Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 25, 2026
Application No. 17/815,416

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IMPLEMENTING WATERFALL GATEWAYS

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Jul 27, 2022
Priority
Jul 27, 2021 — provisional 63/203,661
Examiner
LIN, SHERMAN L
Art Unit
2447
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Synchrony Bank
OA Round
7 (Non-Final)
29%
Grant Probability
At Risk
7-8
OA Rounds
9m
Est. Remaining
66%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants only 29% of cases
29%
Career Allowance Rate
76 granted / 260 resolved
-28.8% vs TC avg
Strong +37% interview lift
Without
With
+37.1%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
5y 0m
Avg Prosecution
25 currently pending
Career history
307
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
11.6%
-28.4% vs TC avg
§103
73.8%
+33.8% vs TC avg
§102
8.6%
-31.4% vs TC avg
§112
4.1%
-35.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 260 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION In response to a communication received on 1 July 2026, the applicants amended claims 1, 8, 15, and 21-23 and cancelled claims 7 and 14. Claims 1, 2, 4-6, 8, 9, 11-13, 15, 16 and 18-23 are pending. 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 with respect to claim(s) 1, 8, and 15 been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument. 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. Claim(s) 1, 8, 15 and 21-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kommula et al. (US 2010/0082787 A1) in view of Doshi et al. (US 2018/0225732 A1), and further in view of Peterson et al. (US 20050187860 A1). With respect to claim 1, Kommula discloses: A method (i.e., a GSLB switch executes a software-embodied optimization method for responding to a client-originated request in Kommula, ¶¶0021, 0023) comprising: wherein the first client device is proximate to the geolocation of the user device; (i.e., candidate servers are ranked by measured client-to-site RTT and server geography, including preference for a server in the client machine's region in Kommula, ¶¶0026-0027). Kommula discloses the central proxy receives a client request, selects a destination, and returns an ordered destination list (¶¶0021, 0027). Kommula do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Doshi, in order to improve adaptability and decouple product-specific implementations so products can be changed as business needs and offerings evolve (¶0029), discloses: wherein the second credit request is translated prior to transmission into a native protocol of the first client device by an application programming interface associated with the first client device, and (i.e., declarative bindings map API abstractions to product-specific APIs, and the integration system performs protocol transformations and dynamically constructs the product-specific API invocation in Doshi, ¶¶0028, 0030); translating, by the waterfall gateway, user-interface data of the first client device into a native representation of the waterfall gateway; and (i.e., the integration system transforms product-specific API outputs and returns the result sets in the portal's canonical representation in Doshi, ¶¶0029-0030); dynamically modifying, by the waterfall gateway, the webpage by embedding a user-interface corresponding to the translated user-interface data into the webpage (i.e., marketplace content is integrated through a new portlet rendered in a new frame and natively available federated content is rendered through the portal in Doshi, ¶¶0031, 0038); wherein the user-interface includes the application programming interface which translates inputs from the user device into the native protocol of the first client device, and (i.e., portal API abstractions are mapped to product-specific APIs and the integration system performs data and protocol transformations before dynamically creating the invocation in Doshi, ¶¶0028, 0030); wherein the user-interface uses the application programming interface to enable the user device to interact directly with the first client device through the webpage to complete the second credit request. (i.e., the web portal enables a consumer to select and order a service, maps the operation to the selected marketplace's product-specific API, and performs the protocol transformation and invocation in Doshi, ¶¶0028, 0030, 0042). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Doshi to improve upon those of Kommula in order to improve adaptability and decouple product-specific implementations so products can be changed as business needs and offerings evolve. Kommula discloses the GSLB switch checks and disqualifies unavailable or over-capacity candidate destinations while handling the client request (¶¶0024-0025). Kommula and Doshi do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Peterson, in order to simplify and streamline loan procurement by matching a consumer to a defined set of qualified lenders (¶0005), discloses: receiving, from a user device via a webpage, a first credit request to allocate resources in exchange for an object (i.e., a consumer terminal accesses a website to submit an online loan application for financing used in a vehicle purchase in Peterson, ¶¶0015, 0018, 0078). denying, by a waterfall gateway, the first credit request; (i.e., the central system rejects applications failing threshold criteria, while the ranked-lender path processes a first lender decline before routing onward in Peterson, ¶¶0032, 0064-0065) executing a machine-learning model based on the first credit request, wherein the machine-learning model generates, for a set of client devices, a predicted likelihood that a client device will approve the first credit request based on a geolocation of the user device and historical data associated with the client device, wherein the machine-learning model ranks the set of client devices according to the predicted likelihood associated each client device (i.e., data-developed score models identify predictive factors, lender criteria include State, and lenders are ranked by application approval rate, funded-loan closure rate, and survey-derived service history in Peterson, ¶¶0043, 0045, 0061); generating, by the waterfall gateway, a request waterfall that includes a sequence of client devices selected based on the rank associated with the set of client devices, wherein the request waterfall is configured to facilitate request transmissions to one or more client devices according to the sequence of client devices; (i.e., selected lenders are ranked, the first or best lender receives the application first, and a decline advances the request to the next-best lender in Peterson, ¶¶0061-0062, 0065); facilitating a transmission, by the waterfall gateway, of a second credit request to a first client device in the request waterfall (i.e., the system sends the first data feed or lender query to the first lender having the best match in Peterson, ¶0062). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi, and further in view of Peterson, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Peterson to improve upon those of Kommula in order to simplify and streamline loan procurement by matching a consumer to a defined set of qualified lenders. With respect to claim 8, the limitation(s) of claim 8 are similar to those of claim(s) 1. Therefore, claim 8 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 1. With respect to claim 15, the limitation(s) of claim 15 are similar to those of claim(s) 1. Therefore, claim 15 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 1. With respect to claim 21, Kommula discloses determining a list of IP addresses and ranking or ordering them based on geographic location and RTT corresponding to a distance from the user location (¶0024-0027). Kommula, Doshi do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Peterson, in order to streamlining the process of procuring loans and matching consumers to lenders in the selection process (¶0005), discloses: the method of claim 1, wherein the allocation object is configured to be transmitted from the first client device to an operator in response to completing the second request (i.e., lender decision communicated in XML to server and consumer in Peterson, ¶0066). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi, and further in view of Peterson, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Peterson to improve upon those of Kommula in order to streamlining the process of procuring loans and matching consumers to lenders in the selection process. With respect to claim 22, the limitation(s) of claim 22 are similar to those of claim(s) 21. Therefore, claim 22 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 21. With respect to claim 23, the limitation(s) of claim 23 are similar to those of claim(s) 21. Therefore, claim 23 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 21. Claim(s) 2, 6, 9, 13, 16 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kommula et al. (US 2010/0082787 A1) in view of Doshi et al. (US 2018/0225732 A1) and Peterson et al. (US 20050187860 A1), and further in view of Kim et al. (US 2013/0091558 A1). With respect to claim 2, Kommula discloses: determining a list of IP addresses and ranking or ordering them based on geographic location and RTT corresponding to a distance from the user location (¶0024-0027). Kommula, Doshi, and Peterson do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Kim, in order to maintain state without additional transmission layer or relying on a cookie (¶0059), discloses: the method of claim 1, wherein an indication that the first credit request was denied is received using a representational state transfer interface (i.e., making a REST API call in Kim, ¶0051). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi and Peterson, and further in view of Kim, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Kim to improve upon those of Kommula in order to maintain state without additional transmission layer or relying on a cookie. With respect to claim 6, Kommula discloses determining a list of IP addresses and ranking or ordering them based on geographic location and RTT corresponding to a distance from the user location (¶0024-0027). Kommula, Doshi, and Peterson do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Kim, in order to maintain state without additional transmission layer or relying on a cookie (¶0059), discloses: the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from a new client device, a request to be added to a set of service providers (i.e., registering of devices, includes device management module adding, deleting, or modifying information regarding cloud devices in Kim, ¶0037-0039) modifying a second application programming interface to translate representational state transfer communications into a protocol that is native to the new client device (i.e., process a REST API call to parse and convert the REST call into a platform API call in Kim, ¶0051). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi, and Peterson, and further in view of Kim, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Kim to improve upon those of Kommula in order to maintain state without additional transmission layer or relying on a cookie. With respect to claim 9, the limitation(s) of claim 9 are similar to those of claim(s) 2. Therefore, claim 9 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 2. With respect to claim 13, the limitation(s) of claim 13 are similar to those of claim(s) 6. Therefore, claim 13 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 6. With respect to claim 16, the limitation(s) of claim 16 are similar to those of claim(s) 2. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 2. With respect to claim 20, the limitation(s) of claim 20 are similar to those of claim(s) 6. Therefore, claim 20 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 6. Claim(s) 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kommula et al. (US 2010/0082787 A1) in view of Doshi et al. (US 2018/0225732 A1), and Peterson et al. (US 20050187860 A1), and further in view of Kisel et al. (US 2010/0250656 A1). With respect to claim 4, Kommula discloses determining a list of IP addresses and ranking or ordering them based on geographic location and RTT corresponding to a distance from the user location (¶0024-0027). Kommula, Doshi, and Peterson do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Kisel, in order to improve robustness of a content delivery system by providing multiple CoD servers to attempt a request (¶0012), discloses: the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, in response to transmitting the first credit request, an indication that the second credit request was denied by the first client device (i.e., repeating the process of requesting a sequence of servers to reserve resources for a request until one provides an acknowledgement in Kisel, ¶0031-0032); and transmitting a third request to a next client device in the sequence of client devices (i.e., after an unsuccessful request to a server, transmit a request to the next server on the list in Kisel, ¶0031-0032). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi, and Peterson, and further in view of Kisel, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Kisel to improve upon those of Kommula in order to improve robustness of a content delivery system by providing multiple CoD servers to attempt a request. With respect to claim 5, Kommula discloses determining a list of IP addresses and ranking or ordering them based on geographic location and RTT corresponding to a distance from the user location (¶0024-0027). Kommula, Doshi, and Peterson do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Kisel, in order to improve robustness of a content delivery system by providing multiple CoD servers to attempt a request (¶0012), discloses: the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, in response to transmitting the first credit request, an indication of an allocation of resources corresponding to the first credit request (i.e., a reservation acknowledgement message that resources were reserved in Kisel, ¶0032); and terminating, in response to receiving the indication of the allocation, the request waterfall (i.e., in response to acknowledgement, send indication of the chosen server for user terminal to send to the chosen without requesting the next server in Kisel, ¶0032-0033). Based on Kommula in view of Doshi, and Peterson, and further in view of Kisel, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Kisel to improve upon those of Kommula in order to improve robustness of a content delivery system by providing multiple CoD servers to attempt a request. With respect to claim 11, the limitation(s) of claim 11 are similar to those of claim(s) 4. Therefore, claim 11 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 4. With respect to claim 12, the limitation(s) of claim 12 are similar to those of claim(s) 5. Therefore, claim 12 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 5. With respect to claim 18, the limitation(s) of claim 18 are similar to those of claim(s) 4. Therefore, claim 18 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 4. With respect to claim 19, the limitation(s) of claim 19 are similar to those of claim(s) 5. Therefore, claim 19 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 5. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERMAN L LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7446. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Eastern). 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, Joon Hwang can be reached on 571-272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. Sherman Lin 9/30/2026 /S. L./Examiner, Art Unit 2447 /JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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Prosecution Timeline

Show 16 earlier events
Jan 16, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Mar 12, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary
Mar 12, 2026
Response Filed
Mar 12, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Apr 09, 2026
Final Rejection mailed — §103
Jul 01, 2026
Request for Continued Examination
Jul 03, 2026
Response after Non-Final Action
Oct 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

7-8
Expected OA Rounds
29%
Grant Probability
66%
With Interview (+37.1%)
5y 0m (~9m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
High
PTA Risk
Based on 260 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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