Response to Amendment
The amendment filed August 25, 2025 has been entered. Claims 1-5 and 7-18 remain pending in the application.
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 1-5 and 7-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claim 1 recites a method of organizing human activity because the claim recites a method that includes storing a monetary value of a first user in one or more user-defined sub-accounts, wherein the monetary value is in a non-cash rewards format and comprises rewards from a plurality of merchants, and the rewards comprise a plurality of reward types; receiving and publishing a goal for, and a balance of, the one or more sub-accounts; generating for at least first and second merchants, of the plurality of
merchants, one or more advertisements for products or services pertaining to the first user's goal, wherein the one or more advertisements are targeted to the first user and based on the first user's goal and the balance of the one or more sub-accounts; transmitting the one or more advertisements to the first user; enabling the first and second merchants to view each other's advertisements, the first user's goal, and the balance of the one or more sub-accounts to competitively adjust pricing of the first and second merchants' respective products or services and transmit the adjusted pricing to the first user; and enabling the first user to redeem the monetary value towards the purchase of products or services advertised by the first or second merchants by transmitting the monetary value, wherein the first monetary value is earned by the first user based on prior purchase activity. This is a method of managing commercial interactions between people (e.g., the user, the first merchant, and/or the second merchant). The mere nominal recitation of a first computing device, a second computing device, a processor, a memory, and one or more communications interfaces does not take the claim out of the method of organizing human activity grouping. Thus, the claim recites an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim as a whole merely describes how to generally “apply” the concepts of storing, receiving, generating, transmitting, enabling, and enabling in a computer environment. The first computing device, second computing device, processor, memory, and one or more communications interfaces are merely invoked as tools to perform the claimed method, whether viewed individually or in combination. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea. Accordingly, alone and in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed with respect to Step 2A, the claim as a whole merely describe how to generally “apply” the concepts of storing, receiving, generating, transmitting, enabling, and enabling in a computer environment. Thus, even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. The claim is ineligible.
Dependent claims 2-5 and 7-12 are directed to substantially the same abstract idea as claim 1 and are rejected for substantially the same reasons. Claim 2 further narrows the abstract idea of claim 1 by e.g., further defining that the goal is a product or service purchase goal. Claim 3 further narrows the abstract idea of claim 1 by e.g., further defining enabling the first user to redeem the non-cash rewards for cash value. Claim 4 further narrows the abstract idea of claim 1 by e.g., further defining monitoring of the pricing of the products or services. Claims 5, 7-8, and 12 further narrow the abstract idea of claim 1 by e.g., further defining that the first user and a second user can share information and transfer monetary value. Claim 10 further narrow the abstract idea of claim 1 by e.g., further defining enabling each of the at least first and second merchants to view the advertisements for products or services generated for other of the at least first and second merchants. Claim 11 further narrow the abstract idea of claim 1 by e.g., further defining enabling additional users to view, comment on, or communicate with the first user. These limitations are all directed to a method of managing commercial interactions between people (e.g., the users, the first merchant, and/or the second merchant). Thus, claims 2-5 and 7-12 are directed to substantially the same abstract idea as claim 1 and do not add any additional elements to evaluate at Steps 2A prong two or 2B. Therefore, claims 2-5 and 7-12 describe neither a practical application of nor significantly more than the abstract idea.
Independent claims 13 and 16 each recite a method of organizing human activity because the claims recite a method that includes accumulate and store, for a first user, a first-monetary value in one or more user-defined sub-accounts, wherein: the monetary value is in a non-cash rewards format and comprises rewards from a plurality of merchants, and the rewards comprise a plurality of reward types; receive and publish a goal for, and a balance of the one or more sub-accounts; enable at least first and second merchants, of the plurality of merchants, to: view the goal and the balance of the one or more sub-accounts; generate one or more advertisements for products or services pertaining to the first user's goal, wherein the one or more advertisements are targeted to the first user and based on the first user's goal and the balance of the one or more sub-accounts; transmit the one or more advertisements to the first user; view each other's advertisements; and competitively adjust pricing of their respective products or services based on the first user's goal, the balance of the one or more sub-accounts, and each other's advertisements; and enable the first user to redeem the monetary value towards the purchase of products or services advertised by the first or second merchant by transmitting the first-monetary value; wherein the first monetary value is earned by the first user based on prior purchase activity. This is a method of managing commercial interactions between people (e.g., the user, the first merchant, and/or the second merchant). The mere nominal recitation of a computing device comprising one or more communication interfaces; a processor; a memory; a first computing device; a second computing device controlled by the first or second merchant; and one or more edge nodes in electronic communication with one or more computing devices does not take the claims out of the method of organizing human activity grouping. Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claims as a whole merely describe how to generally “apply” the concepts of accumulating and storing, receiving and publishing, enabling, and enabling in a computer environment. The claimed computing devices, communication interfaces, processor, memory, and edge nodes are merely invoked as tools to perform the claimed method. Simply implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea. Accordingly, alone and in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The claims are directed to an abstract idea.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed with respect to Step 2A, the claim as a whole merely describe how to generally “apply” the concepts of accumulating and storing, receiving and publishing, enabling, and enabling in a computer environment. Thus, even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claims add significantly more (i.e., an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. The claims are ineligible.
Dependent claims 14-15 and 17-18 are directed to substantially the same abstract idea as claims 1 and 15, and are rejected for substantially the same reasons. Claims 14 and 17 further narrow the abstract idea of claims 13 and 16 by e.g., further defining that the advertisements for products or services are targeted to the first user. Claims 15 and 18 further narrow the abstract idea of claims 13 and 16 by e.g., further defining enable each of the at least first and second merchants to view the advertisements for products or services generated for other of the at least first and second merchants. These limitations are all directed to a method of managing commercial interactions between people (e.g., the user, the first merchant, and/or the second merchant). Thus, claims 14-15 and 17-18 are directed to substantially the same abstract idea as claims 13 and 16 and do not add any additional elements to evaluate at Steps 2A prong two or 2B. Therefore, claims 14-15 and 17-18 describe neither a practical application of nor significantly more than the abstract idea.
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.
Claims 1-3, 5, and 7-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Calman US 20130030887 in view of Mankoff US 20150310477 A1 and Karypis US 20100318412.
Regarding Claim 1, Calman teaches a method of providing a merchant advertisement platform comprising the steps of: storing, in a memory of a first computing device, a monetary value of one or more user in a first user-defined sub-accounts, wherein the first computing device comprises a processor and a memory, the monetary value is in a non-cash rewards format and comprises rewards
from a plurality of merchants ([0041] The steps and/or actions of a method or algorithm described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. A software module may reside in RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory, registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium. [0048] FIG. 1 illustrates a general process flow 100 for an apparatus or system for implementing a customer loyalty rewards program consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in block 110 point values are assigned to a customer's completion of one or more activities. Such activities may include, but are not limited to becoming a new customer of the merchant, participating in a new program or service provided by the merchant (e.g. enrolling in a bill pay program provided by a financial institution, opening a new account, utilizing an online bill paying service, receiving electronic monthly statements, accessing the financial institution website or a specified portion of a website etc.), maintaining a specified balance in an account (e.g. maintaining $500 or more in a savings account), meeting specific goals (e.g. depositing $50 a month into a savings account for six months, spending $10 or more every week at a grocery store etc.), donating money to a charity, completing transactions with a specified financial instrument (e.g. a designated credit card or debit card), referring other customers to become customer of the merchant, and the like. It will be understood that the specific point values assigned to the completion of each activity is not important and will be dependent on the number of points required to exchange points for rewards as disclosed and contemplated herein. For instance, the completion of an activity may be assigned a point value of one point or one hundred points), and
the rewards comprise a plurality of reward types (a $10 gift card, a free donation to a charity, fee forgiveness, free privacy assist, merchant cash back, five hundred free points, etc.);
receiving, from one or more communications interfaces, and publishing, via the processor, a goal for, and a balance of, the one or more sub-accounts ([0059] the merchant may create a secure website, mobile application, software program or the like, that allows the customer to view the balance of points credited to the customer as well as view available rewards and the amount of points required to receive the rewards);
generating, via the processor, for at least first and second merchants, of the plurality of merchants, one or more advertisements for products or services pertaining to the first user's goal ([0053] the rewards comprise discounts for goods or services within general categories, such as electronics, travel, office and school supplies, health and beauty, apparel etc. but the amount and nature (e.g. whether the offer is limited to a specific retailer or only for specific products) is concealed from the customer until the customer receives the reward and elects to reveal the details of the discount. For example, the reward may take the form of a gift box. This gift box may be a physical box but may also be a digital or virtual gift box. The gift box may, for example, be identified as an "Electronics Pass" indicating that the box contains an offer related to electronics goods. For instance, an Electronics Pass or Electronics Gift Box may be 10% off any purchase at a particular electronics retailer. Further the gift box may be a "Health & Beauty Pass" indicating that the box contains an offer related to health and beauty products, such as a 2% off any purchase offer at a particular retailer. When the gift box is initially presented to the customer the details of the offer may not be disclosed. In this respect, the specifics of the offer are a surprise. The customer only has the opportunity to reveal the nature of the offer, that is to "open" the gift box, after the customer has selected and received the reward. In some embodiments, the rewards will be valid for a limited period of time (e.g. the discount must be redeemed within thirty days etc.). After the points have been correlated to one or more rewards, the apparatus or system facilitates the exchange of rewards as represented by block 150);
wherein the one or more advertisements are targeted to the first user and based on the first user's goal and the balance of the one or more sub-accounts ([0053] the rewards comprise discounts for goods or services within general categories, such as electronics, travel, office and school supplies, health and beauty, apparel etc. but the amount and nature (e.g. whether the offer is limited to a specific retailer or only for specific products) is concealed from the customer until the customer receives the reward and elects to reveal the details of the discount. For example, the reward may take the form of a gift box. This gift box may be a physical box but may also be a digital or virtual gift box. The gift box may, for example, be identified as an "Electronics Pass" indicating that the box contains an offer related to electronics goods. For instance, an Electronics Pass or Electronics Gift Box may be 10% off any purchase at a particular electronics retailer. Further the gift box may be a "Health & Beauty Pass" indicating that the box contains an offer related to health and beauty products, such as a 2% off any purchase offer at a particular retailer. When the gift box is initially presented to the customer the details of the offer may not be disclosed. In this respect, the specifics of the offer are a surprise. The customer only has the opportunity to reveal the nature of the offer, that is to "open" the gift box, after the customer has selected and received the reward. In some embodiments, the rewards will be valid for a limited period of time (e.g. the discount must be redeemed within thirty days etc.). After the points have been correlated to one or more rewards, the apparatus or system facilitates the exchange of rewards as represented by block 150. [0059] the merchant may create a secure website, mobile application, software program or the like, that allows the customer to view the balance of points credited to the customer as well as view available rewards and the amount of points required to receive the rewards. Such a secure website, application, or software program may also include functionality to allow the customer to select one or more rewards. [0071] information regarding the points credited to the customer may be displayed on the display of the user interface 537, e.g. the display may show the customer's balance of points, the amount of points needed to receive an additional reward, a graphical representation of the progress towards specific rewards etc.);
transmitting, using a computing device comprising one or more communication interfaces, the one or more advertisements to the first user ([0067] Each communication interface described herein, including the communication interface 532 and 522, generally includes hardware, and, in some instances, software, that enables a portion of the system 500, such as the processor 533 to transport, send, receive, and/or otherwise communicate information. For example, the communication interface 532 of the mobile device 530 may include a modem, server, electrical connection, and/or other electronic device that operatively connects the mobile device 530 to another electronic device, such as the electronic devices that make up the merchant computer platform 520);
enabling, via the processor, the first user to redeem the monetary value towards the purchase of products or services advertised by the first or second merchants by transmitting the monetary value from the first computing device to a second computing device controlled by the first or second merchant ([0075] The customer 510 accesses the marketplace application 528 of the financial institution over the network 540, e.g. the Internet, using his laptop 530. The customer 510 browses the available rewards on a "Get Rewards" portion of the marketplace application 528 to determine what rewards are available. The customer 510 elects to redeem three hundred of his points for two months of credit protection. The merchant computer platform 520 processes the exchange and enrolls the customer in the credit protection program. The customer 510 recognizes that he has a number of additional points remaining and elects to exchange one hundred points for a spin at the Rewards Wheel. The Rewards Wheel stops on a $10 gift certificate to an office supply merchant. The merchant computer platform 520 uses the communication interface 522 to send an electronic communication over the network 540 to the customer's 510 laptop 530. The electronic communication includes an attachment with the information necessary for the office supply merchant to process the reward);
wherein the first monetary value is earned by the first user based on prior purchase activity ([0049] monitoring the customer's activities will involve monitoring the transactional data and/or customer account history data available to the merchant. Transactional data includes, but is not limited to, data regarding the date, location, amount, method of payment etc. of the transactions of the customer. Account history data includes, without limitation, such data as the types of accounts the customer has with the merchant (e.g. credit, checking, savings, investment, lay-away, financing etc.) and the current and historical balances of such accounts, account activity etc.”), and
Calman does not explicitly teach, however Mankoff teaches enabling the first and second merchants to view the balance of the one or more sub-accounts ([0109] reporting is available at a merchant control panel. This reporting includes an overview dashboard where a merchant can view
weekly, monthly, and yearly snapshots of the merchant's rewards program, including members enrolled, points earned, rewards earned, rewards redeemed, etc. The reporting further includes a
rewards view, where the merchant views the merchant's rewards program activity, including rewards
redeemed, expired, pending, etc. The reporting further includes a loyalty view, where the merchant views member visit frequency and recency, including how often members visit, time between member visits, etc. The reporting further includes a transaction view which provides daily information and trending information for member transaction volume, member spending, etc. The reporting further includes secure email reporting options, wherein any emails comprise information including enrollment,
rewards payout, cashier performance, voids, returns, etc.).
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include in the rewards program of Calman the process of enabling the merchants to view the balance of the one or more sub-accounts as taught by Mankoff since the claimed invention is merely a combination of old elements, and in the combination each element merely would have performed the same function as it did separately, and one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination is predictable. Such a combination would yield the predictable result of a rewards program where merchants can view the balance of one or more sub-accounts.
Calman does not explicitly teach, however Karypis teaches enabling, via the processor and the one or more communications interfaces, the first and second merchants to view each other's advertisements, the first user's goal, and the balance of the one or more sub-accounts to competitively adjust pricing of the first and second merchants' respective products or services and transmit the adjusted pricing to the first user ([0005] The method includes receiving, using a processor and memory, a customer inquiry. The customer inquiry includes product information indicative of a customer's interest in a particular product; [0026] Given the retailer's business rules and the inquiry-specific information, embodiments may evaluate each of the business rules to determine the ones that apply to an inquiry. In a case where multiple incentives can be offered by the same retailer, then a priority-based scheme, specified by the retailer, may be used to select the appropriate incentive. Embodiments also may perform methods in which none of the retailer's business rules are provided to the system, and the incentive selection system interfaces directly with the participating retailer's
systems, provides information about (i) the current product inquiry, (ii) competitive pricing information, and (iii) the customer's current location and gets back in return the incentives that were selected by the retailer's system for communication to the customer (if any). This approach ensures that the retailer's business logic remains opaque to the application; [0041] the business rules or other instructions may prompt promotion identification component 112 to contact participating retailers 150 to request incentives to dynamically provide incentives. Participating retailers 150 may include an automated, participating retailer component that receives inquiry information from promotion identification component 112 (e.g., product identification, price, retail location, etc) and calculates or otherwise provides the incentive. Alternatively, a human operator at participating retailer 150 may receive the communication and relevant inquiry information from promotion identification component 112 and may determine and input the incentive(s) for transmittal back to promotion identification component 112. Promotion identification component 112 may also include a human operator for determining and inputting incentives; [0044] system 100 may enable human operators (e.g., at participating retailers) to view the incentives offered by other participating retailers. Consequently, the human operators may determine and offer counter-incentives).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the process of enabling the first and second merchants to view each other's advertisements and the first user's goal as taught in Karypis with the merchant advertisement method of Calman with the motivation to enable “operators … [to] determine and offer counter-incentives” (Karypis [0044]).
Regarding Claim 2, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman further teaches wherein the goal is a product or service purchase goal ([0048] maintaining a specified balance in an account (e.g. maintaining $500 or more in a savings account), meeting specific goals (e.g. depositing $50 a month into a savings account for six months, spending $10 or more every week at a grocery store etc.)).
Regarding Claim 3, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman further teaches further comprising the step of enabling the first user to redeem the non-cash rewards for cash value by transmitting the first monetary value from the first computing device to a third computing device controlled by a financial institution ([0054] the reward may be an opportunity to participate in a game of chance, such as spinning a rewards wheel, wherein each spin of the rewards wheel provides the customer with an opportunity to win a further reward. As an exemplary embodiment, a financial institution may allow its customers to spin a rewards wheel in exchange for one hundred earned points. In some instances, the customer receives a free spin upon enrolling in the customer rewards program).
Regarding Claim 5, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman further teaches wherein the one or more sub-accounts comprises a plurality of sub-accounts, and further comprising the step of enabling, via the processor, the first user to transfer monetary value to, from, or between the plurality of sub-accounts ([0060] if Customer A has been credited with 1500 points, and Customer B has a reward (e.g. a Gold Apparel Box) that she is interested in selling that has been valued by the merchant at five hundred points, Customer B may transfer the reward to Customer A in exchange for five hundred credited points. Accordingly, the merchant may subtract five hundred points from Customer A's point balance and deliver the reward to Customer A and add five hundred points to Customer B's point balance).
Regarding Claim 7, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman further teaches further comprising the steps of: enabling, via the processor, a second user to accumulate and store a third monetary value in a user-defined sub-account different from the one or more sub-accounts of the first user; and enabling, via the processor, the first user and second user to create a group based on a similar goal in the first and second users' respective sub-accounts ([0060] if Customer A has been credited with 1500 points, and Customer B has a reward (e.g. a Gold Apparel Box) that she is interested in selling that has been valued by the merchant at five hundred points, Customer B may transfer the reward to Customer A in exchange for five hundred credited points. Accordingly, the merchant may subtract five hundred points from Customer A's point balance and deliver the reward to Customer A and add five hundred points to Customer B's point balance).
Regarding Claim 8, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 7 as discussed above. Calman further teaches further comprising the step of enabling, via the processor, the first user and the second user to share information with one another regarding their respective sub-accounts ([0057] FIG. 3 is a process flow 300 illustrating a process flow for implementing a customer loyalty rewards program by creating a social network, in accordance with embodiments of the invention. As shown in block 310 a social network is created, wherein a customer can elect to associate with one or more other customers. It will be understood that "connection" or "connections" as used herein in the context of a social network refers to one or more members of a customer's social network. In certain embodiments, connections within the social network will be able to communicate with each other, for instance through electronic message, chat, updates, postings and the like. Moreover, connections will be able to receive and view information regarding their connections' activities relating to the customer loyalty rewards program. For instance, connections may receive updates regarding a connection's activities, accumulation of points, receipt of rewards, customer grouping etc. In some embodiments, a user may receive information regarding other customer's activities relating to the customer loyalty rewards program wherein the identity of the other customer is concealed. For instance, a customer may receive an update indicating that another customer has completed a savings goal and received a specified reward. In such an embodiment, the identity of the other customer may be concealed to preserve the privacy of each customer. Alternatively, customers may elect to reveal such information to their connections within the social network. Furthermore, in specific embodiments, as illustrated in 320, activities by which a customer may earn points are communicated via the customer's connections in the social network. For example, if Customer A is a customer of a financial institution and Customer A's brother Customer B, and co-worker Customer C are also customers of the financial institution, Customer A may choose to associate with Customer B and Customer C by becoming connections over the social network created by the financial institution. After becoming connections, Customer A may receive an invitation from Customer B and/or Customer C to participate in activities to earn points. For instance, Customer B may participate in a savings challenge (e.g. depositing 5% of a paycheck per month in a savings account) and invite Customer A to also participate. Similarly, Customer C may indicate that she signed up for a new money market account and earned one thousand points and invite Customer A to do the same. In some embodiments these communications, e.g. invitations, to participate in activities may be purely voluntarily or automated by the social network, but in other embodiments, the connections may receive points or other incentives for inviting and/or getting others to participate in a specified activity. In some embodiments, certain rewards may only be available if a predetermined number of customers participate in an activity. For instance, a ten percent discount to a specified merchant may be available if five or more customers spend $25 or more at the merchant. Similarly, a merchant or financial institution may offer to match a charitable donation for every ten customers who donate to the charity. In such embodiments, the social network may be used to communicate the availability of these offers between connections and to facilitate participation in the group offers; [0058] As shown in block 330, the exchange of rewards is facilitated by enabling the exchange of rewards between connections within the social network. Examples of such exchanges include buying and selling rewards in return for points, trading rewards and gifting rewards. Continuing with the example from above, if Customer A is connected to Customer B and Customer C, Customer A may be able to exchange some, or all of his credited points for a reward received by Customer B or vice versa. Similarly, Customer A may have a reward that Customer C wants and Customer C has a reward that Customer A wants and so they may agree to trade their rewards. Such exchanges may include rewards wherein the nature and amount of the specific discount has been disclosed (e.g. the gift box has been opened). However, in other instances the nature and amount of the specific discounts is still concealed at the time of the exchange. Customers may also be able to pool their earned points with other customers and use their combined point totals to receive a reward. In some embodiments, customers will only be able to combine their point totals with other connections within the social network. In other embodiments, customers will be able to combine point totals with any other customer of the financial institution or merchant. For instance, a family may elect to combine the point totals earned by each family member. Similarly, customers who all work at the same company may elect to pool points and use the points to contribute to a specified charity).
Regarding Claim 9, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 8 as discussed above. Calman further teaches further comprising the step of enabling, via the processor, the first user and the second user to transfer monetary values between their respective
sub-accounts ([0060] if Customer A has been credited with 1500 points, and Customer B has a reward (e.g. a Gold Apparel Box) that she is interested in selling that has been valued by the merchant at five hundred points, Customer B may transfer the reward to Customer A in exchange for five hundred credited points. Accordingly, the merchant may subtract five hundred points from Customer A's point balance and deliver the reward to Customer A and add five hundred points to Customer B's point balance).
Regarding Claim 10, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman does not explicitly teach, however Karypis teaches further comprising the step of enabling, using the processor, each of the at least first and second merchants to view the advertisements for products or services generated for other of the at least first and second merchants ([0005] The method includes receiving, using a processor and memory, a customer inquiry. The customer inquiry includes product information indicative of a customer's interest in a particular product; [0026] Given the retailer's business rules and the inquiry-specific information, embodiments may evaluate each of the business rules to determine the ones that apply to an inquiry. In a case where multiple incentives can be offered by the same retailer, then a priority-based scheme, specified by the retailer, may be used to select the appropriate incentive. Embodiments also may perform methods in which none of the retailer's business rules are provided to the system, and the incentive selection system interfaces directly with the participating retailer's systems, provides information about (i) the current product inquiry, (ii) competitive pricing information, and (iii) the customer's current location and gets back in return the incentives that were selected by the retailer's
system for communication to the customer (if any). This approach ensures that the retailer's business logic remains opaque to the application; [0041] the business rules or other instructions may prompt promotion identification component 112 to contact participating retailers 150 to request incentives to dynamically provide incentives. Participating retailers 150 may include an automated, participating
retailer component that receives inquiry information from promotion identification component 112 (e.g., product identification, price, retail location, etc) and calculates or otherwise provides the incentive. Alternatively, a human operator at participating retailer 150 may receive the communication and relevant inquiry information from promotion identification component 112 and may determine and input the incentive(s) for transmittal back to promotion identification component 112. Promotion identification component 112 may also include a human operator for determining and inputting incentives; [0044] system 100 may enable human operators (e.g., at participating retailers) to view the
incentives offered by other participating retailers. Consequently, the human operators may determine and offer counter-incentives) (see claim 1 rejection for combination rationale).
Regarding Claim 11, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman further teaches further comprising the step of enabling, via the processor, additional users to view, comment on, or communicate with the first user regarding the one or more sub-accounts in accordance with permission-based settings defined by the first user ([0050], [0058]-[0059] Social network data may provide information regarding the customer's recent, present or future activities through expressed data. For instance, a user may upload a blog post, comment on a connection's page, send a friend an electronic message etc. that indicates that the user likes the merchant or encourages the user's connections to use the merchant's services. Similarly, a user might post a statement indicating that she purchased a luxury item, such as jewelry or new shoes suggesting that the customer has exceeded a budget limitation or failed to meet a savings goal. Monitoring a customer's activities may also be done by monitoring Internet data associated with the customer”).
Regarding Claim 12, the combination of Calman, Mankoff, and Karypis teaches the limitations of claim 1 as discussed above. Calman further teaches further comprising the step of enabling, via the processor, the first user to transfer monetary value in the one or more sub-account to a different user's sub-account in exchange for receiving goods or services ([0060] if Customer A has been credited with 1500 points, and Customer B has a reward (e.g. a Gold Apparel Box) that she is interested in selling that has been valued by the merchant at five hundred points, Customer B may transfer the reward to Customer A in exchange for five hundred credited points. Accordingly, the merchant may subtract five hundred points from Customer A's point balance and deliver the reward to Customer A and add five hundred points to Customer B's point balance).
Regarding Claim 13, Calman teaches a system for providing a merchant advertisement platform, the system comprising: a computing device comprising one or more communication interfaces; a processor; and a memory, wherein the memory is configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, are configured to cause the processor to ([0042] the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures, and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection may be termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. "Disk" and "disc", as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media):
accumulate and store, for a first user, a monetary value in one or more user-defined sub-accounts ([0048] FIG. 1 illustrates a general process flow 100 for an apparatus or system for implementing a customer loyalty rewards program consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in block 110 point values are assigned to a customer's completion of one or more activities. Such activities may include, but are not limited to becoming a new customer of the merchant, participating in a new program or service provided by the merchant (e.g. enrolling in a bill pay program provided by a financial institution, opening a new account, utilizing an online bill paying service, receiving electronic monthly statements, accessing the financial institution website or a specified portion of a website etc.), maintaining a specified balance in an account (e.g. maintaining $500 or more in a savings account) [first/second monetary value], meeting specific goals (e.g. depositing $50 a month into a savings account for six months, spending $10 or more every week at a grocery store etc.) [first/second monetary value], donating money to a charity, completing transactions with a specified financial instrument (e.g. a designated credit card or debit card), referring other customers to become customer of the merchant, and the like. It will be understood that the specific point values assigned to the completion of each activity is not important and will be dependent on the number of points required to exchange points for rewards as disclosed and contemplated herein. For instance, the completion of an activity may be assigned a point value of one point or one hundred points);
wherein: the monetary value is in a non-cash rewards format and comprises rewards from a plurality of merchants ([0048] FIG. 1 illustrates a general process flow 100 for an apparatus or system for implementing a customer loyalty rewards program consistent with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in block 110 point values are assigned to a customer's completion of one or more activities. Such activities may include, but are not limited to becoming a new customer of the merchant, participating in a new program or service provided by the merchant (e.g. enrolling in a bill pay program provided by a financial institution, opening a new account, utilizing an online bill paying service, receiving electronic monthly statements, accessing the financial institution website or a specified portion of a website etc.), maintaining a specified balance in an account (e.g. maintaining $500 or more in a savings account), meeting specific goals (e.g. depositing $50 a month into a savings account for six months, spending $10 or more every week at a grocery store etc.), donating money to a charity, completing transactions with a specified financial instrument (e.g. a designated credit card or debit card), referring other customers to become customer of the merchant, and the like. It will be understood that the specific point values assigned to the completion of each activity is not important and will be dependent on the number of points required to exchange points for rewards as disclosed and contemplated herein. For instance, the completion of an activity may be assigned a point value of one point or one hundred points), and
the rewards comprise a plurality of reward types (a $10 gift card, a free donation to a charity, fee forgiveness, free privacy assist, merchant cash back, five hundred free points, etc.);
receive and publish, via the one or more communication interfaces, a goal for the one or more sub-account ([0059] the merchant may create a secure website, mobile application, software program or the like, that allows the customer to view the balance of points credited to the customer as well as view available rewards and the amount of points required to receive the rewards);
enable, via the one or more communication interfaces, the first user to redeem the monetary value towards the purchase of products or services advertised by the first or second merchant by transmitting the monetary value from a first computing device to a second computing device controlled by the first or second merchant ([0075] The customer 510 accesses the marketplace application 528 of the financial institution over the network 540, e.g. the Internet, using his laptop 530. The customer 510 browses the available rewards on a "Get Rewards" portion of the marketplace application 528 to determine what rewards are available. The customer 510 elects to redeem three hundred of his points for two months of credit protection. The merchant computer platform 520 processes the exchange and enrolls the customer in the credit protection program. The customer 510 recognizes that he has a number of additional points remaining and elects to exchange one hundred points for a spin at the Rewards Wheel. The Rewards Wheel stops on a $10 gift certificate to an office supply merchant. The merchant computer platform 520 uses the communication interface 522 to send an electronic communication over the network 540 to the customer's 510 laptop 530. The electronic communication includes an attachment with the information necessary for the office supply merchant to process the reward);
wherein the first monetary value is earned by the first user based on prior purchase activity ([0049] monitoring the customer's activities will involve monitoring the transactional data and/or customer account history data available to the merchant. Transactional data includes, but is not limited to, data regarding the date, location, amount, method of payment etc. of the transactions of the customer. Account history data includes, without limitation, such data as the types of accounts the customer has with the merchant (e.g. credit, checking, savings, investment, lay-away, financing etc.) and the current and historical balances of such accounts, account activity etc.”).
Calman does not explicitly teach, however Karypis teaches enable, via the one or more communication interfaces, at least first and second merchants, of the plurality of merchants, to: view the goal of the one or more sub-accounts ([0005] The method includes receiving, using a processor and memory, a customer inquiry. The customer inquiry includes product information indicative of a customer's interest in a particular product; [0041] the business rules or other instructions may prompt promotion identification component 112 to contact participating retailers 150 to request incentives to dynamically provide incentives. Participating retailers 150 may include an automated, participating
retailer component that receives inquiry information from promotion identification component 112 (e.g., product identification, price, retail location, etc) and calculates or otherwise provides the incentive. Alternatively, a human operator at participating retailer 150 may receive the communication and relevant inquiry information from promotion identification component 112 and may determine and input the incentive(s) for transmittal back to promotion identification component 112. Promotion identification component 112 may also include a human operator for determining and inputting incentives).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the process of enabling at least first and second merchants to: view the goal for the first sub-account as taught in Karypis with the merchant advertisement method of Calman with the motivation to enable the system to “determine and input the incentive(s) for transmittal back to promotion identification component 112” (Karypis [0041]).
Calman does not explicitly teach, however Mankoff teaches enabling the first and second merchants to view the balance of the one or more sub-accounts ([0109] reporting is available at a merchant control panel. This reporting includes an overview dashboard where a merchant can view
weekly, monthly, and yearly snapshots of the merchant's rewards program, including members enrolled, points earned, rewards earned, rewards redeemed, etc. The reporting further includes a
rewards view, where the merchant views the merchant's rewards program activity, including rewards
redeemed, expired, pending, etc. The reporting further includes a loyalty view, where the merchant views member visit frequency and recency, including how often members visit, time between member visits, etc. The reporting further includes a transaction view which provides daily information and trending information for member transac