DETAILED CORRESPONDENCE
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 .
Status of the Application
Applicant's amendment filed on October 27, 2025 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1, 7, 13-14, and 21 were amended. New claim 22 was added. Claims 1-22 remain pending and are provided to be examined upon their merits.
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 1-22 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.
Claims 1-22 are directed to the abstract idea of: Claim 1 -: 1, for implementing energy settlements, comprising: i) a first sub-system configured to capture energy deals and transactions information from both party and counterparty sources and further configured to reconcile the information, the first sub-system comprising: executing that ingests a first set of data and transactions from a party's (buyer) Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM); executing that ingests a second set of data and transactions from a counterparty's (seller) ETRM; a Private Permissioned that receives deals and transactions data from the party; deals and transactions data from the counterparty; authenticated transaction data from a Notary; currency exchange rate data through a Currency Exchange Rate Oracle; and commodity exchange rate data through a Commodity Exchange Rate Oracle; and a Reconciliation that matches deals and transactions submitted by the party and the counterparty using the authenticated transaction data from the Notary to achieve consensus and emits reconciliation status to the party, the counterparty, and an Interoperability; ii) a second sub-system configured to attest to the data submitted by the party and the counterparty; the second sub-system comprising: the Notary configured to ingest authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator; i1i) a third sub-system configured to support payment settlements on a Public; the third sub-system comprising: the Interoperability that, upon a successful reconciliation status, initiates settlement processing per-transaction to eliminate manual reconciliation delays and enable immediate settlement, verifies whether the party (buyer) has sufficient funds to process the settlement by resolving an address for the buyer, invoking a Contract on the Public to retrieve current funds balance, comparing available funds to funds to be disbursed, and forecasting whether the buyer has sufficient funds for future fixed price deals, and notifies the party (buyer) of a corresponding balance; and a Custody/Institutional configured to send a signed transaction to the Contract on the Public, responsive to a request from the Interoperability; wherein responsive to a signed transaction from the Custody/Institutional, the Contract on the Public effectuates the settlement between the party and the counterparty, and wherein the Interoperability provides a bridge between the Private Permissioned and Public by: interfacing with the Private Permissioned as the Private Permissioned and receiving- reconciliation status from the Private Permissioned sent; resolving the address for the buyer; interfacing with the contract on the Public; facilitating communication between the Private Permissioned and Public comprising one or more transfer requests from or to the resolved address, at least one transaction confirmation from the contract, and at least one payment status between the Private Permissioned and Public. (fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). ) Claim 2 -: 2, claim 1, wherein the deals and transactions information from the ETRMs are published to a Private Permissioned. Claim 3 -: 3, claim 1, wherein the authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator is published to a Private Permissioned. Claim 4 -: 4, claim 1, wherein the Reconciliation is deployed on the Private Permissioned to reconcile one or more deals between a party and a counterparty. Claim 5 -: 5, claim 1, wherein the Interoperability acts as a bridge by capturing the reconciled transactions on the Private Permissioned and initiating the settlement process for those transactions on the Public. Claim 6 -: 6, claim 1, wherein the Interoperability integrates with a Custody/Institutional to transfer assets between the party and counterparty. (fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). ) Claim 7 -: 7, a method for implementing energy settlements configured to solve problems of manual reconciliation, delayed settlements, and lack of interoperability, the method comprising the steps of: ingesting a first set of data and transactions from a party's (buyer) Energy Trading and Risk Management (ETRM); ingesting a second set of data and transactions from a counterparty's (seller) ETRM; ingesting authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator; publishing to a Private Permissioned deals and transactions data from the party; deals and transactions data... [id. at 1], the authenticated transaction data from the third-party data aggregator; currency exchange rate data through a Currency Exchange Rate Oracle; commodity exchange rate data through a Commodity Exchange Rate Oracle; reconciling deals and transactions via a Reconciliation; using authenticated transaction data from the third-party data aggregator to achieve consensus; emitting reconciliation status to the party, the counterparty, and an Interoperability; providing a bridge between the Private Permissioned and Public by: interfacing with the Private... resolving the address for... interfacing with the contract... [id. at 1], facilitating communication between the Private Permissioned and Public comprising one or more transfer requests from or to the resolved address, at least one transaction confirmation from the contract, and at least one payment status between the Private Permissioned and Public; responsive to a reconciliation status from the Private Permissioned; initiating settlement processing per-transaction to eliminate manual reconciliation delays and enable immediate settlement; and verifying via the Interoperability whether the party (buyer) has sufficient funds to process the settlement by resolving the buyer's address, invoking the Contract on the Public to retrieve current funds balance, comparing available funds to funds to be disbursed, and forecasting whether the buyer has sufficient funds for future fixed price deals; wherein sending a request to a Custody/Institutional initiates the settlement; responsive to a request from the Interoperability, sending a signed transaction from the Custody/Institutional to a Contract on a Public; and responsive to a signed transaction from the Custody/Institutional, executing a transfer of assets between the party and the counterparty via the Contract on the Public. (fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). ) Claim 8 -: 8, the method of claim 7, wherein the deals and transactions... [id. at 2], Claim 9 -: 9, the method of claim 7, wherein the authenticated... [id. at 3], Claim 10 -: 10, the method of claim 7, wherein the Reconciliation... [id. at 4], Claim 11 -: 11, the method of claim 7, wherein the Reconciliation applies a weighted logic to one or more attributes of the deals and transactions information submitted by the party and counterparty to determine a match. Claim 12 -: 12, the method of claim 7, wherein the authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator is used to attest to the information submitted by the party and counterparty. Claim 13 -: 13, the method of claim 7, wherein the Interoperability captures the reconciliation status to provide bridge of the transactions being reconciled on the Private. Claim 14 -: 14, the method of claim 7, wherein the Interoperability invokes the Contract on the Public to identity balance and make a determination if a payment settlement can be initiated to provide funds verification and forecasting capabilities. Claim 15 -: 15, the method of claim 7, wherein the Interoperability creates a request for the Custody/Institutional to transfer assets between the party and the counterparty. Claim 16 -: 16, the method of claim 7, wherein the Custody/ sends a signed transaction to the Contract on the Public. Claim 17 -: 17, the method of claim 7, wherein the Contract on the Public executes the transfer of assets between the party and the counterparty. Claim 18 -: 18, the method of claim 7, wherein the Custody/Institutional captures the transaction confirmation from the Contract and forwards the confirmation to the Interoperability. Claim 19 -: 19, the method of claim 7, wherein the Interoperability sends the payment settlement status for a particular transaction to the Private. Claim 20 -: 20, the method of claim 7, wherein the payment status is communicated to the party and the counterparty through the Private. (fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). ) Claim 21 -: 21, for implementing energy settlements configured to solve problems of manual reconciliation, delayed settlements, and lack of interoperability, comprising: i) a first sub-system configured to capture energy deals and transactions information from both party and counterparty sources and further configured to reconcile the information, the first sub-system comprising; executing that ingests a... executing that ingests a... a Private Permissioned that... [id. at 1], deals and transactions data from the counterparty; and authenticated transaction data from a Notary; and a Reconciliation that matches deals and transactions submitted by the party and the counterparty using the authenticated transaction data from the Notary to achieve consensus and emits reconciliation status; ii) a second sub-system configured to attest to the data submitted by the party and the counterparty; and i1i) a third sub-system configured to support payment settlements on a Public including, upon a successful reconciliation status, initiating settlement processing at a per-transaction granularity level to eliminate manual reconciliation delays and enable immediate settlement. (fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). ) Claim 22 -: 22. The of claim 1, wherein at least one confirmed energy trade deal is selectively ingested from the ETRM, such that the at least one confirmed energy trade deal and transaction is selectively matched based on at least one business rule, and the currency exchange rate is used to determine a settlement value associated with the at least one confirmed energy trade deal and transaction. (fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). ) . The identified limitation(s) falls within the subject matter groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in Section I of the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance: b) Certain methods of organizing human activity – fundamental economic principles or practices, commercial or legal interactions, managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, c) Mental processes – concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion).
These limitation excerpts, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, fall within the grouping(s) of abstract ideas of: Certain methods of organizing human activity – since: tokenized energy settlements application, wherein systems and methods disclosed are directed to a tokenized energy settlements application; by combining capabilities to automate reconciliation, attest to transactions, and automate payment settlements for the energy industry, an embodiment of the present invention enables organizations to accelerate their post trade processes of transaction reconciliation and payment settlement as recited in the claim limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation(s) as fundamental economic principles or practices, (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk); commercial or legal interactions, (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations); managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). Mental processes – since: the above-underlined as recited in the claim limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation(s) as concepts performed in the human mind, (including an observation, evaluation, judgment, opinion). Therefore, the limitations fall within the above-identified grouping(s) of abstract ideas.
While independent claims 1, 7, and 21 do not explicitly recite verbatim this identified abstract idea, the concept of this identified abstract idea is described by the steps of independent claim 1 and is described by the steps of independent claim 7 and is described by the steps of independent claim 21.
Claim 1 (as amended): Particularly regarding the analysis under Step 2A of the Office's § 101 Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes as further necessitated by Applicant's amendment, independent claim 1 (as amended) further to the abstract idea includes additional elements of " system", "tokenized", "application", "node executing software", " Blockchain", "Node", "Smart Contract", "automatically", "real-time", "digital", "wallet", "Token", "Wallet", " module", "technical", "node", "receiving", and "token". However, independent claim 1 (as amended) does not include additional elements that are sufficient to integrate the exception into a practical application because " system", "tokenized", "application", "node executing software", " Blockchain", "Node", "Smart Contract", "automatically", "real-time", "digital", "wallet", "Token", "Wallet", " module", "technical", "node", "receiving", and "token" of independent claim 1 (as amended) recite generic computer and/or field of use components pertaining to the particular technological environment that are recited a high-level of generality that perform functions ("a system for implementing a … application, the system comprising", "i) a first sub-system configured … the first sub-system comprising", "a node executing software that … Risk Management (ETRM) system", "a node executing software that … counterparty's (seller) ETRM system", "a Private Permissioned Blockchain that … data from the party", "deals and transactions data from the counterparty", "authenticated transaction data from a Notary Node", "currency exchange rate data through … Exchange Rate Oracle; and", "commodity exchange rate data through … Exchange Rate Oracle; and", "a Reconciliation Smart Contract that … and an Interoperability Node", "ii) a second sub-system configured … party and the counterparty", "the second sub-system comprising", "the Notary Node configured to … a third-party data aggregator", "i1i) a third sub-system configured … on a Public Blockchain", "the third sub-system comprising", "the Interoperability Node that, upon … fixed price deals, and", "notifies the party (buyer) of a corresponding balance; and", "a Custody/Institutional Wallet module configured … from the Interoperability Node", "wherein responsive to a signed … and the counterparty, and", "wherein the Interoperability Node provides … and Public Blockchain by", "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node", "resolving the digital wallet address for the buyer", "interfacing with the token contract on the Public Blockchain" and "facilitating communication between the Private … Blockchain and Public Blockchain") that merely perform, conduct, carry out, implement, and/or narrow the abstract idea itself (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or that recite generic computer and/or field of use functions that are recited at a high-level of generality that include only steps narrowing the abstract idea [Step 2A Prong I] (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, [Step 2A Prong II] adding the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea -- see MPEP 2106.05(f) (all or portions of the noted step(s)), and adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception -- see MPEP 2106.05(g) (all or portions of the "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node" step(s)), and generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use -- see MPEP 2106.05(h) (all or portions of the "a system for implementing a … application, the system comprising", "i) a first sub-system configured … the first sub-system comprising", "a node executing software that … Risk Management (ETRM) system", "a node executing software that … counterparty's (seller) ETRM system", "a Private Permissioned Blockchain that … data from the party", "authenticated transaction data from a Notary Node", "currency exchange rate data through … Exchange Rate Oracle; and", "commodity exchange rate data through … Exchange Rate Oracle; and", "a Reconciliation Smart Contract that … and an Interoperability Node", "ii) a second sub-system configured … party and the counterparty", "the second sub-system comprising", "the Notary Node configured to … a third-party data aggregator", "i1i) a third sub-system configured … on a Public Blockchain", "the third sub-system comprising", "the Interoperability Node that, upon … fixed price deals, and", "notifies the party (buyer) of a corresponding balance; and", "a Custody/Institutional Wallet module configured … from the Interoperability Node", "wherein responsive to a signed … and the counterparty, and", "wherein the Interoperability Node provides … and Public Blockchain by", "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node", "resolving the digital wallet address for the buyer", "interfacing with the token contract on the Public Blockchain", "facilitating communication between the Private … Blockchain and Public Blockchain" step(s)). Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the additional elements do not amount to more than a recitation of the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) or are not more than mere instructions to implement an abstract idea or other exception on a computer, and the additional elements do not add more than insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception, and the additional elements do not amount to more than generally linking the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use. Furthermore, the additional method steps comprise or include: reciting additional elements in implementing the abstract idea that do not constitute significantly more than the abstract idea because they comprise or include well-understood, routine, and conventional activities previously known to the industry (e.g. all or portion(s) of the "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node", (insignificant extra-solution activity) steps), see Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 2360, and/or that are otherwise not significant toward constituting any inventive concept beyond the abstract idea. (E.g. The above-italicized grounds of rejection apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) For example regarding well-understood, routine, and conventional activities, the cited rationale have recognized the following computer function as well-understood, routine, and conventional functions when it is claimed or as insignificant extra-solution activity: receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Intellectual Ventures I v. Symantec Corp., 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362 (2016) (utilizing an intermediary computer to forward information); TLI Communications LLC v. AV Auto. LLC, 823 F.3d 607, 610, 118 USPQ2d 1744, 1745 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (using a telephone for image transmission); 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), and electronic recordkeeping, Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 134 S. Ct. at 2359, 110 USPQ2d at 1984 (2014) (creating and maintaining "shadow accounts"); Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 772 F.3d at 716, 112 USPQ2d at 1755 (Fed. Cir. 2014) (updating an activity log); and the cited rationale have found the following type of activity to be well-understood, routine, and conventional activity when it is claimed or as insignificant extra-solution activity: recording a customer's order, Apple, Inc. v. Ameranth, Inc., 842 F.3d 1229, 1244, 120 USPQ2d 1844, 1856 (Fed. Cir. 2016). None of the additional elements taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, independent claim 1 (as amended) remains ineligible notwithstanding Applicant's amendments.
Claim 7 (as amended): Particularly regarding the analysis under Step 2A of the Office's § 101 Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes as further necessitated by Applicant's amendment, independent claim 7 (as amended) further to the abstract idea includes an additional element of "tokenized", "application", "technical", "blockchain networks", " system", " Blockchain", "Smart Contract", "Node", "solution", "node", "receiving", "digital", "wallet", "token", "automatically", "real-time", "Token", "Wallet". However, independent claim 7 (as amended) does not include additional elements that are sufficient to integrate the exception into a practical application because "tokenized", "application", "technical", "blockchain networks", " system", " Blockchain", "Smart Contract", "Node", "solution", "node", "receiving", "digital", "wallet", "token", "automatically", "real-time", "Token", "Wallet" of independent claim 7 (as amended) recite generic computer and/or field of use components pertaining to the particular technological environment that are recited a high-level of generality that perform functions ("a method for implementing a … comprising the steps of", "ingesting a first set of … Risk Management (ETRM) system", "ingesting a second set of … counterparty's (seller) ETRM system", "ingesting authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator", "publishing to a Private Permissioned … data from the party", "deals and transactions data from the counterparty", "the authenticated transaction data from the third-party data aggregator", "currency exchange rate data through … Currency Exchange Rate Oracle", "commodity exchange rate data through … Commodity Exchange Rate Oracle", "reconciling deals and transactions via a Reconciliation Smart Contract", "using authenticated transaction data from … aggregator to achieve consensus", "emitting reconciliation status to the … and an Interoperability Node", "providing a technical bridge solution … and Public Blockchain by", "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node", "resolving the digital wallet address for the buyer", "interfacing with the token contract on the Public Blockchain", "facilitating communication between the Private … Blockchain and Public Blockchain", "responsive to a reconciliation status … the Private Permissioned Blockchain", "automatically initiating real-time settlement processing … enable immediate settlement; and", "verifying via the Interoperability Node … future fixed price deals", "wherein sending a request to … module initiates the settlement", "responsive to a request from … a Public Blockchain; and" and "responsive to a signed transaction … on the Public Blockchain") that merely perform, conduct, carry out, implement, and/or narrow the abstract idea itself (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or that recite generic computer and/or field of use functions that are recited at a high-level of generality that include only steps narrowing the abstract idea [Step 2A Prong I] (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, [Step 2A Prong II] adding the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea -- see MPEP 2106.05(f) (all or portions of the noted step(s)), and adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception -- see MPEP 2106.05(g) (all or portions of the "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node" step(s)), and generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use -- see MPEP 2106.05(h) (all or portions of the "a method for implementing a … comprising the steps of", "ingesting a first set of … Risk Management (ETRM) system", "ingesting a second set of … counterparty's (seller) ETRM system", "ingesting authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator", "publishing to a Private Permissioned … data from the party", "the authenticated transaction data from the third-party data aggregator", "currency exchange rate data through … Currency Exchange Rate Oracle", "commodity exchange rate data through … Commodity Exchange Rate Oracle", "reconciling deals and transactions via a Reconciliation Smart Contract", "using authenticated transaction data from … aggregator to achieve consensus", "emitting reconciliation status to the … and an Interoperability Node", "providing a technical bridge solution … and Public Blockchain by", "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node", "resolving the digital wallet address for the buyer", "interfacing with the token contract on the Public Blockchain", "facilitating communication between the Private … Blockchain and Public Blockchain", "responsive to a reconciliation status … the Private Permissioned Blockchain", "automatically initiating real-time settlement processing … enable immediate settlement; and", "verifying via the Interoperability Node … future fixed price deals", "wherein sending a request to … module initiates the settlement", "responsive to a request from … a Public Blockchain; and", "responsive to a signed transaction … on the Public Blockchain" step(s)). Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 1 also applies hereto. Moreover, the additional method step comprises or includes: reciting additional elements in implementing the abstract idea that do not constitute significantly more than the abstract idea because they comprise or include well-understood, routine, and conventional activities previously known to the industry (e.g. all or portion(s) of the "interfacing with the Private Permissioned … sent to the node", (insignificant extra-solution activity) steps), see Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 2360, and/or that are otherwise not significant toward constituting any inventive concept beyond the abstract idea. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) See discussion above regarding Claim 1 for pertinent previously cited rationale finding well-understood, routine, and conventional activities. None of the additional elements taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, independent claim 7 (as amended) remains ineligible notwithstanding Applicant's amendments.
Claim 21 (as amended): Specifically pertaining to the analysis under Step 2A of the Office's § 101 Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes as further necessitated by Applicant's amendment, independent claim 21 (as amended) further to the abstract idea includes additional elements of " system", "tokenized", "application", "technical", "blockchain networks", "node executing software", " Blockchain", "Node", "Smart Contract", "automatically", and "real-time". However, independent claim 21 (as amended) does not include additional elements that are sufficient to integrate the exception into a practical application because " system", "tokenized", "application", "technical", "blockchain networks", "node executing software", " Blockchain", "Node", "Smart Contract", "automatically", and "real-time" of independent claim 21 (as amended) recite generic computer and/or field of use components pertaining to the particular technological environment that are recited a high-level of generality that perform functions ("a system for implementing a … networks, the system comprising", "i) a first sub-system configured … the first sub-system comprising", "a node executing software that … Risk Management (ETRM) system", "a node executing software that … counterparty's (seller) ETRM system", "a Private Permissioned Blockchain that … data from the party", "deals and transactions data from the counterparty; and", "authenticated transaction data from a Notary Node; and", "a Reconciliation Smart Contract that … and emits reconciliation status", "ii) a second sub-system configured … and the counterparty; and" and "i1i) a third sub-system configured … and enable immediate settlement") that merely perform, conduct, carry out, implement, and/or narrow the abstract idea itself [Step 2A Prong I] (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or that recite generic computer and/or field of use functions that are recited at a high-level of generality and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, [Step 2A Prong II] adding the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea -- see MPEP 2106.05(f) (all or portions of the noted step(s)), and generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use -- see MPEP 2106.05(h) (all or portions of the "a system for implementing a … networks, the system comprising", "i) a first sub-system configured … the first sub-system comprising", "a node executing software that … Risk Management (ETRM) system", "a node executing software that … counterparty's (seller) ETRM system", "a Private Permissioned Blockchain that … data from the party", "authenticated transaction data from a Notary Node; and", "a Reconciliation Smart Contract that … and emits reconciliation status", "ii) a second sub-system configured … and the counterparty; and", "i1i) a third sub-system configured … and enable immediate settlement" step(s)). Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the additional elements do not amount to more than a recitation of the words "apply it" (or an equivalent) or are not more than mere instructions to implement an abstract idea or other exception on a computer, and the additional elements do not amount to more than generally linking the use of a judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use. None of the additional elements taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, independent claim 21 (as amended) remains ineligible notwithstanding Applicant's amendments.
Independent Claims: Nothing in independent claims 1, 7, and 21 improves another technology or technical field, improves the functioning of any claimed computer device itself, applies the abstract idea with any particular machine, solves any computer problem with a computer solution, or includes any element that may otherwise be considered to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea.
None of the dependent claims 2-6, 8-20, and 22 when separately considered with each dependent claim's corresponding parent claim overcomes the above analysis because none presents any method step not directed to the abstract idea that amounts to significantly more than the judicial exception or any physical structure that amounts to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Claim 13: Dependent claim 13 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, "functionality" of dependent claim 13 recite generic computer and/or field of use components pertaining to the particular technological environment that are recited a high-level of generality. No additional element introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claim 14: Dependent claim 14 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, "automated" of dependent claim 14 recite generic computer and/or field of use components pertaining to the particular technological environment that are recited a high-level of generality. No additional element introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea.
Claims 2 and 8: Dependent claims 2 and 8 add additional method steps of "wherein the deals and transactions information from the ETRM systems are published to a Private Permissioned Blockchain". However, the additional method steps of dependent claim 2 and 8 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) Dependent claims 2 and 8 further do not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the deals and transactions information from the ETRM systems are published to a Private Permissioned Blockchain" steps and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, these steps may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claims 2 and 8 are ineligible.
Claims 3 and 9: Dependent claims 3 and 9 add an additional method step of "wherein the authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator is published to a Private Permissioned Blockchain". However, the additional method step of dependent claim 3 and 9 is directed to the abstract idea noted above and does not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method step merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrows the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited step) and/or because the additional method step comprises or includes: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited step.) Dependent claims 3 and 9 further do not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator is published to a Private Permissioned Blockchain" step and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, this step may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claims 3 and 9 are ineligible.
Claims 4 and 10: Dependent claims 4 and 10 add additional method steps of "wherein the Reconciliation Smart Contract is deployed on the Private Permissioned Blockchain to reconcile one or more deals between a party and a counterparty". However, the additional method steps of dependent claim 4 and 10 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) Dependent claims 4 and 10 further do not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the Reconciliation Smart Contract is deployed on the Private Permissioned Blockchain to reconcile one or more deals between a party and a counterparty" steps and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, these steps may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claims 4 and 10 are ineligible.
Claim 5: Dependent claim 5 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Interoperability Node acts as a bridge by capturing the reconciled transactions on the Private Permissioned and initiating the settlement process for those transactions on the Public Blockchain". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 5 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 5 is ineligible.
Claim 6: Dependent claim 6 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Interoperability Node integrates with a Custody/Institutional Wallet module to transfer assets between the party and counterparty". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 6 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 6 is ineligible.
Claim 11: Dependent claim 11 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Reconciliation Smart Contract applies a weighted logic to one or more attributes of the deals and transactions information submitted by the party and counterparty to determine a match". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 11 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) Dependent claim 11 further does not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the Reconciliation Smart Contract applies a weighted logic to one or more attributes of the deals and transactions information submitted by the party and counterparty to determine a match" steps and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, these steps may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 11 is ineligible.
Claim 12: Dependent claim 12 adds additional method steps of "wherein the authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator is used to attest to the information submitted by the party and counterparty". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 12 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) Dependent claim 12 further does not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the authenticated transaction data from a third-party data aggregator is used to attest to the information submitted by the party and counterparty" steps and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, these steps may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 12 is ineligible.
Claim 13: Dependent claim 13 adds an additional method step of "wherein the Interoperability Node automatically captures the reconciliation status to provide technical bridge functionality of the transactions being reconciled on the Private Blockchain". However, the additional method step of dependent claims 13 is directed to the abstract idea noted above and does not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method step merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrows the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited step) and/or because the additional method step comprises or includes: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited step.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 13 is ineligible.
Claim 14: Dependent claim 14 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Interoperability Node invokes the Token Contract on the Public Blockchain to identity balance and make a determination if a payment settlement can be initiated to provide automated funds verification and forecasting capabilities". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 14 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 14 is ineligible.
Claim 15: Dependent claim 15 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Interoperability Node creates a request for the Custody/Institutional Wallet module to transfer assets between the party and the counterparty". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 15 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 15 is ineligible.
Claim 16: Dependent claim 16 adds an additional method step of "wherein the Custody/Wallet module sends a signed transaction to the Token Contract on the Public Blockchain". However, the additional method step of dependent claims 16 is directed to the abstract idea noted above and does not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method step merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrows the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited step) and/or because the additional method step comprises or includes: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited step.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 16 is ineligible.
Claim 17: Dependent claim 17 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Token Contract on the Public Blockchain executes the transfer of digital assets between the party and the counterparty". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 17 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) Dependent claim 17 further does not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the Token Contract on the Public Blockchain executes the transfer of digital assets between the party and the counterparty" steps and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, these steps may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 17 is ineligible.
Claim 18: Dependent claim 18 adds additional method steps of "wherein the Custody/Institutional Wallet module captures the transaction confirmation from the Token Contract and forwards the confirmation to the Interoperability Node". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 18 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 18 is ineligible.
Claim 19: Dependent claim 19 adds an additional method step of "wherein the Interoperability Node sends the payment settlement status for a particular transaction to the Private Blockchain". However, the additional method step of dependent claims 19 is directed to the abstract idea noted above and does not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method step merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrows the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited step) and/or because the additional method step comprises or includes: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited step.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 19 is ineligible.
Claim 20: Dependent claim 20 adds additional method steps of "wherein the payment status is communicated to the party and the counterparty through the Private Blockchain". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 20 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) Dependent claim 20 further does not specify any particular machine element(s) for the "wherein the payment status is communicated to the party and the counterparty through the Private Blockchain" steps and under the broadest reasonable interpretation, these steps may be manually performed by a human only which also does not add significantly more than the abstract idea. No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 20 is ineligible.
Claim 22: Dependent claim 22 adds additional method steps of "wherein at least one confirmed energy trade deal is selectively ingested from the ETRM", "such that the at least one confirmed energy trade deal and transaction is selectively matched based on at least one business rule, and", "the currency exchange rate is used to determine a settlement value associated with the at least one confirmed energy trade deal and transaction". However, the additional method steps of dependent claims 22 are directed to the abstract idea noted above and do not otherwise alter the analysis presented above, and do not integrate the exception into a practical application, because the additional method steps merely perform, conduct, carry out, and/or implement the abstract idea itself and/or only narrow the abstract idea (e.g. all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps) and/or because the additional method steps comprise or include: evaluated additional elements individually and in combination for which the courts have identified examples in which a judicial exception has not been integrated into a practical application, as previously discussed regarding Claim 21 above. Regarding Step 2B treatment of the evaluated additional elements individually and in combination, the same previously-stated legal authority and/or rationale supporting the grounds of rejection applied to the above Claim 21 also applies hereto. (E.g. These previously-stated grounds of rejection that were italicized when applied to the referenced previous Claim(s) apply at least to all or portion(s) of the noted recited steps.) No additional step introduced in this claim taken individually or when taken as an ordered combination amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, dependent claim 22 is ineligible.
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§101 Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes
Response to Arguments
Regarding eligibility rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 101, the Applicant's arguments submitted October 27. 2025 (hereinafter "REMARKS") in response to the Official Correspondence mailed June 27, 2025 (hereinafter "Non-Final Correspondence") have been fully considered but are not persuasive. Further to the June 27, 2025 Non-Final Correspondence, the reiterated grounds of rejection are fully set forth above under the 35 U.S.C. § 101 heading as applied to the herein examined current claims.
• The Applicant argued:
"[C]laims 1-21 stand rejected under 35 U.S.C. [] 101 as [] directed to an abstract idea without significantly more[,] Applicant respectfully disagrees. []
"1. The Claims Do Not Recite Any Of The Enumerated Judicial Exceptions
'The amended independent claims 1, 7, and 21 are not directed to an abstract idea but rather to a specific technical solution for blockchain interoperability. [] "Interoperability Node 334 tracks transactions that have been successfully reconciled on Private Blockchain 320 and acts as a bridge to settle the transactions on Public Blockchain 338." Specification, [0027]. The Specification further explains that "[a]n embodiment of the present invention, through the Interoperability Node may be responsible for coordinating the execution of transactions (e.g., transfer of funds from party to counterparty) on the Public Blockchain by invoking a Token Contract." Id. at [0049].
'Amended claim 1 now recites "[amended claim language]." The other independent claims include similar amendments. [T]he claims are directed to solving specific technical problems in blockchain systems, not abstract business methods.
'The claims address the technical challenge of creating interoperability between different blockchain networks - a concrete technical problem in distributed computing systems[;] "[s]ome of the challenges with the current process may include manual reconciliation, delayed settlements, high operating expenses, limited ability to scale and no single source of truth," and "[a]ccordingly, the current process is manual, labor intensive and requires an extended timeline which significantly delays settlement and payment." Specification, [0018]. The claimed system provides "[k]ey benefits include automated reconciliation, real-timesettlements, third party data attestation, reduced administrative overhead, fewer manual processes, and audit trail of transactions and payments." Id. at [0019]. '
(REMARKS [as abridged], pp. 12-14).
Notwithstanding respectively the foregoing, the above-quoted arguments are not persuasive. The Applicant's claims do not purport to improve the functioning of the computer itself, or to improve any other technology or technical field, rather "the focus of the claims is not on [] an improvement in computers as tools, but on certain independently abstract ideas that use computers as tools." Electric Power Group, LLC, v. Alstom, 830 F.3d 1350, 1354, 119 U.S.P.Q.2d 1739, 1742 (Fed. Cir. 2016). Use of an unspecified computer does not transform an abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention. That the Specification indicates that standard off-the-shelf computer technology is usable to implement the claimed invention (for example as indicated) only bolsters the notion that the claimed invention does not focus on an improvement in computers as tools, but rather certain independently abstract ideas that use computers as tools.
In practicing compact prosecution, the Examiner has called out all grounds of rejection including one or more alternative grounds of: (i) "apply it" and (iii) "generally linking to a particular [] field of use". In response to Applicant's argument that the claimed subject matter provides any improvement to any technology or technical field, the alleged improvement(s) in the abstract idea itself (e.g. a recited fundamental economic concept) is not an improvement in technology. See MPEP 2106(b)(I): "[a] general purpose computer that applies a judicial exception, such as an abstract idea, by use of conventional computer functions does not qualify as a particular machine." Ultramercial, Inc. v. Hulu, LLC, 772, F.3d 709, 716-17, 112 USPQ2d 1750, 1755-56 (Fed. Cir. 2014).
In response to applicant's argument that the claim requires an additional element or a combination of additional elements to apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies are not recited in the rejected claim(s) (i.e., are not required to present by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the rejected claim(s)). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). For example, the claims neither recite nor require "computer". The Applicant may please refer to and see the current rejection based upon the currently pending claims under the 35 U.S.C. § 101 heading above.
• The Applicant further argued:
"2. The Claims Integrate The [] Judicial Exception Into A Practical Application
"Even if the claims were considered to involve an abstract idea, the additional elements integrate any such exception into a practical application. The amended claims include specific technical implementations that go far beyond generic computer components.
'Amended claim 1 recites that the Interoperability Node "automatically initiates real-time settlement processing per-transaction to eliminate manual reconciliation delays and enable immediate settlement" and "verifies whether the party (buyer) has sufficient funds to process the settlement by resolving the buyer's digital wallet address, invoking the Token Contract on the Public Blockchain to retrieve current funds balance, comparing available funds to funds to be disbursed, and forecasting whether the buyer has sufficient funds for future fixed price deals."
'These elements describe specific technical operations that solve concrete technical problems[;] "[f]or example, a party or a counterparty may settle payments at a transaction granularity instead of waiting for the deal to close or the end of the month." Specification, [0023]. The specification further explains that "[e]nergy deals may be securely settled between party and counterparty on a per transaction basis. Payments may be initiated based on a configurable frequency, such as batch per day/real-time per transaction." Id. at [0023]. This technical capability involves "providing party(s) and counterparty(s) the ability to settle payments at a transaction granularity instead of waiting for the end of the month to generate and settle an invoice." Id. at [0067].
'The technical bridge functionality is further detailed in the Specification: "[i]n the case of a successful transaction reconciliation, the Interoperability Node may capture the reconciliation status emitted from the Private Blockchain and begin the settlement process," [] the "Interoperability Node may resolve the buyer's digital wallet address and invoke the Token contract on the Public Blockchain to get the current funds balance." Id. at [0058], [0059][,] "[t]he Interoperability Node may then compare funds available within the buyer's (party) wallet to funds to be disbursed to the seller (counterparty)," and "[t]he Interoperability Node may also forecast whether a buyer has sufficient funds to continue trading for fixed price deals that are due to be executed in the near-future." Id. at [0059].
"3. The Claims Recite Significantly More Than The [] Judicial Exception
"The claims include significantly more than any allegedly abstract idea. The specific technical architecture creates a novel solution to blockchain interoperability problems through automated technical bridge architecture, automated reconciliation processes, real-time transaction granularity processing, and technical funds verification and forecasting.
'The Specification describes the automated technical bridge architecture in detail, stating that "Interoperability Node 334 may check buyer's funds via the Token Contract on Public Blockchain 338 (step 6)," and "Interoperability Node 334 may submit balance notifications to Private Blockchain 320 and as a consequence of that, notifies the buyer (step 7)." Specification, [0046][ and] that "Private Blockchain 320 may emit reconciliation status to Buyer Node 306, Seller Node 316 and Interoperability Node 334 (steps Sa, Sb, Sc)." Id. at [0046][ and] "Interoperability Node 334 may then request Custody/Institutional Wallet 336 to transfer assets," and "[a] signed transaction may then be sent to the Token Contract on Public Blockchain 338 (step 9)." Id. at [0047][;] "[t]ransaction confirmation may then be sent from the Token Contract on Public Blockchain 338 to Custody/Institutional Wallet 336 (step l0a) and Interoperability Node 334 (step lob)" and "Interoperability Node 334 sends the updated payment status (step 11) to Private Blockchain 320 and then the payment status is relayed to the Buyer Node 306 (step 12a) and Seller Node 316 (step 12b)." Id. at [0048].
'The automated reconciliation process represents a significant technical improvement[;] "[s]mart Contract deployed on the Private-Permissioned Blockchain empowers party(s) and counterparty(s) with a fully automated decentralized reconciliation process." Id. at [0021][]
"Reconciliation Smart Contract may reconcile deals and transactions between the parties. When information from both parties match, status information (e.g., successful match) may be communicated. If deals or transactions do not result in a match, the parties may be notified and an investigation may be initiated by an accounting team. With an embodiment of the present invention, reconciliation process is automated and manual work and errors are significantly reduced or even eliminated.
"Id. at [0034].
'The amended claims specifically recite "automatically initiates real-time settlement processing per-transaction to eliminate manual reconciliation delays and enable immediate settlement." This represents a specific technical improvement over existing systems. The amended claims also recite specific technical operations for funds verification "by resolving the buyer's digital wallet address, invoking the Token Contract on the Public Blockchain to retrieve current funds balance, comparing available funds to funds to be disbursed, and forecasting whether the buyer has sufficient funds for future fixed price deals."
'The dependent claims are allowable for the same reasons as their corresponding independent claims. Claims 2-6 and 8-20 depend from allowable independent claims and add further technical details that support the technical nature of the solution. [A]mended claim 13 recites that the Interoperability Node "automatically captures the reconciliation status to provide technical bridge functionality," and amended claim 14 recites technical capabilities "to provide automated funds verification and forecasting capabilities."
"The amended claims represent an improvement in the functioning of a computer, or an improvement to other technology or technical field. [] Applicant respectfully asserts that the present claims satisfy the requirements of 35 U.S.C. [sec.] 101[].
"[I]t is respectfully submitted that this application is now in condition for allowance. []"
(REMARKS [as abridged], pp. 14-18).
Notwithstanding respectively the foregoing, the above-quoted arguments submitted October 27. 2025 at REMARKS pp. 14-18 regarding rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 101 have been fully considered, but are not persuasive. Substantially, the Office respectfully disagrees with the Applicant's above-quoted factual allegations and legal conclusion. '[T]he "invention" is what is claimed'. Zoltek Corp. v. United States, 672 F.3d 1309, 1318, 102 USPQ2d 1001, 1008 (Fed. Cir. 2012). The claims in this application are given their broadest reasonable interpretation using the plain meaning of the claim language in light of the specification as it would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Contrary to Applicants assertions, all elements within the Applicant's claims were duly considered given their proper weight and attributed with their proper interpretation and applied within the proper tests of the proper factual and legal analyses. Contrary to the Applicant's above-quoted assertions, the Applicant's alleged invention as delineated by the currently pending claims appears to be deeply rooted in the abstract idea. The abstract subject matter of Applicant's further limited amended claims is claimed at a high level of generality linked to technical environment. Questions of preemption are inherently addressed within the two-part framework from Alice Corp. and Mayo (incorporated into the above depicted § 101 Subject Matter Eligibility Test for Products and Processes as Steps 2A and 2B), and are resolved using this framework to identify preemptive claims. While a preemptive claim may be ineligible, the absence of complete preemption does not establish that a claim is eligible.
The Federal Circuit has held that "communicating requests to a remote server and receiving communications from that server, i.e., communication over a network" is itself an abstract idea. See ChargePoint, Inc. v. SemaConnect, Inc., 2019 U.S.P.Q.2d at 108516: "It is clear from the language of claim 1 that the claim involves an abstract idea--namely, the abstract idea of communicating requests to a remote server and receiving communications from that server, i.e., communication over a network. [] We therefore continue our analysis to determine whether the focus of claim 1, as a whole, is the abstract idea. As explained below, we conclude that it is." ChargePoint, Inc. v. SemaConnect, Inc., 2019 U.S.P.Q.2d 108512 (Fed. Cir. 2019). The Federal Circuit has held that "communicating requests to a remote server and receiving communications from that server, i.e., communication over a network" is itself an abstract idea. See ChargePoint, Inc. v. SemaConnect, Inc., 2019 U.S.P.Q.2d at 108516: "It is clear from the language of claim 1 that the claim involves an abstract idea--namely, the abstract idea of communicating requests to a remote server and receiving communications from that server, i.e., communication over a network. [] We therefore continue our analysis to determine whether the focus of claim 1, as a whole, is the abstract idea. As explained below, we conclude that it is." ChargePoint, Inc. v. SemaConnect, Inc., 2019 U.S.P.Q.2d 108512 (Fed. Cir. 2019). Example(s) that the courts have indicated may not be sufficient to show an improvement in computer-functionality: ii. Accelerating a process of analyzing audit log data when the increased speed comes solely from the capabilities of a general-purpose computer, FairWarning IP, LLC v. Iatric Sys., 839 F.3d 1089, 1095, 120 USPQ2d 1293, 1296 (Fed. Cir. 2016); iii. Mere automation of manual processes, such as using a generic computer to process an application for financing a purchase, Credit Acceptance Corp. v. Westlake Services, 859 F.3d 1044, 1055, 123 USPQ2d 1100, 1108-09 (Fed. Cir. 2017) or speeding up a loan-application process by enabling borrowers to avoid physically going to or calling each lender and filling out a loan application, LendingTree, LLC v. Zillow, Inc., 656 Fed. App'x 991, 996-97 (Fed. Cir. 2016) (non-precedential); vii. Providing historical usage information to users while they are inputting data, in order to improve the quality and organization of information added to a database, because "an improvement to the information stored by a database is not equivalent to an improvement in the database's functionality," BSG Tech LLC v. Buyseasons, Inc., 899 F.3d 1281, 1287-88, 127 USPQ2d 1688, 1693-94 (Fed. Cir. 2018); Examples that the courts have indicated may not be sufficient to show an improvement to technology include: i. A commonplace business method being applied on a general purpose computer, Alice Corp., 573 U.S. at 223, 110 USPQ2d at 1976; Versata Dev. Group, Inc. v. SAP Am., Inc., 793 F.3d 1306, 1334, 115 USPQ2d 1681, 1701 (Fed. Cir. 2015); iii. Gathering and analyzing information using conventional techniques and displaying the result, TLI Communications, 823 F.3d at 612-13, 118 USPQ2d at 1747-48; iv. Delivering broadcast content to a portable electronic device such as a cellular telephone, when claimed at a high level of generality, Affinity Labs of Tex. v. Amazon.com, 838 F.3d 1266, 1270, 120 USPQ2d 1210, 1213 (Fed. Cir. 2016); Affinity Labs of Tex. v. DirecTV, LLC, 838 F.3d 1253, 1262, 120 USPQ2d 1201, 1207 (Fed. Cir. 2016);
In response to applicant's argument that the claim requires an additional element or a combination of additional elements to apply, rely on, or use the judicial exception in a manner that imposes a meaningful limit on the judicial exception, it is noted that the features upon which applicant relies are not recited in the rejected claim(s) (i.e., are not required to present by the broadest reasonable interpretation of the rejected claim(s)). Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993). For example, the claims neither recite nor require "automated technical bridge architecture" or "architecture" or "technical funds verification". See Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 2358: 'Stating an abstract idea "while adding the words 'apply it'" is not enough for patent eligibility. Mayo, supra, at ___, 132 S. Ct. 1289, 182 L. Ed. 2d 321, 325. Nor is limiting the use of an abstract idea "'to a particular technological environment.'" Bilski, supra, at 610-611, 130 S. Ct. 3218, 177 L. Ed. 2d 792.' Limitations that the courts have found not to be enough to qualify as "significantly more" when recited in a claim with a judicial exception include adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception, e.g., mere data gathering in conjunction with a law of nature or abstract idea such as a step of obtaining information about credit card transactions so that the information can be analyzed by an abstract mental process, as discussed in CyberSource v. Retail Decisions, Inc., 654 F.3d 1366, 1375, 99 USPQ2d 1690, 1694 (Fed. Cir. 2011). For Step 2B, relying on what the courts have recognized, or those in the art would recognize, as elements that are well-understood, routine and conventional, the claims in the present application are ineligible under Step 2B. For example, the courts have recognized the following computer functions to be well-understood, routine, and conventional functions when they are claimed in a merely generic manner: performing repetitive calculations, receiving, processing, and storing data, electronically scanning or extracting data from a physical document, electronic recordkeeping, automating mental tasks, and receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data. Courts have held computer-implemented processes not to be significantly more than an abstract idea (and thus ineligible) where the claim as a whole amounts to nothing more than generic computer functions merely used to implement an abstract idea, such as an idea that could be done by a human analog (i.e., by hand or by merely thinking). The Applicant is encouraged to please see and refer to the current rejection based upon the currently pending claims under the 35 U.S.C. § 101 heading above.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
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Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 SLADE E. SMITH whose telephone number is 571- 272-8645. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Tuesday from 7:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Matthew S. Gart can be reached on 571-272-3955. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Sincerely,
/SLADE E SMITH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3696 01/12/2026
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