 has been received. A hold placed by the resource manager 210 may tie up the resources on which the hold has been placed, so that the resources cannot be moved or transferred except in conjunction with the proposed transfer which resulted in the hold. The hold may tie up specific resources, or some quantity of a resource. The hold may include a lock timeout, which may be a time period after which the resource manager 210 may release the hold without transferring the resources. The lock timeout may be indicated in the proposed transfer received by the resource tracking computing device 200.”).
PGPub Bacher et al. (US 2020/0372154 A1) as Bacher discloses: connect to a consensus network associated with a type of cryptocurrency of the amount of cryptocurrency. (Pars. [0099]-[0103] “Thus, the SN light node 101 remains in ‘stealth mode’, scanning for other SN light nodes 101 to establish the communications used for implementing the consensus protocol. When an available partner SN light node 101 is identified, this connection is established.”)
PGPub Mayblum et al (U.S. 2021/0122062 A1): Mayblum discloses:
storing system cryptocurrency received by one or more staking entities within one or more cryptocurrency-based payment backing accounts of the cryptocurrency payment system (Par. [0077] “Each computing node in the plurality of computing nodes storing and maintaining a respective copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution. The method comprises storing and maintaining a copy of the private distributed ledger for the financial institution, wherein the private distributed ledger for the financial institution stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in the digital currency that is issued by the financial institution and is fixed with respect to the fiat currency.”; [0087]);
locking an amount of system cryptocurrency within the one or more cryptocurrency-based payment backing accounts to back the cryptocurrency-based payment such that the cryptocurrency-based payment can occur in real time (Par. [0304] “In some embodiments, when the customer C2 requests transfer of XDC$s in digital currency issued by the financial institution FI1 into digital currency issued by the financial institution FI2, the financial institution FI2 may transfer an equivalent amount of fiat currency into the omnibus account OA2 and issue XDC$s in digital currency issued by the financial institution FI2 to the customer C2. In this instance, the financial institution FI2 may obtain holding rights to X$s in the omnibus account OA1 at the financial institution FI1 (which was backing the XDC$s in digital currency issued by the financial institution FI1).”).
PGPub Meaney et al (U.S. 2011/0055079 A1) and/or Musiala, Jr. et al. (U.S. 2017/0300878 A1) discloses the method comprising: stores system cryptocurrency to back cryptocurrency-based payments made by the digital wallet, wherein the system cryptocurrency is provided by a wallet developer of the digital wallet, wherein the reconciliation of the cryptocurrency-based payment with the cryptocurrency-based payment backing account occurs within a second time frame, and wherein the second time frame is longer than the real-time frame.
(Meaney: Par. [0045] “Additionally, there is a batch reconciliation module where a settlement database is in communication with the data reconciliation process. The data reconciliation process involves an automatic reset engine for the purposes of the batch reconciliation. Accordingly, although environment 400 facilitates real time payment of suppliers by account holders through either single use accounts or expansion of credit in an existing account, nevertheless, a reconciliation batch, non-real time, process can take place for those suppliers that have been paid by an account holder by use of various accounts issued to the account holder by an issuer.”;
(Musiala: Par. [0049] “The data generated through these components of the system may be displayed to the trustee bank through the Web Based Application. (See FIG. 5.) The trustee bank may use this data to perform various duties related to its role as trustee, such as performing a reconciliation of the cryptocurrency outstanding in the wallets of the Cryptoconomy participants with the U.S. dollars residing in the escrow account. To enhance the level of assurance of the reconciliation, the trustee bank may also run a node on the Permissioned Blockchain, as discussed below in the section entitled, “Proprietary Cryptocurrency and Permissioned Blockchain.”; [0051])
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 WODAJO GETACHEW whose telephone number is (469)295-9069. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:00-6:00 CST.
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/WODAJO GETACHEW/Examiner, Art Unit 3697
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