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 . Claims 1-7 and 9-21 have been reviewed and are under consideration by this office action.
Notice to Applicant
The following is a Final Office action. Applicant, on 06/27/2025, amended claims and previously cancelled claim 8. Claims 1-7 and 9-21 have been reviewed and are under consideration by this office action.
Response to Amendment
Applicant’s amendments are received and acknowledged.
The claims overcame the currently known prior art and the 102/103 Rejections were withdrawn in the Non-Final office action dated 10/10/2024.
Response to Arguments - 35 USC § 101
Applicant’s arguments with respect to the 35 USC 101 rejections have been fully considered, but they are not persuasive.
Applicant contends that amended claims recite the limitation “that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot in time…” which provides a practical application. Applicant further points to the specification as evidence of the improvement.
Examiner respectfully disagrees. The added limitation merely describes the snapshot and does not further recite any new additional elements. This limitation is directed towards the abstract idea. The inclusion of “thereby reducing storage…” is merely a benefit of not storing an additional value by providing a current view of the calculation and does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The limitation merely improves upon the abstract idea itself and not the technology/technological field.
The 101Rejection is updated and maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-7 and 9-21 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.
Step One - First, pursuant to step 1 in the January 2019 Guidance on 84 Fed. Reg. 53, the claim(s) 1-7 and 9-21 is/are directed to statutory categories.
Step 2A, Prong One – The claims are found to recite limitations that set forth the abstract idea(s), namely in independent claims 1, 13 , and 21 recite a series of steps for generating and storing subscription metrics:
Regarding Claims 1: (additional elements bolded)
A method comprising:
providing a storage controller coupled to a storage device and configured to store subscription data of a tenant of multiple tenants of a multi-tenant computing system in the storage device, the storage controller configured to store the subscription data as immutable charge segment change log records associated with subscription changes to subscriptions of accounts of the tenant of the multiple tenants, the storage controller configured to format each charge segment change log record being formatted according to a record schema that appends therein a respective start date of a respective subscription change to a respective subscription, a respective end date or an evergreen indicator of the respective subscription change to the respective subscription, the charge segment change log record capable of including the evergreen indicator, a respective subscription change type of the respective subscription change to the respective subscription, and a respective delta value indicating a respective increase or decrease in a respective subscription charge based on the respective subscription change to the respective subscription, the storage controller further configured to format each charge segment change log record according to the record schema not to include a subscription snapshot of the respective subscription that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot time and based on the respective delta value of the charge segment change log record, thereby reducing storage required for storing a respective subscription snapshot for each respective charge segment change log record;
receiving a subscription change order for a particular account of the tenant, the subscription change order including one of an add new product order, an update product order, a change product time period order, a product suspension order and a product resumption order;
generating a specific delta value associated with the subscription change order for a particular account of the tenant;
generating, by the storage controller, at least one specific immutable charge segment change log record for the particular account according to the record schema, each of the at least one specific immutable charge segment change log record including a specific start date, a specific end date or the evergreen indicator, a specific subscription type and the specific delta value;
adding, by the storage controller, the at least one specific immutable charge segment change log record to the subscription data of the tenant without deleting or revising any other immutable charge segment change log records regardless of the subscription change order, while not creating and storing a subscription snapshot of the subscription based on the subscription change order;
receiving, by a metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, a request from an endpoint, the request involving one or more particular subscription charges of one or more particular subscriptions of one or more particular accounts of the tenant of the multiple tenants of the multi-tenant computing system;
determining, by the metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, one or more query parameters from the request;
retrieving, by the metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, in response to the one or more query parameters one or more particular charge segment change log records associated with the one or more particular subscription charges of the one or more particular subscriptions of the one or more particular accounts of the tenant, each particular charge segment change log record being formatted according to the record schema and including a particular respective start date of a particular respective subscription change, a particular respective end date or the evergreen indicator of the particular respective subscription change, a particular respective subscription change type of the particular respective subscription change, and a particular respective delta value indicating a particular respective increase or decrease in the particular respective subscription charge of the particular respective change;
generating, in response to the request, a subscription snapshot of the respective subscription that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot time and based on the respective delta value of the retrieved charge segment change log records, including calculating, by the metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, one or more subscription metrics using the one or more particular charge segment change log records; and
returning, by the metrics service the multi-tenant computing system, a response to the endpoint that includes the subscription snapshot and the one or more calculated subscription metrics
Regarding Claims 13:
A system comprising: a storage device; at least one processor; and memory storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions including a storage controller coupled to the storage device and when executed by the at least one processor configured to a database store subscription data of a tenant of multiple tenants of a multi-tenant computing system in the storage device, the storage controller configured to store the subscription data as immutable charge segment change log records associated with subscription changes to subscriptions of accounts of the tenant of the multiple tenants, the storage controller configured to format each charge segment change log record being formatted according to a record schema that appends therein a respective start date of a respective subscription change to a respective subscription, a respective end date or an evergreen indicator of the respective subscription change to the respective subscription, the charge segment change log record capable of including the evergreen indicator, a respective subscription change type of the respective subscription change to the respective subscription, and a respective delta value indicating a respective increase or decrease in a respective subscription charge based on the respective subscription change to the respective subscription, the storage controller configured to format each charge segment change log record being formatted according to the record schema not to include a subscription snapshot of the respective subscription that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot time and based on the respective delta value of the charge segment change log record, thereby reducing storage required for storing a respective subscription snapshot for each respective charge segment change log record; and
the computer-executable instructions when executed by the at least one processor further configured to access the memory and the database and execute the computer-executable instructions to:
receive a subscription change order for a particular account of the tenant, the subscription change order including one of an add new product order, an update product order, a change product time period order, a product suspension order and a product resumption order;
generate a specific delta value associated with the subscription change order for a particular account of the tenant;
generate, by the storage controller, at least one specific immutable charge segment change log record for the particular account according to the record schema, each of the at least one specific immutable charge segment change log record including a specific start date, a specific end date or an evergreen indicator, a specific subscription type and the specific delta value;
add, by the storage controller, the at least one specific immutable charge segment change log record to the subscription data of the tenant without deleting or revising any other immutable charge segment change log records regardless of the subscription change order, and not create and store a subscription snapshot of the subscription based on the subscription change order;
receive, by a metrics service of a multi-tenant computing system, a request from an endpoint, the request involving one or more particular subscription charges of one or more particular subscriptions of one or more particular accounts of the tenant of the multiple tenants of the multi-tenant computing system;
determine, by the metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, one or more query parameters from the request;
retrieve, by the metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, in response to the one or more query parameters one or more particular charge segment change log records associated with the one or more particular subscription charges of the one or more particular subscriptions of the one or more particular accounts of the tenant, each particular charge segment change log record being formatted according to the record schema and including a particular respective start date of a particular respective subscription change, a particular respective end date or the evergreen indicator of the particular respective subscription change, a particular respective subscription change type of the particular respective subscription change, and a particular respective delta value indicating a particular respective increase or decrease in the particular respective subscription charge based on the particular respective change;
generate, in response to the request, a subscription snapshot of the respective subscription that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot time and based on the respective delta value of the retrieved charge segment change log records, including calculate, by the metrics service of the multi-tenant computing system, one or more subscription metrics using the one or more particular charge segment change log records; and
return, by the metrics service the multi-tenant computing system, a response to the endpoint that includes the subscription snapshot and the one or more calculated subscription metrics..
Regarding Claims 21:
A method of generating immutable charge segment change log records for a tenant of multiple tenants of in a multi-tenant system, the method comprising:
receiving a subscription change order indicating a subscription change to a recurring subscription charge for a subscription of an account of a tenant of multiple tenants of a multi- tenant system, the subscription change order including one of an add new product order, an update product order, a change product time period order, a product suspension order and a product resumption order, the subscription change order indicating a start date of the subscription change, an end date or an evergreen indicator of the subscription change and a subscription change type of the subscription change, the charge segment change log record capable of including the evergreen indicator;
generating a specific delta value corresponding to an amount of change to the recurring subscription charge based on the subscription change for the subscription of the account of the tenant;
using a storage controller to generate an immutable charge segment change log record in a storage device to represent the subscription change to the recurring subscription charge, the storage controller generating the immutable charge segment change log record by including appending according to a record schema the start date of the subscription change, the end date or the evergreen indicator of the subscription change, the subscription change type of the subscription change, and the delta value corresponding to an amount of change to the recurring subscription charge based on the subscription change, the storage controller generating the immutable charge segment change log record without appending including not appending a subscription snapshot of the respective subscription that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot time and based on the respective delta value of the charge segment change log record, thereby reducing storage required for storing a respective subscription snapshot for each respective charge segment change log record; and
using the storage controller to add the immutable charge segment change log record to an existing set of one or more stored immutable change log records associated with the subscription, the storage controller adding the immutable charge segment change log record occurring without deleting or revising any stored immutable charge segment change log records of the set regardless of the subscription change order, while not creating and storing a subscription snapshot of the subscription based on the subscription change order;
generating by a metrics service, in response to a request from an endpoint, a subscription snapshot of the subscription that describes a subscription of the tenant at a snapshot time and based on the respective delta value of the retrieved charge segment change log record.
The identified limitations falling well-within the groupings of subject matter identified by the courts as being abstract concepts, specifically the claims are found to correspond to the category of: “Certain methods of organizing human activity — fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk); commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts; legal obligations; advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors; business relations); managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions)” as the claims clearly recite at least ad determining subscription metrics and requesting reports and behaviors, and/or “ Mental processes — concepts performed in the human mind (including an observation, evaluation, judgement, opinion)” as the limitations identified above include mere data observations, evaluations, judgements and/or opinions, for example identifying subscription data and calculating subscription metrics (claim 1).
Step 2A, Prong Two - This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The independent claims utilize at least the additional elements bolded above. Further the receiving a request element is performing the steps would be no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. See MPEP 2106.05(f) and/or generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h) and amounts to pre-solution data gathering. (Performing clinical tests on individuals to obtain input for an equation, In re Grams, 888 F.2d 835, 839-40; 12 USPQ2d 1824, 1827-28 (Fed. Cir. 1989); (See MPEP 2106.05(g)).
Step 2B - The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements are just “apply it” on a computer. (See MPEP 2106.05(f) – Mere Instructions to Apply an Exception – “Thus, for example, claims that amount to nothing more than an instruction to apply the abstract idea using a generic computer do not render an abstract idea eligible.” Alice Corp., 134 S. Ct. at 235). The receiving a request element is performing the steps would be no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component (See MPEP 2106.05(f)) and is an activity that has been recognized by the courts as well-understood, routine, and conventional activity (See MPEP 2106.05(d) i. Receiving or transmitting data over a network, e.g., using the Internet to gather data, Symantec, 838 F.3d at 1321, 120 USPQ2d at 1362)
Regarding Claim(s) 2-7, 9-12, and 14-20, the claim further narrows the abstract idea or recite additional elements previously rejected in the independent claims.
Accordingly, the claim fails to recite any improvements to another technology or technical field, improvements to the functioning of the computer itself, use of a particular machine, effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing, adding unconventional steps that confine the claim to a particular useful application, and/or meaningful limitations beyond generally linking the use of an abstract idea to a particular environment. See 84 Fed. Reg. 55. Viewed individually or as a whole, these additional claim element(s) do not provide meaningful limitation(s) to transform the abstract idea into a patent eligible application of the abstract idea such that the claim(s) amounts to significantly more than the abstract idea itself.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/JEREMY L GUNN/Examiner, Art Unit 3624