DETAILED ACTION
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
Applicant's arguments filed 04/03/2026 with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 21-23, 25-30, 32-37, and 39-43 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made. See remarks on page 15-19.
The rejection of pending claims 21-23, 25-30, 32-37, and 39-43 under 35 U.S.C. 101 as directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, is maintained in view of MPEP 2106.04(d). Applicant’s argument of the amended claims improve the functioning of computing device, including an electronic message repository, gateway, processor, POS terminal, or PIN pad itself. Rather, the claims recite using generic computer components to receive, store, compare, retain, transmit, and purge messages in accordance with a transaction approval workflow. The added limitations merely implement the rules of the transaction workflow using conventional messaging and storage functions. These limitations do not improve computer functionality, network operation, message-repository architecture, or PIN pad technology. Accordingly, the amended claims remain directed to the abstract idea of managing a transaction approval workflow based on message types, which falls under the abstract idea of certain methods of organizing human activity. The additional elements, considered individually and as an ordered combination, do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application under Step 2A, Prong Two, nor amount to significantly more under Step 2B. See remarks on page 11-15.
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, 25-30, 32-37, and 39-43 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.
Subject Matter Eligibility Criteria – Step 1:
Claims 21-23 and 25-27 are directed to a method, claims 28-30 and 32-34 are directed to an article of manufacture, and claims 35-37 and 39-43 are directed to an system. Therefore, these claims fall within the four statutory categories of invention.
Subject Matter Eligibility Criteria – Step 2A – Prong One:
Regarding Prong One of Step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test, the claim limitations are to be analyzed to determine whether, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, they “recite” a judicial exception or in other words whether a judicial exception is “set forth” or “described” in the claims. MPEP 2106.04(II)(A)(1). An “abstract idea” judicial exception is subject matter that falls within at least one of the following groups: a) certain methods of organizing human activity, b) mental processes, and/or c) mathematical concepts. MPEP 2106.04(a).
Representative independents claims 21, 28, and 35 include limitations that recite at least one abstract idea.
Claims 21, 28, and 35 are directed to the abstract idea of “ receiving, by a processor and via a gateway, a new incoming message event from an electronic message repository, wherein the electronic message repository is uniquely associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal and a personal identification number (PIN) pad upon creation of the electronic message repository; retrieving, by the processor, an incoming message from the electronic message repository based on receiving the new incoming message event, the incoming message relating to a previously-received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad; determining, by the processor, whether a message type of the retrieved incoming message matches a current state of the previously-received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad; upon determining that the message type of the retrieved incoming message does not match the current state of the previously-received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad, retaining, by the processor, the retrieved incoming message in the electronic message repository until the current state matches the message type of the previously-received transaction request; transmitting, by the processor, the previously-received transaction request to the PIN pad for processing when based on the current state of the previously-received transaction request matches the message type of the retrieved incoming message; receiving, by the processor, a transaction complete message from the PIN pad for the previously-received transaction request; and purging, by the processor, the electronic message repository of remaining messages based on receiving the transaction complete message.” Under its broadest reasonable interpretation, this claim is managing a transaction approval workflow based on message types, and hence falls under organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Dependent Claims:
Claims 22, 29, and 36 recites: sending, by the processor, the received transaction request message to the PIN pad by way of the electronic message repository; and sending, by the processor, a subscription request to the electronic message repository for messages generated by the PIN pad; further describes the abstract idea of organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Claims 23, 30, and 37 recites: receiving, by the processor, a transaction status message from the cloud-based application; and updating, by the processor, the current state of the received transaction request according to the received transaction status message; further describes the abstract idea of organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Claims 25, 32, and 39 recites: wherein the cloud-based application is a POS application; further describes the abstract idea of organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Claims 26, 33, and 40 recites: wherein the current state of the received transaction request is associated with one or more message types of messages sent to or from the PIN pad; further describes the abstract idea of organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Claims 27 and 34, recites: receiving, by the processor, a notification from the electronic message repository of past unretrieved messages stored in the electronic message repository; further describes the abstract idea of organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Claims 41, 42, and 43 recites: wherein the current state of the received transaction request is associated with one or more message types of messages sent to or from the PIN pad; further describes the abstract idea of organizing human activity (i.e., as fundamental economic practices).
Subject Matter Eligibility Criteria – Step 2A – Prong Two:
Claim 21, 28, and 35 recites to a generic computer as additional elements to the judicial exception in the preamble. Viewed individually and in combination, this additional element to the identified judicial exception of Step 2A.1, amounts to no more than mere instructions for managing a transaction approval workflow based on message types on a generic computer. Therefore, at Step 2A.2, these additional elements do not act in combination to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The additional elements of claims 21, 28, and 35 considered both individually and as an ordered combination, do not amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional element of a generic computer does no more than “[s]imply appending well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception, e.g., a claim to an abstract idea requiring no more than a generic computer to perform generic computer functions that are well-understood, routine and conventional activities previously known to the industry.” See MPEP 2106.05 (citing to Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 225 (2014)).
Therefore claims 21, 28, and 35 is found ineligible under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Step 2B:
Viewed as a whole, instructions/method claims recite the concept of “organizing human activity” (i.e., as fundamental economic practices) in managing a transaction approval workflow based on message types are performed by a generic computer. The method claims do not, for example, purport to improve the functioning of the computer itself. Nor do they effect an improvement in any other technology or technical field. Instead, the claims at issue amount to nothing significantly more than an instruction to apply the abstract idea using some unspecified, generic computer. See Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd., 573 U.S. 208. Mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component and limitations to a particular field of use or technological environment cannot integrate a judicial exception into a practical application at Step 2A or provide an inventive concept in Step 2B. The use of a computer server is 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
5. Claim 21, 23, 25-28, 30, 32-35, 37, and 39-43, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nukala et al. (US 20170126591 A1), and in view of Davis et al. (US 10783513 B2), in view of Banks 1 et al. (US 20230410109 A1), and further in view of Zhang et al. (US 20040205770 A1).
Regarding claims 21, 28, and 35, Nukala discloses a computer-implemented method for cloud-based asynchronous communication, (a non-transitory machine-readable medium storing instructions and a system, (Para. 0038))
Nukala does not explicitly disclose retrieving, by the processor, an incoming message from the electronic message repository based on receiving the new incoming message event, the incoming message, relating to a previously-received transaction request associated with the (POS) terminal and the (PIN) pad.
However, Davis teaches retrieving, by the processor, an incoming message from the electronic message repository based on receiving the new incoming message event, the incoming message, relating to a previously-received transaction request associated with the (POS) terminal and the (PIN) pad, (Column 16/line 8, the client device 104a can include a data manager 218, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The data manager 218 can maintain message data representative of data used in connection with composing, sending, and receiving messages between a user and one or more other users. For example, message data can include message logs, contact lists, content, past communications, and other similar types of data that the communication application 202 can use in connection with providing the ability for users to communicate using the communication application 202.; and Column 17/line 31, The message database 234 may maintain status data representative of the information mentioned above that the status manager 232 tracks. The message database 234 can thus provide an archive of messaging threads, which the network application 204 can provide to a user on demand or once a user logs into the client application 202 using a new computing device. The payment manager 236 of FIG. 2 can integrate the sending and receiving of payment messages and initiate payment transactions, and may employ one or more application programming interfaces (APIs). For example, upon the communication manager 230 can receiving a payment message, the communication manager 230 can send any payment details to the payment manager 236. The payment manager 236 can then user the payment details retrieved from the payment message to initiate a payment transaction using the payment network 115.; and Column 62/line 55, the processor 1802 may retrieve (or fetch) the instructions from an internal register, an internal cache, the memory 1804, or the storage device 1806 and decode and execute them.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Davis to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include retrieving, by the processor, an incoming message from the electronic message repository, the incoming message, relating to a previously-received transaction request associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal and a personal identification number (PIN) pad results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the messages only pertaining to transactions, improving the overall performance of the invention.
Nukala does not explicitly disclose upon determining that the message type of the retrieved incoming message does not match the current state of the previously- received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad.
However, Davis teaches upon determining that the message type of the retrieved incoming message does not match the current state of the previously- received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad, (Column 23/line 5, In the event that the network application 204 does not validate the sender or the payment credential, the network application 204 can send a communication to the sender client device 104a to cause the client application 202 to present an error message to the sender that indicates the payment could not be authorized. In one or more embodiments, the error message can include a prompt for the sender to provide additional authorization information, agree to terms and conditions, or otherwise verify their identify. After which the sender client device 104a can send a revised payment request to the network application 204. The network application 204 can then attempt to validate the sender/payment credential. If the network application 204 cannot validate the sender/payment credential, then the network application 204 may terminate the payment transaction based on the payment message 302.).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Davis to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include determining that the message type of the retrieved incoming message does not match the current state of the previously- received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad, results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the messages only pertaining to transactions and able to determine if there is an error in the process flow, improving the overall performance of the invention.
Nukala as modified does not explicitly disclose the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, and via a gateway, a new incoming message event from an electronic message repository, wherein the electronic message repository is uniquely associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal and a personal identification number (PIN) pad upon creation of the electronic message repository
However, Banks teaches the method comprising: receiving, by a processor, and via a gateway, a new incoming message event from an electronic message repository, wherein the electronic message repository is uniquely associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal and a personal identification number (PIN) pad upon creation of the electronic message repository, (Para. 0022-0025, Consumer 602 may use a payment card as payment and the transaction is processed through a payment environment 600. Because merchant 610 generally can use a different bank or financial institution 640 than consumer 602, an acquirer processor 630 handles the financial transactions that transfer payment between the financial institution 640 of consumer 602 and that of merchant 610. Consumer 602 submits payment information at the PIN Pad 128 associated with POS terminal 102 of merchant 610, such as by swiping his or her payment card, inserting his or her chip-based payment card, through wireless near field communication (NFC), etc., or by any other suitable means. PIN Pad 128 sends a payment request by way of a computer network 625 to an acquirer processor 630. Alternatively, such a request may be sent by a component that controls a flow of a transaction, such as point of sale (POS) engine 106 depicted in FIG. 1. Acquirer processor 630 requests, by way of payment network 620, an electronic transfer of funds from the received funds to the financial institution 640 associated with merchant 610. Merchant 610 may provide an infrastructure for processing electronic payment requests. FIGS. 1 and 2 depict an exemplary system infrastructure for payment processing within a merchant environment, according to one or more embodiments. As shown in FIG. 1, an infrastructure 100 for processing electronic payment requests may include one or more point of sale (POS) devices 102, which may be in communication with a POS engine 106, and one or more personal identification number (PIN) pad terminals 128, which may be in communication with a socket gateway 124. POS devices 102 may communicate a sale request message over computer network 104 to POS engine 106. POS engine 106 may be embodied, for example, as middleware that may transmit commands to control a PIN pad 128, such as by sending a payment request to PIN pad transaction generator 110 over computer network 118. PIN pad transaction generator 110 may generate one or more PIN pad commands 114 for processing by a transaction generator 112. Transaction generator 112 may take in a transaction request from the POS engine 106 and PIN pad specific commands 114 for the transaction. Transaction generator 112 may further take in expected responses from PIN pad 128. Transaction generator 112 may manage the entire transaction using, for example, a state machine for the specific transaction. PIN pad transaction generator 110 will be described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 2. Infrastructure 100 for processing electronic payment requests may further include a PIN pad device gateway 120, which may provide commination with PIN pad terminals 128. PIN pad device gateway 120 may include a message broker that may process incoming sales transaction messages, a transaction service bus topic 122, and one or more device gateways 124.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Banks to the known invention of Nukala as modified would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include receiving, by a processor, and via a gateway, a new incoming message event from an electronic message repository, wherein the electronic message repository is uniquely associated with a point of sale (POS) terminal and a personal identification number (PIN) pad upon creation of the electronic message repository results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the messages only pertaining to transactions, improving the overall performance of the invention.
Nukala as modified does not explicitly disclose determining, by the processor, whether a message type of the retrieved incoming message matches a current state of the previously-received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad.
However, Banks teaches determining, by the processor, whether a message type of the retrieved incoming message matches a current state of the previously-received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad, (Para. 0025, Infrastructure 100 for processing electronic payment requests may further include a PIN pad device gateway 120, which may provide commination with PIN pad terminals 128. PIN pad device gateway 120 may include a message broker that may process incoming sales transaction messages, a transaction service bus topic 122, and one or more device gateways 124.; and Para. 0027-0028, Infrastructure 100 may be embodied as a semi-integrated solution and may further control the PIN pad on behalf of the POS device software. Such control may include controlling a transaction flow or sequence including, for example, prompting for payment card swipe or insert, sending a transaction request for authorization, prompting for a consumer signature, etc. Turning to FIG. 2, PIN pad transaction generator 110 may receive a transaction request 210 from, for example, a backend service or application, or from a client device such as point of sale device 102. Transaction generator 110 may then determine whether a transaction generator actor 112 is available to service the transaction request. If no transaction generator actor 112 is available to service the transaction request, then PIN pad transaction generator 110 may create a new transaction generator actor 112. Transaction generator actor 112 may then create a transaction command generator 114 to generate commands to be transmitted to a PIN pad for the transaction request. Alternatively, transaction generator actor 112 may select an available transaction command generator 114 from a pool of idle transaction command generators 114. Transaction command generator 114 may generate PIN pad commands to be transmitted to a client device, such as PIN pad 128, according to the contents of transaction request 210 including, for example, the transaction type and expected responses from the client device. A new transaction request including the generated PIN pad commands may be transmitted to PIN pad 128 as transaction request 230. A transaction response 240 may be received from PIN pad 128 and further processed by PIN pad transaction generator 110 before being transmitted to POS device 102 as transaction response 220.).
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Banks to the known invention of Nukala as modified would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include determining, by the processor, whether a message type of the retrieved incoming message matches a current state of the previously-received transaction request associated with the POS terminal and the PIN pad results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the messages only pertaining to transactions, improving the overall performance of the invention.
Nukala does not explicitly disclose transmitting, by the processor, the previously-received transaction request to the PIN pad for processing when the current state of the previously-received transaction request matches the message type of the retrieved incoming message.
However, Banks teaches transmitting, by the processor, the previously-received transaction request to the PIN pad for processing when the current state of the previously-received transaction request matches the message type of the retrieved incoming message, (Para. 0024, As shown in FIG. 1, an infrastructure 100 for processing electronic payment requests may include one or more point of sale (POS) devices 102, which may be in communication with a POS engine 106, and one or more personal identification number (PIN) pad terminals 128, which may be in communication with a socket gateway 124. POS devices 102 may communicate a sale request message over computer network 104 to POS engine 106. POS engine 106 may be embodied, for example, as middleware that may transmit commands to control a PIN pad 128, such as by sending a payment request to PIN pad transaction generator 110 over computer network 118. PIN pad transaction generator 110 may generate one or more PIN pad commands 114 for processing by a transaction generator 112. Transaction generator 112 may take in a transaction request from the POS engine 106 and PIN pad specific commands 114 for the transaction. Transaction generator 112 may further take in expected responses from PIN pad 128. Transaction generator 112 may manage the entire transaction using, for example, a state machine for the specific transaction.; and Para. 0028, Turning to FIG. 2, PIN pad transaction generator 110 may receive a transaction request 210 from, for example, a backend service or application, or from a client device such as point of sale device 102. Transaction generator 110 may then determine whether a transaction generator actor 112 is available to service the transaction request. If no transaction generator actor 112 is available to service the transaction request, then PIN pad transaction generator 110 may create a new transaction generator actor 112. Transaction generator actor 112 may then create a transaction command generator 114 to generate commands to be transmitted to a PIN pad for the transaction request. Alternatively, transaction generator actor 112 may select an available transaction command generator 114 from a pool of idle transaction command generators 114. Transaction command generator 114 may generate PIN pad commands to be transmitted to a client device, such as PIN pad 128, according to the contents of transaction request 210 including, for example, the transaction type and expected responses from the client device. A new transaction request including the generated PIN pad commands may be transmitted to PIN pad 128 as transaction request 230. A transaction response 240 may be received from PIN pad 128 and further processed by PIN pad transaction generator 110 before being transmitted to POS device 102 as transaction response 220.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Nukala as modified to the known invention of Banks would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate message repository features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include transmitting, by the processor, the previously-received transaction request to the PIN pad for processing when the current state of the previously-received transaction request matches the message type of the retrieved incoming message results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that each step in the transaction process matches each pin pad command, thus improving the overall performance of the invention.
Nukala as modifed does not explicitly disclose receiving, by the processor, a transaction complete message from the PIN pad for the previously-received transaction request.
However, Banks teaches receiving, by the processor, a transaction complete message from the PIN pad for the previously-received transaction request, (Claim 7. receiving, at the transaction generator, a transaction response from the PIN pad; and transmitting, using the processor to perform functions associated with the transaction command generator, the transaction response to the POS device.; and Para. 0028-0029, Transaction command generator 114 may generate PIN pad commands to be transmitted to a client device, such as PIN pad 128, according to the contents of transaction request 210 including, for example, the transaction type and expected responses from the client device. A new transaction request including the generated PIN pad commands may be transmitted to PIN pad 128 as transaction request 230. A transaction response 240 may be received from PIN pad 128 and further processed by PIN pad transaction generator 110 before being transmitted to POS device 102 as transaction response 220… PIN pad transaction generator 110 may maintain a transaction generator actor 112 and transaction command generator 114 for each active transaction request and may terminate either transaction generator actor 112 or transaction command generator 114 when the associated transaction request has been completed. Alternatively, PIN pad transaction generator 110 may maintain a minimum number of transaction generator actors 112 and transaction command generators 114 that may be greater than the number of active transaction requests. This may allow a transaction request to be processed using existing services without the delay of generating a new transaction generator actor 112 or transaction command generator 114. A newly generated transaction generator actor 112 or transaction command generator 114 may remain active even after the associated transaction request is completed, thus increasing the pool of available transaction generator actors 112 and transaction command generators 114. If the number of transaction generator actors 112 and transaction command generators 114 that are not associated with an active transaction requests exceeds a threshold then one or more transaction generator actors 112 or transaction command generators 114 may be terminated in order to free allocated resources.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Nukala as modified to the known invention of Banks would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate message repository features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include receiving, by the processor, a transaction complete message from the PIN pad for the previously-received transaction request results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that each step in the transaction process matches each pin pad command, thus improving the overall performance of the invention.
Nukala as modified does not explicitly disclose retaining, by the processor, the retrieved incoming message in the electronic message repository until the current state matches the message type of the previously-received transaction request.
However, Zhang teaches retaining, by the processor, the retrieved incoming message in the electronic message repository until the current state matches the message type of the previously-received transaction request. (Para. 0006-0007, The Message Store 102 holds messages until they are selectively retrieved by the MTA 106. The Message Store 102 in turn comprises a plurality of stored source messages 108 (e.g., mail), and the Message Broker 104 comprises a destination queue 110. The Message Store 102 is a persistent storage system for storing source messages (events) 108. It can be implemented as a JMS queue, a database table, a file-based store, or any other form of storage that is suitable for this purpose. The requirement is that it must be non-volatile storage, such as a hard drive.; and Para. 0014, This process guarantees that a message is never lost. However, it is flawed because the same message can be delivered two or more times to the same destination in the event of a network failure. For example, consider a situation where the system experiences a network failure between steps 3 and 4 above. In this scenario, the message 108 has already been processed and delivered to the Destination Queue 110; however, the acknowledgement has not yet been sent back to the Message Store 102. Therefore, the message is still retained in the Message Store 102 queue. This results in the message being sent or polled again when the MTA 106 is restarted after the network failure. This duplication could potentially be quite costly to a corporation. When one considers the number of mission critical messages traveling through the external and internal networks of today's business enterprises, it becomes apparent that there is a need for a system and method that avoids delivery of duplicate messages under more circumstances than present systems.; and Claim 1. polling a message store for messages; retrieving from the message store at least one message; processing the at least one message; retrieving a message identifier from a monitor queue in a transactional server, the message identifier corresponding to the last successfully delivered message; and comparing the message identifier retrieved from the monitor queue to the message identifier of the message retrieved from the message store.; and Claim 3. removing the at least one message from the message store upon acknowledgement that the message was successfully delivered.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Zhang to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such message repository features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include retaining, by the processor, the retrieved incoming message in the electronic message repository until the current state matches the message type of the previously-received transaction request ensures that users can access and retrieve messages from the electric message repository at any time, thus improving the overall user accessibility of the invention.
Nukala as modified does not explicitly disclose purging, by the processor, the electronic message repository of remaining messages based on receiving the transaction complete message.
However, Zhang teaches purging, by the processor, the electronic message repository of remaining messages based on receiving the transaction complete message, (Para. 0027-0028, In Step 3a, as shown in block 403, the MTA 306 will access the Monitor Queue 310 to retrieve the unique message id from the last successfully delivered message. It will then compare that message id with the message id of the message 108 it retrieved from the Message Store 102. If the message ids are identical, as determined in block 404, this means that this current message is a duplicate and should not be delivered to the Destination Queue 110. Accordingly, the MTA 306 will skip Steps 3b, 3c, and 3d, thus causing the transaction to roll back in block 420 and go right to Step 4 in block 430 and send an acknowledgement to the Message Store 102 that this message has already been successfully delivered. This action will cause the Message Store 102 to remove the message 108 from its queue or otherwise tag the message so that it is not served again. If, however, the message ids do not match in Step 3a, then the MTA 306 will go on to Step 3b, shown in block 405, and send the message id of this message 108 to the Monitor Queue 310. Processing will continue to Step 3c., and Para. 0031, Step 4, shown as block 430, remains the same as in FIG. 2. The MTA 306 sends an acknowledgement (ACK) to the Message Store 102 confirming the successful delivery of the message 108. The Message Store 102, upon receipt of this ACK, will remove the message 108 from its queue. This will prevent the message 108 from being resent.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Nukala as modified to the known invention of Zhang would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate purging features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include purging, by the processor, the electronic message repository of remaining messages based on receiving the transaction complete message results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that messages are removed after the transaction is completed to prevent duplicate transactions, thus improving the overall performance of the invention.
7. Regarding claims 23, 30, and 37, Nukala does not explicitly disclose the method further comprising: receiving, by the processor, a transaction status message from the cloud-based application; and u)dating, by the processor, the current state of the received transaction request according to the received transaction status message.
However, Davis teaches the method further comprising: receiving, by the processor, a transaction status message from the cloud-based application; and updating, by the processor, the current state of the received transaction request according to the received transaction status message, (Column 17/line 8, The status manager 232 can track the status of users of the client applications 202 and/or the client devices 104a, 104b. For example the status manager 232 can identify when a user is logged into the client application 202, when a user is active on the client application 202, when a client device 104a, 104b associated with a user or user account is online or active. The status manager 232 can send indications (such as push notifications) to the client application 202 to notify the client application 202 of the status of users, device, messages, or payments. The user interface manager 206 can add, modify, or otherwise change or update status notifications based on indications received from the status manager 232. For example, the status manager 232 can send an indication to the client application 202 indicating that another user has accessed a message, received a payment, sent a payment, is active, a device or device type a co-user is active on (e.g., mobile vs. web), etc. The user interface manager 206 in turn an update a user interface to notify a user of the status.; and Column 17/line 27, The network application 204 may also include a message database 234. The message database 234 can maintain message data representative of content of messages from electronic messaging sessions among a plurality of participants. The message database 234 may maintain status data representative of the information mentioned above that the status manager 232 tracks. The message database 234 can thus provide an archive of messaging threads, which the network application 204 can provide to a user on demand or once a user logs into the client application 202 using a new computing device.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Davis to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying method to include receiving, by the processor, a transaction status message from the cloud-based application; and updating, by the processor, the current state of the received transaction request according to the received transaction status message results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the messages only pertaining to transactions, improving the overall efficiency of the invention.
8. Regarding claims 25, 32, and 39, Nukala does not explicitly disclose wherein the cloud- based application is a (POS) application.
However, Davis teaches wherein the cloud- based application is a (POS) application, (Column 62/line 11, Embodiments of the present disclosure can also be implemented in cloud computing environments. In this description, “cloud computing” is defined as a model for enabling on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources. For example, cloud computing can be employed in the marketplace to offer ubiquitous and convenient on-demand access to the shared pool of configurable computing resources. The shared pool of configurable computing resources can be rapidly provisioned via virtualization and released with low management effort or service provider interaction, and then scaled accordingly… In this description and in the claims, a “cloud-computing environment” is an environment in which cloud computing is employed.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Davis to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale system features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include the cloud-based application being a (POS) application results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the consumer may enter payment and/or personal information in order to complete payment processing requests for purchases thus, improving the overall efficiency of the invention.
9. Regarding claims 26, 33, and 40, Nukala does not explicitly disclose wherein the current state of the received transaction request is associated with one or more message types of messages sent to or from the PIN pad.
However, Davis teaches wherein the current state of the received transaction request is associated with one or more message types of messages sent to or from the PIN pad, (Column 17/line 8, The status manager 232 can track the status of users of the client applications 202 and/or the client devices 104a, 104b. For example the status manager 232 can identify when a user is logged into the client application 202, when a user is active on the client application 202, when a client device 104a, 104b associated with a user or user account is online or active. The status manager 232 can send indications (such as push notifications) to the client application 202 to notify the client application 202 of the status of users, device, messages, or payments. The user interface manager 206 can add, modify, or otherwise change or update status notifications based on indications received from the status manager 232. For example, the status manager 232 can send an indication to the client application 202 indicating that another user has accessed a message, received a payment, sent a payment, is active, a device or device type a co-user is active on (e.g., mobile vs. web), etc. The user interface manager 206 in turn an update a user interface to notify a user of the status.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Davis to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include wherein the current state of the received transaction request is associated with one or more message types of messages sent to or from the PIN pad in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the status of the transaction thus, improving the overall efficiency of the invention.
10. Regarding claim 27 and 34, Nukala does not explicitly disclose receiving, by the processor, a notification from the electronic repository of past unretrieved messages stored in the electronic repository.
However, Davis teaches receiving, by the processor, a notification from the electronic repository of past unretrieved messages stored in the electronic repository, (Column 48/line 55, Upon selecting the notification control 840, the user interface manager 206 can provide a notification interface 844. The notification interface 844 can display a plurality of notifications received for the user client device 400c. In one instance, the notification interface 844 presents the payment request notification 846 at the top of a list of notifications for the user, as shown in FIG. 8D. The payment request notification 846 can include a selectable element 848 or the entire payment request notification 846 can be a selectable element. The system can also provide an option to allow the sender to apply social pressure by reminding the recipient of the payment transaction. For example, by selecting a reminder option (similar to the reminder option 504 describe above) can cause the system 100 to send a message to the recipient to complete the payment transaction by entering the credentials for the payment transaction. In some instances, the message to the recipient can cause a message or notification to appear at the sender client device 104a and/or within the messaging interface 412 at the sender client device 104a.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Davis to the known invention of Nukala would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying the method to include receiving, by the processor, a notification from the electronic repository of past unretrieved messages stored in the electronic repository results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the consumer may enter payment and/or personal information in order to complete payment processing requests for purchases thus, improving the overall efficiency of the invention.
11. Regarding claims 41, 42, and 43, Nukala as modified does not explicitly disclose wherein the purging further comprises: sending, by the processor, a mailbox flush notification to the electronic message repository to purge the electronic message repository of remaining messages.
However, Zhang teaches wherein the purging further comprises: sending, by the processor, a mailbox flush notification to the electronic message repository to purge the electronic message repository of remaining messages, (Para. 0014, In this scenario, the message 108 has already been processed and delivered to the Destination Queue 110; however, the acknowledgement has not yet been sent back to the Message Store 102. Therefore, the message is still retained in the Message Store 102 queue. This results in the message being sent or polled again when the MTA 106 is restarted after the network failure. This duplication could potentially be quite costly to a corporation. When one considers the number of mission critical messages traveling through the external and internal networks of today's business enterprises, it becomes apparent that there is a need for a system and method that avoids delivery of duplicate messages under more circumstances than present systems.; and Para. 0031, Step 4, shown as block 430, remains the same as in FIG. 2. The MTA 306 sends an acknowledgement (ACK) to the Message Store 102 confirming the successful delivery of the message 108. The Message Store 102, upon receipt of this ACK, will remove the message 108 from its queue. This will prevent the message 108 from being resent.; and Para. 0006-0007, The Message Store 102 holds messages until they are selectively retrieved by the MTA 106. The Message Store 102 in turn comprises a plurality of stored source messages 108 (e.g., mail), and the Message Broker 104 comprises a destination queue 110. The Message Store 102 is a persistent storage system for storing source messages (events) 108. It can be implemented as a JMS queue, a database table, a file-based store, or any other form of storage that is suitable for this purpose. The requirement is that it must be non-volatile storage, such as a hard drive. and Claim 3. The method of claim 1 wherein if the compared message identifiers match, the method further comprises the step of: removing the at least one message from the message store upon acknowledgement that the message was successfully delivered.)
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Zhang to the known invention of Nukala as modified would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying method to include wherein the purging further comprises: sending, by the processor, a mailbox flush notification to the electronic message repository to purge the electronic message repository of remaining messages results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the transaction request flow is remaining updated with the messages only pertaining to transactions, improving the overall efficiency of the invention.
12. Claims 22, 29, and 36 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nukala et al. (US 20170126591 A1), in view of Davis et al. (US 10783513 B2), in view of Banks et al. (US 20230410109 A1), in view of Zhang et al. (US 20040205770 A1), and further in view of in view of Hayhow et al. (US 20150242854 A1).
13. Regarding claims 22, 29, and 36, Nukala as modified discloses sending, by the processor, the received transaction request message to a PIN pad by way of the electronic message repository; and sending, by the processor, the subscription request to the electronic message repository for messages generated by the PIN pad, (0007-0008, In accordance with the first aspect of the disclosure, there is also provided a network gateway that includes a network interface, a transactions database, and a processor. The network interface is configured for communication with at least one pin-pad terminal and a merchant acquirer server. Each pin-pad terminal has a memory storing particulars of at least one authorized transaction authorized using said pin-pad terminal. The processor is coupled to the network interface and the transactions database and is configured to receive from the merchant acquirer server an authorization code for one of the authorized transactions, and to save in the database the particulars of the one authorized transaction. The processor is also configured to receive a request to close out all the saved transactions, and to receive from one of the pin-pad terminals an authorization request message requesting authorization for an additional transaction.).
Nukala as modified does not explicitly disclose a subscription request to the electronic message repository for messages generated by the PIN pad.
However, Hayhow teaches a subscription request to the electronic message repository for messages generated by the PIN pad, (Para. 0057, The network gateway then receives a request to close out all the saved transactions, and receives from one of the pin-pad terminals 300 an authorization request message requesting authorization for an additional transaction. In response, the network gateway (i) in the transactions database 414, closes all the saved transactions authorized using the one pin-pad terminal 300, an (ii) responds to the authorization request message by providing the one pin-pad terminal 300 with a remote synchronization command commanding the one pin-pad terminal 300 to clear the running total from the memory.
One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that applying the known technique of Hayhow to the known invention of Nukala as modified would have yielded predictable results and resulted in an improved invention. It would have been recognized that the application of the technique would have yielded predictable results because the level of ordinary skill in the art demonstrated by the references applied shows the ability to incorporate such point-of-sale features into a similar invention. Further, it would have been recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art that modifying processor in Nukala to include a subscription request to the electronic message repository for messages generated by the PIN pad results in an improved invention because applying said technique ensures that the user has access to the message repository, improving the overall user convenience of the invention.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a). The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Audio Broadcast System with Cloud Communications Platform and Related Methods (US 11146689 B1) teaches an audio broadcast system may include communications devices, a cloud communications platform in communication with the communications devices, and an event-driven serverless cloud computing platform in communication with the communications devices and the cloud communications platform. The event-driven serverless cloud computing platform may be configured to provision resources from the cloud communications platform to initiate telephone calls respectively for the communications devices, and simultaneously broadcast an audio stream to the communications devices respectively via the telephone calls.
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 extension fee 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.
In addition to the foregoing, other aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Davida L. King whose telephone number is (571) 272-4724. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8am-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Neha Patel can be reached on (571) 270-1492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/D.L.K./Examiner, Art Unit 3699
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