DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Amendment
All pending claims 1-5, 7-15 and 17-20 are examined in this final office action necessitated by amendment.
Response to Arguments
No arguments on the merits were necessary.
Rejection under 35 USC 101-Subject Matter Eligibility is withdrawn. Amendments to each independent claim pertaining to “when the fraud score exceeds a threshold: …” adds significantly more to the abstract idea under Step 2B.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-5, 7-15 and 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) as failing to comply with the written description requirement.
The claims contain subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The following amendment to independent claims is not supported in the specification:
“access/accessing a blockchain associated with the exchange item to identify a fraud score;”
Thorough review of the instant specification and drawings fails to reveal any process that stores a fraud score in a block chain.
The undersigned examiner is suggesting a telephonic interview for discussion. Lacking an explicit disclosure, an indirect process to retrieving the fraud score from the blockchain may exist. If this is the case, then claim language should describe the process.
Closest US Patent/US Pre-Grant Publication
Devries, US 2010/0138350 recited in the office action mailed April 30, 2025, is the closest prior art. Forward citations of Devries failed to reveal closer prior art. Forward/backward citations of Devries, US 8,099,331, failed to reveal closer prior art. Al tools, More Like This Document (MLTD) and Similarity, failed to reveal closer prior art. Devries alone or in combination with cited prior art fails to teach and/or suggest the combinations of methods as claimed.
Closest Non-Patent Literature
Raise Marketplace web site, IDS filed January 31, 2023 and IDS considered in parent patent as the closest non-patent literature, remains as the closest non-patent literature prior art. Raise Marketplace alone or in combination with other cited prior art fails to teach and/or suggest the combination of methods as claimed.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ROBERT M POND whose telephone number is (571)272-6760. The examiner can normally be reached M-F, 8:30 AM-6:30 PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Smith can be reached at 571-272-6763. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ROBERT M POND/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3688 November 15, 2025