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 .
This is a Non-Final Office Action in response to application 17/823,250 entitled "SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PROGRAMMABLE PAYMENTS ENABLED BY TRIGGERS BASED ON MUTUAL VALIDATION" filed on August 22, 2025, with claims 1 and 19 pending.
Status of Claims
Claims 1 and 19 have been amended and are hereby entered.
Claim 2-11, 12-16, 17, 18, and 20 are or have been cancelled.
Claims 1 and 19 are pending and have been examined.
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed April 17, 2025, has been entered. Claims 1 and 19 remain pending in the application. Applicant’s amendments to the Specification, Drawings, and/or Claims have been noted in response to the Final Office Action mailed June 23, 2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on January 23, 2023, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
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.
Claims 1, 11, 16, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Padmanabhan (“SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUSES FOR IMPLEMENTING USER ACCESS CONTROLS IN A METADATA DRIVEN BLOCKCHAIN OPERATING VIA DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY (DLT) USING GRANULAR ACCESS OBJECTS AND ALFA/XACML VISIBILITY RULES”, U.S. Publication Number: 20210226774 A1), in view of Noureddine (“TIMER MANAGEMENT FOR NETWORK DEVICES”, U.S. Publication Number: 20200092220 A1),in view of Rubenstein (“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INFORMATION SLINGSHOT OVER A NETWORK TAPESTRY AND GRANULARITY OF A TICK”, U.S. Publication Number: 20190266132 A1),in view of Knechtel (“ASYNCHRONOUS SESSION STORING”, U.S. Publication Number: 20190034285 A1),in view of Baafi (“UNIVERSAL HYBRID PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT”, U.S. Patent Number: 11119735 B1)
Regarding Claim 1,
Padmanabhan teaches,
receiving, at a client electronic device executing a visual programming language, a plurality of visual programming blocks, wherein each visual programming block is associated with an account, and wherein each of the visual programming blocks … in a manner consistent
(Padmanabhan [0277] Because blockchain utilizes a distributed ledger, creation and execution of smart contracts may be technically complex, especially for novice users. Consequently, a smart flow visual designer allow implementation of smart contracts with greater ease. The resulting smart flow contract has mathematically verifiable auto-generated code....freeing customers and users from having to worry about the programming language used in any given blockchain protocol.
Padmanabhan [Abstract] displaying a Graphical User Interface (GUI Interface) to a user device
Padmanabhan [0281] the user simply drags and drops operational blocks and defines various conditions and “if then else” events...there are a variety of user defined smart contract blocks including user defined conditions 421, events to monitor 422, “if” then “else” triggers 423, and asset identifiers 424
Padmanabhan [0508] There is again depicted the GUI 810, however, now depicted is the blockchain administrator viewing and editing entities for the “bank record application” by clicking on that application.
Padmanabhan [0005] Blockchains can be utilized to store many different types of data including financial data.
Padmanabhan [0178] Amex may permit the partner orgs to create their own user accounts
Padmanabhan [0189] now depicted both an integration builder 153 and accessible cloud platforms 177, each of which are interfaced into the blockchain metadata definition manager 196 of the blockchain services interface. The Integration builder 153 provides a variety of functionality which collectively permits for entity and metadata definition into a shared ledger)
with an on-chain action involving an on-chain account
(Padmanabhan [0244] selected consensus protocol, relevant (domain) knowledge a particular node has, whether that knowledge is inside (on-chain) ...with regard to the blockchain or consortium
Padmanabhan [0149] stored localized data includes a new user account)
deploying, by the client electronic device, a computer program comprising the plurality of visual programming blocks to a computing system …wherein the computing system executes the computer program;
(Padmanabhan [0567] any GUI, API, or UI needed for the declared application will be dynamically constructed by the deployable install package 925 based on the associated metadata for the declared application.
Padmanabhan [0277] a smart flow visual designer allow implementation of smart contracts with greater ease. The resulting smart flow contract has mathematically verifiable auto-generated code....freeing customers and users from having to worry about the programming language used in any given blockchain protocol.
Padmanabhan [0281] the user simply drags and drops operational blocks and defines various conditions and “if then else” events...there are a variety of user defined smart contract blocks including user defined conditions 421, events to monitor 422, “if” then “else” triggers 423, and asset identifiers 424
Padmanabhan [Abstract] a processor and a memory therein executing within a host organization)
and updating the one or more software agent's decision rules;
(Padmanabhan [0210] defines the default set of rules and configuration parameters that allows for the creation of forks and the modification of rules and configuration parameters in those forks
Padmanabhan [0795] such as “pending change” for a rule ...or some other new criteria to be added
Padmanabhan [0678] such policies, rules, permissions, etc., may be updated at anytime)
listening, by the second off- chain listener agent of the one or more software agents, for a first event and identifying a possible trigger condition in the first event
(Padmanabhan [0244] whether that knowledge is inside ...outside (off-chain) with regard to the blockchain or consortium
Padmanabhan [0313] listening events may be written ...such listening events are to be executed
Padmanabhan [0347] changes to the metadata are recognized by the host organization's event listener which looks for changes at the blockchain
Padmanabhan [0451] monitored event conditions)
receiving, by the computer program, the first event by Application Programming Interface (API) interface with an external system, wherein the API receives the event from distributed ledger network;
(Padmanabhan [0080] an Application Programming Interface (API) through which queries may be executed against the databases 155A and 155B or the other data stores
Padmanabhan [0082] Application Programming Interface (API) of the query interface 180 provides an API model through which... may interact with the blockchain services interface
Padmanabhan [0095] Decentralized consensus has therefore been achieved with a blockchain. This makes blockchains potentially suitable for the recording of events)
a first off- chain sensor agent of the one or more software agents to determine if the possible trigger condition meets a trigger condition,
(Padmanabhan [0244] whether that knowledge is inside ...outside (off-chain) with regard to the blockchain or consortium
Padmanabhan [0450] executing an event listener to monitor any changes to the blockchain associated with the new application; and triggering an event when the changes to the blockchain associated with the new application are observed by the event listener.)
commanding a first on-chain action picker of the one or more software agents to select a first action of the plurality of actions for the trigger condition, wherein the first on-chain action picker is the next software agent, and commanding a first off-chain actuator agent of the one or more software agents to execute the first action of the plurality of actions in response to the first event if the trigger condition is met;
(Padmanabhan [0243] according to the selected consensus protocol to add the block or transaction therein to the blockchain and communicate such
Padmanabhan [0244] the selected consensus protocol,...whether that knowledge is inside (on-chain) or outside (off-chain) with regard to the blockchain or consortium,... in participating in the selected consensus protocol
Padmanabhan [0309] there are Apex defined conditions 471, Apex events to monitor 422, “if” then “else” Apex triggers)
determining, by the first off-chain sensor agent,
(Padmanabhan [0244] whether that knowledge is inside ...outside (off-chain) with regard to the blockchain or consortium
Padmanabhan [0450] executing an event listener)
a second off-chain listener agent of the one or more software agents
(Padmanabhan [0244] whether that knowledge is inside ...outside (off-chain) with regard to the blockchain or consortium
Padmanabhan [0450] executing an event listener
Padmanabhan [0313] identified Apex listeners)
that listens to a message bus for a second event and identifies the trigger condition for the second event
(Padmanabhan [0313] listening events...listening events in separate systems.
Padmanabhan [0725] communicate with each other via a bus)
commanding a second on-chain action picker of the one or more software agents to select a second action of the plurality of actions for the trigger condition, and commanding a second off-chain actuator agent
(Padmanabhan [0244] whether that knowledge is inside (on-chain)
Padmanabhan [0457] in which the inputs are received at the GUI via one or more interactive click events, drag events, drop down selection events, text input events, and touch events
Padmanabhan [0574] there is an event listener 960 within the blockchain services interface 190 which accepts defined triggers 961 from the blockchain administrator and then operates to listen for specified events which occur on the blockchain, responsive to which, an event is triggered or fired, shown here as the event triggered 962 so as to push transactions to the host organization or to initiate the execution of a flow or data processing flow, or any defined operations
Padmanabhan [0329] any transaction written onto the blockchain results in a leaf node persisting data as an off-chain stored database representation which may later be correlated
Padmanabhan [0606] Deleting the PI information at the off-chain storage location)
of the one or more software agents to execute that picks a second action of the one or more plurality of actions in the computer program to execute in response to the trigger condition
(Padmanabhan [0795] GUI provides the metadata rules user 1950 with a condition builder interface, via which the user may select through the GUI
Padmanabhan [0804] any transaction having a particular transaction type and which meets certain defined criteria and conditions in accordance with the defined rule as set forth by the rule creation GUI.
Padmanabhan [0133] further functionality of executable smart contracts via triggers)
simulating, by a simulator in a sandbox, execution of the first action before it happens after the first on-chain agent action picker selects the first action of the plurality of actions.
(Padmanabhan [0796] The GUI additionally permits the user to load existing filters or rules already declared ..the “Run” capability, ... permits the metadata rules user 1950 to simulate execution of the newly defined rule without actually transacting anything onto the blockchain and without pushing the newly created rule to the blockchain for consensus and acceptance.
Padmanabhan [0830] permitting the user to see on the fly within a simulated or sandbox environment
Padmanabhan [0856] The metadata rules are considered to be metadata driven and declarative on the fly because the rules may be created utilizing a condition builder and simulated to test how the transaction or rule execution will look in a sandbox environment.)
Padmanabhan does not teach has a puzzle piece shape so that the visual programming blocks graphically interface with certain other programming blocks; and preventing two account programming blocks from being placed next to each other without an operation between the two account programming blocks; in a production environment; determining, by a scheduler of the computer program, that the one or more software agents complete an action of a plurality of actions within a computational budget within a tick before the one or more software agents surrenders control over an execution thread comprising the plurality of actions to a next software agent of the one or more software agents so that each of the agents will execute, an order the one or more software agents executes the plurality of actions, and an order the one or more software agents are awoken, wherein the plurality of actions comprises modifying the one or more software agents own properties, modifying another of the one or more software agents properties, modifying an environment to delete the one or more software agents; waking up, by the scheduler; that the first action is an off-chain sensor agent's last action, and upon the determination deletes itself from the computer program; waking up, by the scheduler, a second … listener agent of the one or more software agents
Noureddine teaches,
determining, by a scheduler of the computer program, that the one or more software agents complete an action of a plurality of actions
(Noureddine [0059] The accelerator 189 to which the work unit is delivered processes the work unit and determines that the work unit completion is to be delivered to one of cores
Noureddine [0052] provides run-to-completion processing, which may eliminate interrupts, thread scheduling, cache thrashing, and associated costs.
Noureddine [0106] Upon completion of processing all of the timers currently saved to blockchain-on-chip 308, timer manager 145 may then populate the next cell of the on-chip memory, namely, subsequent blockchain-on-chip
Noureddine [0110] timer manager may signal the traversal completion by pushing a new work unit
Noureddine [0120] Various components, modules, or units are described in this disclosure to emphasize functional aspects of devices configured to perform the disclosed techniques)
an order the one or more software agents executes the plurality of actions, and an order the one or more software agents are awoken; waking up, by the scheduler; waking up, by the scheduler, a first
(Noureddine [0007] sequence the selected subset of wheels according to a descending order of the respective TO values of the selected subset of wheels to form a traversal path with respect to the timer.
Noureddine [0008] includes sequencing, by the timer manager of the device, the selected subset of wheels according to a descending order of the respective TO values
Noureddine [Abstract] to select, from the stored wheels, a subset of wheels...and to sequence the selected subset of wheels... to form a traversal path)
wherein the plurality of actions comprises modifying the one or more software agents own properties, modifying another of the one or more software agents properties,
(Noureddine [0095] for a given timer and enqueuing the timer in an appropriate timer wheel, timer manager 145 may dynamically alters the remainder of the original traversal path by modifying the corresponding bit mask for the timer to account for additional delays)
modifying an environment to delete the one or more software agents
(Noureddine [0066] enables cores 182 to determine, among others, the viability of deleting (freeing) the “flow state” with which the cancelled timer was associated.
Noureddine [0073] wheel manager 194 removes the timer
Noureddine [0120] Various components, modules, or units are described in this disclosure to emphasize functional aspects of devices configured to perform the disclosed techniques)
It is prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the smart contract visual programming of Padmanabhan to incorporate the blockchain timers of Noureddine where “Timer management techniques are described.” (Noureddine [Abstract]). The modification would have been obvious, because it is merely applying a known technique (i.e. blockchain timers ) to a known concept (i.e. smart contract visual programming) ready for improvement to yield predictable result (i.e. “To process current timer 306, timer manager may push current timer 304 to on-chip memory, such as the portion of on-chip memory represented by blockchain-on-chip.” Noureddine [0106])
Noureddine does not teach within a computational budget within a tick before the one or more software agents surrenders control over an execution thread comprising the plurality of actions to a next software agent of the one or more software agents so that each of the agents will execute; the first action is… agent's last action, and upon the determination deletes itself from the computer program; production environment; has a puzzle piece shape so that the visual programming blocks graphically interface with certain other programming blocks; and preventing two account programming blocks from being placed next to each other without an operation between the two account programming blocks;
Rubenstein teaches,
within a computational budget within a tick before the one or more software agents surrenders control over an execution thread comprising the plurality of actions to a next software agent of the one or more software agents so that each of the agents will execute
(Rubenstein [0031] describes the life cycle of a tick. The time granularity of a tick can be defined
Rubenstein [0344] The duration of time for each cycle therefore changes based on how many items are to be processed.
Rubenstein [0347] By limiting the quantity of items to process by a tick's P ...will never force the Δt to go over its allotted time budget.
Rubenstein [0075] This may have a sleep function at end to pause between its next runtime or can be set with a sleep of zero seconds implying a new call to itself to begin immediately at the end.
Rubenstein [0076] is populated by a certain number of files, this may trigger the launch of another script for processing of the files..)
the first action is… agent's last action, and upon the determination deletes itself from the computer program;
(Rubenstein [0094] ensures that next cycle pulls a fresh batch and that all items in the last processed batch have been processed ... for files in a queue—a list can be processed at the P stage and then the files can be marked, moved, deleted or otherwise touched so that they do not get pulled in the next batch.
Rubenstein [0120] configured to: if the file is determined to be complete, at least one of set a flag on the file, move the file to a folder or delete the file from the local store.
Rubenstein [0288] Marking as read may involve setting a flag on the file record on the storage device, or moving the file into a different folder, or deleting it from the storage device after it was moved)
It is prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the smart contract visual programming of Padmanabhan to incorporate the blockchain timer tick management of Rubenstein for “the granularity of a tick of time governing the operations of higher level functionality.” (Rubenstein [0005]). The modification would have been obvious, because it is merely applying a known technique (i.e. blockchain timer tick management) to a known concept (i.e. smart contract visual programming) ready for improvement to yield predictable result (i.e. “to utilize very fine grained granularity for ticks of time to govern either fixed or variable data processing cycles. … to algorithmically calculate the limit of the maximum number of items which can be processed taking into account post-processed during a cycle of time.” Rubenstein [0070])
Rubenstein does not teach production environment; has a puzzle piece shape so that the visual programming blocks graphically interface with certain other programming blocks; and preventing two account programming blocks from being placed next to each other without an operation between the two account programming blocks;
Knechtel teaches,
in a production environment
(Knechtel [0007] production rule system in a cloud environment)
It is prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the smart contract visual programming of Padmanabhan to incorporate the asynchronous session features of Knechtel “for asynchronous session storing.” (Knechtel [Abstract]). The modification would have been obvious, because it is merely applying a known technique (i.e. asynchronous sessions) to a known concept (i.e. smart contract visual programming) ready for improvement to yield predictable result (i.e. “minimizing or otherwise reducing the impact on the execution of the application itself and network transfer. Second, it can record actions and be processed after crashes or hardware failures to ensure Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability (ACID) properties and restore the rule engine to a previously recorded state.” Knechtel [0005])
Knechtel does not teach has a puzzle piece shape so that the visual programming blocks graphically interface with certain other programming blocks; and preventing two account programming blocks from being placed next to each other without an operation between the two account programming blocks;
Baafi teaches,
has a puzzle piece shape so that the visual programming blocks graphically interface with certain other programming blocks
(Baafi [Col 1, Lines 57-60] LogoBlocks can be considered the first of what would become known as “block” programming languages, which draw block (puzzle) shapes around.)
and preventing two account programming blocks from being placed next to each other without an operation between the two account programming blocks;
(Baafi [Col 2, Lines 47-53] to drag and drop text-code snippets in a manner that guides users during dragging, to create valid code (either syntactically valid, semantically valid or both) and prevents users from insertion of errant code (either syntactically errant, semantically errant, or both) during dropping
Baafi [Col 3, Line 63 to Col 4, Line 5] The method restricts, by the code editor workspace and the graphical user interface, the textual representation of the selected source code snippet from being inserted where the selected source code snippet is incompatible with one or more of the group consisting of syntax... already present, and allowing the selected source code snippet only to be dropped where metadata indicates the selected source code snippet will fit into the source code already present)
It is prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified the smart contract visual programming of Padmanabhan to incorporate the block interaction control of Baafi where “drag and drop text-code snippets in a manner that guides users during dragging.” (Baafi [Col 2, Lines 47-53]). The modification would have been obvious, because it is merely applying a known technique (i.e. block interaction control) to a known concept (i.e. smart contract visual programming) ready for improvement to yield predictable result (i.e. “prevents users from insertion of errant code.” Baafi [Col 2, Lines 47-53])
Regarding Claim 19,
Padmanabhan, Noureddine, Rubenstein, Knechtel, and Baafi teach the smart contract visual programming of Claim 1 as described earlier.
Padmanabhan teaches,
wherein the order the one or more software agents are awoken is randomized.
(Padmanabhan [0847] a randomized process is used to determine which of the many participating nodes is allowed to produce the next block on the blockchain
Padmanabhan [0853] Proof Of Elapsed Time (POET) provides a consensus mechanism that aims to randomly and fairly determine which participating nodes get produce a block )
Response to Remarks
Applicant's arguments filed on August 22, 2025, have been fully considered and Examiner’s remarks to Applicant’s amendments follow.
Response Remarks on Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
The amendments are directed to executing software and its deployment within a production environment.
The rejection under 35 USC § 101 is lifted.
Response Remarks on Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Applicant's amendments required the application of new/additional prior art.
New prior art includes:
Baafi (“UNIVERSAL HYBRID PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT”, U.S. Patent Number: 11119735 B1)
Excised prior art includes:
Sheive (“DEVELOPING, MODIFYING, AND USING APPLICATIONS”, U.S. Publication Number: 20140047413 A1).
The Applicant states:
“None of the cited references discloses a scheduler that (i) dynamically adjusts the individual computational budget for each agent and… pseudo- randomizes the activation order."
Examiner responds:
The prior art teaches,
dynamically adjusts the individual computational budget for each agent:
Noureddine [0068] Wheels 192 represent a series of internal, hardware-based queues that collectively form traversal a traversal path for individual timers,...Each timer is placed an individual wheel 192 for a certain period of time configured on a per-wheel basis, before graduating from (e.g., being removed from the frontmost slot) of the respective wheel 192, and then being placed at the end ... In this way, each concurrent timer may be defined in terms of one or more cascading time intervals, referred to as wheels... may also be referred to herein as a “waterfall architecture.”
pseudo- randomizes the activation order:
Padmanabhan [0847] a randomized process is used to determine which of the many participating nodes is allowed to produce the next block on the blockchain
Padmanabhan [0853] Proof Of Elapsed Time (POET) provides a consensus mechanism that aims to randomly and fairly determine which participating nodes get produce a block
The Applicant states:
“Padmanabhan and Noureddine merely schedule tasks deterministically, Rubenstein speaks of ticks but not of fairness or randomization."
Examiner responds:
Padmanabhan and Noureddine randomize task scheduling:
Padmanabhan [0847] a randomized process is used to determine which of the many participating nodes is allowed to produce the next block on the blockchain
Padmanabhan [0853] Proof Of Elapsed Time (POET) provides a consensus mechanism that aims to randomly and fairly determine which participating nodes get produce a block
Noureddine [0042] stream processing may be divided into work units executed at a number of intermediate processors between source and destination. Depending on the amount of work to be performed at each stage, the number and type of intermediate processors that are involved may vary
Furthermore, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., Inc., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Where a rejection of a claim is based on two or more references, a reply that is limited to what a subset of the applied references teaches or fails to teach, or that fails to address the combined teaching of the applied references may be considered to be an argument that attacks the reference(s) individually. Where an applicant’s reply establishes that each of the applied references fails to teach a limitation and addresses the combined teachings and/or suggestions of the applied prior art, the reply as a whole does not attack the references individually as the phrase is used in Keller and reliance on Keller would not be appropriate. This is because “[T]he test for obviousness is what the combined teachings of the references would have suggested to [a PHOSITA].” In re Mouttet, 686 F.3d 1322, 1333, 103 USPQ2d 1219, 1226 (Fed. Cir. 2012).
The remainder of Applicant’s remarks regarding the rejection made under 35 USC § 102 are rendered moot by the introduction of additional prior art and the removal of certain references.
Therefore, the rejection under 35 USC § 103 remains.
Prior Art Cited But Not Applied
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Vengalil, Rajasekharan ("Self Deleting Executables", CodeProject, Jan 2010) that says "I read an interesting article the other day that spoke about the various mechanisms a Win32 application can employ for deleting itself from the disk once execution completes...the author of the said article suggests the following approach as being the definitive one as it has the added benefit of functioning correctly on all versions of Microsoft Windows"
Wikipedia (Job scheduler, 2021) says "A job scheduler is a computer application for controlling unattended background program execution of jobs"
Wikipedia (cron, 2021) says "The software utility cron also known as cron job is a time-based job scheduler"
Wikipedia (Software agent, 2021) states, "In computer science, a software agent is a computer program that acts for a user or other program in a relationship of agency...are not strictly invoked for a task, but activate themselves, may reside in wait status on a host, perceiving context, may get to run status on a host upon starting conditions, do not require interaction of user, may invoke other tasks including communication"
Padmanabhan (“SYSTEMS, METHODS, AND APPARATUSES FOR STORING PII INFORMATION VIA A METADATA DRIVEN BLOCKCHAIN USING DISTRIBUTED AND DECENTRALIZED STORAGE FOR SENSITIVE USER INFORMATION”, U.S. Publication Number: 20210182423 A1) proposes storing information via a metadata driven blockchain using distributed and decentralized storage for sensitive user information, operable within a cloud based computing environment. For example, there is a system configured with a memory to store instructions; a set of one or more processors; a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that provides instructions that, when executed by the set of one or more processors, the instructions stored in the memory are configurable to cause the system to perform operations including: operating a blockchain interface to a blockchain on behalf of a plurality of tenants of the host organization; operating a database interface to a distributed database, separate from the blockchain, on behalf of the plurality of tenants of the host organization; displaying a Graphical User Interface (GUI Interface) to a user device communicably interfaced with the system over a network, in which the GUI interface is to prompt for a metadata entity definition at the user device when displayed by the user device, in which the metadata entity definition defines access control permissions for a blockchain entity including specifying at least (i) a data classification attribute indicating sensitive user information and (ii) a consent required attribute indicating consent is required to access the sensitive user information and (iii) a consent requirements attribute indicating a party from whom the consent must be acquired; transacting the metadata entity definition onto the blockchain; creating a new entity object defined by the metadata entity definition within the distributed database system to store the sensitive user information and writing the sensitive user information to the distributed database to be persistently stored. Other related embodiments are disclosed.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHINEDU EKECHUKWU whose telephone number is (571)272-4493. The examiner can normally be reached on Mon-Fri 9 AM ET to 3:30 PM ET.
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/CHINEDU U. EKECHUKWU/Examiner, Art Unit 3695
/CHRISTINE M Tran/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3695