DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 21, 31, and 38 have been amended.
Claims 21, 23-31, 33-38, and 40 are currently pending and have been considered by the examiner.
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
101 Rejection:
Applicant asserts that the newly amended claims are patent eligible under 35 USC 101 because the claims recite the additional elements of using “a weighted computation model and personalized inputs” in order to process various data inputs and provide a fraud analysis profile. The examiner respectfully disagrees.
When considered the BRI of the “weighted computation model” as claimed, the examiner has determined that the BRI of said claim term encompasses any mathematical system which can receive data inputs and output various numerical scores associated with fraud risk, abandonment, and risk tolerance. Thus, the examiner asserts that the BRI of the claimed “weighted computation model” encompasses a generic mathematical function, which receives simple value inputs and outputs values in response. As this type of mathematical functionality is understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to be conventionally performed by a generic computer, the examiner purports that the recited additional element cannot be considered to provide any technical benefit to the claimed invention but to instead simply use a generic computing device to perform a mathematical calculation necessary to perform the recited abstract idea. Thus, the examiner must maintain the previously issued 101 rejection.
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 21, 23-31, and 33-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
In the instant case, claims 21, 23-30 are directed to a method, claims 31 and 33-37 are directed to an system/apparatus, and claims 38-40 are directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium. Therefore, these claims fall within the four statutory categories of invention.
Claim 21 recites the following:
A computer-implemented method for training a fraud detection system to manage fraudulent transactions, the method comprising:
Receiving, by one or more processors an authorization request for at least one online transaction, the authorization request including a plurality of transaction data;
generating, by the one or more processors, a fraud analysis profile request and a unique hash based on a fraud analysis profile being unavailable;
importing, by the one or more processors based on the fraud analysis profile request and the unique hash, fraud dispute data and historical transaction data from a plurality of institution databases, wherein the historical transaction data is in one or more non-standard formats as determined by a source institution database;
transforming, by the one or more processors, the historical transaction data from the plurality of institution databases by performing one or more of data cleaning, data splitting, data translating, data merging, or data sorting to generate standardized historical transaction data in a standard format for analysis;
generating, by the one or more processors, and based on the fraud analysis profile request and the unique hash, the fraud analysis profile using the plurality of transaction data, the fraud dispute data, and the historical transaction data from the plurality of institution databases wherein the plurality of transaction data is associated with at least one user associated with the at least one online transaction;
Determining, by the one or more processors, a fraud risk score, an abandonment score, and a risk tolerance score using a weighted computation model and personalized inputs comprising: the plurality of transaction data, the fraud dispute data, and the historical transaction data from the plurality of institution databases, and the fraud analysis profile;
Transmitting, by the one or more processors and to a user device associated with the authorization request an authorization request approval based on the fraud risk score being lower than the abandonment score and the risk tolerance score;
receivinq, by the one or more processors, a validation messaqe or an error messaqe for the fraud risk score, wherein the validation messaqe or the error messaqe denotes whether the fraud risk score was accurate; and
confiqurinq, the weiqhted computational module for the fraud risk score in response to receivinq the validation messaqe or the error messaqe by adjustinq one or more weiqhts of the computational model to more accurately determine the fraud risk score.
Regarding Step 2A Prong One, the claims recite the abstract idea of risk mitigation. Specifically, the claims recite the limitations underlined above which recite a process directed towards mitigating risk associated with an economic transaction which is grouped within the Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity grouping of abstract ideas in prong one of step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test (See MPEP § 2106.04) because the claims involve the process of mitigating risk associated with an economic transaction. Accordingly, the claims recite an abstract idea (See pages 7, 10, Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, et al., US Supreme Court, No. 13-298, June 19, 2014; 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance, 84 Fed. Reg. 50, 53-54 (January 7, 2019)).
Regarding Step 2A Prong Two, the recited abstract idea 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 element(s) of the claim(s) such as a “computer” and “one or more processors” merely use(s) a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea. Specifically, the “computer” and “one or more processors” perform(s) the steps or functions underlined above. The use of a processor/computer as a tool to implement the abstract idea 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)), the claims do not apply or use the abstract idea to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition (Vanda Memo), the claims do not apply the abstract idea with, or by use of, a particular machine (MPEP 2106.05(b)), the claims do not effect a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing (MPEP 2106.05(c)), 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 claim(s) 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), the additional element(s) of a “computer” and “one or more processors” amounts to no more than using a computer or processor to automate and/or implement the abstract idea. As discussed above, taking the claim elements separately, the “computer” and “one or more processors” perform(s) the steps or functions underlined above. 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 process of mitigating risk associated with an economic transaction. Therefore, the use of these additional elements does no more than employ the computer as a tool to automate and/or implement the abstract idea. The use of a computer or processor to merely automate and/or implement the abstract idea cannot provide significantly more than the abstract idea itself (MPEP 2106.05(I)(A)(f) & (h)). Therefore, the claim is not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 23-30, 33-37, and 40 further describe the abstract idea of risk mitigation. 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. Specifically:
Claims 25, 29-30, and 35 merely further describes how the information used to perform the recited abstract idea of risk mitigation is gathered.
Claims 23-24, 27-28, 33-34, 37, and 40 merely further recites limitations directed towards the abstract idea of risk mitigation.
Claims 26 and 36 merely further describes how information used to perform the recited process the recited abstract idea is gathered and recites limitations directed towards to abstract idea of risk mitigation itself.
Therefore, as the dependent claims do not include additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application nor provide significantly more than the abstract idea, the dependent claims are also not patent eligible.
Conclusion
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.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Drake, II et al. (US 20220086166 A1) generally discloses systems and methods for controlling access to digital assets based upon multiple risk factors.
Tidwell et al. (US 20050125350 A1) generally discloses system and methods for assessing risk associated with cashing second-party checks and other negotiable interests based on multiple different factors.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NICHOLAS K PHAN whose telephone number is (571)272-6748. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 1 pm-9 pm EST.
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/NICHOLAS K PHAN/Examiner, Art Unit 3699