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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on November 20, 2025 has been entered.
Claims 1-7, 9-15, 17, and 19-20 have been amended.
Claim 18 has been cancelled.
Claims 1-17 and 19-20 are pending.
The effective filing date of the claimed invention is April 27, 2023.
Response to Amendment
Amendments to Claims 1-7, 9-15, 17, and 19-20 are acknowledged.
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 1-17 and 19-21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed a judicial exception (i.e., an abstract idea) without significantly more.
Step 1 – Statutory Categories
As indicated in the preamble of the claim, the examiner finds the claim is directed to a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter.(Claims 1-8 are processes and Claims 9-17 and 19-21 are machines). Accordingly, step 1 is satisfied.
Step 2A – Prong 1: was there a Judicial Exception Recited
Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) recites the following abstract concepts that are found to include “abstract idea.” Any additional elements will be analyzed under Step 2A-Prong 2 and Step 2B:
A computer-implemented method for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
obtaining an identifier of a parent cost object (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II)(A), Fundamental Economic Practices or Principles, which is a Certain Method for Organizing Human Activity, mitigating settlement risk, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank,573 U.S. 208, 218, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1982 (2014) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
accessing, based on the identifier, one or more databases of cost accounting data to retrieve the parent cost object and one or more child cost objects that depend from the parent cost object (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II)(A), Fundamental Economic Practices or Principles, which is a Certain Method for Organizing Human Activity, mitigating settlement risk, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank,573 U.S. 208, 218, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1982 (2014) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
generating, based on the parent cost object the one or more child cost objects, a data structure that represents a hierarchy of cost objects, the data structure storing both a budgeted amount for each cost object and an actual expenditure amount for each cost object, wherein the hierarchy of cost objects includes both one or more parent cost objects and one or more corresponding child cost objects that depend from the one or more parent cost objects (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II)(A), Fundamental Economic Practices or Principles, which is a Certain Method for Organizing Human Activity, mitigating settlement risk, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank,573 U.S. 208, 218, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1982 (2014) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
generating, based on the data structure, a tree view graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents the hierarchy of cost objects, wherein each node in the tree view GUI control includes both the cost accounting data for a corresponding cost object and an expenditure visualization representing a comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual amount for the corresponding cost object (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II)(A), Fundamental Economic Practices or Principles, which is a Certain Method for Organizing Human Activity, mitigating settlement risk, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank,573 U.S. 208, 218, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1982 (2014) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
displaying the tree view GUI control via a GUI of the expenditure visualization application, wherein the tree view GUI control is configured to initially display unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent cost objects and corresponding parent cost object expenditure visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child cost objects and corresponding child cost object expenditure visualizations are not visible (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II)(A), Fundamental Economic Practices or Principles, which is a Certain Method for Organizing Human Activity, mitigating settlement risk, Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank,573 U.S. 208, 218, 110 USPQ2d 1976, 1982 (2014) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
continually monitoring for a selection of an expander control associated with a first unexpanded node of the unexpanded nodes (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016)); and
expanding the first unexpanded node, responsive to the selection of the expander control, to make visible in the GUI the nodes representing the one or more corresponding child cost objects and the corresponding child cost object expenditure visualization, wherein the nodes are displayed beneath and indented relative to the one or more parent cost objects that the one or more corresponding child cost objects depend from (See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III), Mental processes, a claim to “collecting information, analyzing it, and displaying certain results of the collection and analysis,” where the data analysis steps are recited at a high level of generality such that they could practically be performed in the human mind, Electric Power Group v. Alstom, S.A., 830 F.3d 1350, 1353-54, 119 USPQ2d 1739, 1741-42 (Fed. Cir. 2016));
wherein at least one of the obtaining, the accessing, the generating the data structure, the generating the tree view GUI control, the displaying, the continually monitoring, and the expanding are performed by one or more computers (See MPEP 2106.05(d)(II) The courts have recognized the following computer functions as well‐understood, routine, and conventional functions when they are claimed in a merely generic manner (e.g., at a high level of generality) or as insignificant extra-solution activity. Electronic recordkeeping, Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int'l, 573 U.S. 208, 225, 110 USPQ2d 1984 (2014) (creating and maintaining “shadow accounts”); Ultramercial, 772 F.3d at 716, 112 USPQ2d at 1755 (updating an activity log)).
Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) is directed to a series of steps for generating and displaying a hierarchy of cost objects, which is a fundamental economic practice or principle, thus, grouped as a certain method of organizing human interactions, and being performed using mental processes. The mere nominal recitation of computers, memory, processors, databases, and graphical user interface (GUI) does not take the claim out of the method of organizing human interactions, nor mental processes. Thus, Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) recites an abstract idea.
Step 2A – Prong 2: Can the Judicial Exception Recited be integrated into a practical application
Limitations that are indicative of integration into a practical application:
Improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field - see MPEP 2106.05(a)
Applying or using a judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition – see Vanda Memo
Applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine - see MPEP 2106.05(b)
Effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing - see MPEP 2106.05(c)
Applying or using the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception - see MPEP 2106.05(e) and Vanda Memo
Limitations that are not indicative of integration into a practical application:
Adding the words “apply it” (or an equivalent) with the judicial exception, or mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, or merely uses a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f)
Adding insignificant extra-solution activity to the judicial exception - see MPEP 2106.05(g)
Generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment or field of use – see MPEP 2106.05(h)
The identified abstract idea of exemplary Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) is not integrated into a practical application. The additional elements are: computers, memory, processors, databases, and graphical user interface (GUI) that implements the underlying abstract idea. These additional elements are broadly recited computer elements that do not add a meaningful limitation to the abstract idea because they amount to merely using a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f).
Accordingly, alone and in combination, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) is directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B – Significantly More Analysis
Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when considered separately and in combination, steps a) obtaining an identifier of a parent cost object, b) accessing a database to generate a data structure that represents a hierarchy of cost objects, c) generating a tree view GUI control that represents the hierarchy of cost objects, d) displaying the expenditure visualization application, e) detecting a selection of an expander control, f) expanding a visualization of the selected parent cost object and g) the steps are performed by one or more computers, do not add significantly more to the exception because they amount to merely using a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea - see MPEP 2106.05(f). Claim 1 (and similarly Claims 9 and 17) is ineligible.
Claim 2 (and similarly Claim 10) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 3 (and similarly Claims 11 and 19) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 4 (and similarly Claims 12 and 20) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 5 (and similarly Claim 13) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 6 (and similarly Claim14) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 7 (and similarly Claim 15) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 8 (and similarly Claim 16) recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
Claim 21 recites the abstract ideas of certain methods of organizing human activity and mental process. See MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II) and MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(III).
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 1-17 and 19-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Pat Pub 2023/0245245 “Chen”, in view of US Pat Pub 2021/0248166 “Ares”, in view of US Pat Pub 2016/0196673 “Nehring”, in view of US Pat Pub 2021/0264520 “Cummings”.
As per Claims 1, 9, and 17, Chen discloses a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
obtaining an identifier of a parent cost object (Chen: [0112] An information visualization calculation bar 170 supports a UI to display financial data, such as profit and loss data or margin data, for a group of one or more rows of financial data. The information visualization calculation bar 170 may generate contextual information about a current selection of nodes, a node can be a parent cost object, and [0080] The node tree hierarchy may define financial categories and dimensions such as income (revenue) and expenses associated with determining profits and losses.);
accessing, based on the identifier, one or more databases of cost accounting data to retrieve the parent cost object and the one or more child cost objects that depend from the parent cost object (Chen: [0077], An interface may be provided with a data storage unit 190 to store financial data and metadata. The node data object management system 104 communicates with a user interface (UI) visualization system 140 to generate interactive financial visualizations for one or more client devices 195., [0079] The nodes have an associated hierarchical tree structure. That is, there is a collection of nodes, with the hierarchical tree structure defining a root node, parent nodes, and children nodes. However, the nodes have a reorganizable node tree hierarchy 110. This means that the organization of the tree structure may be modified. A default hierarchy 125 may be provided, which may be in the form of a default chart of accounts node hierarchy. [0080] The node tree hierarchy may define financial categories and dimensions such as income (revenue) and expenses associated with determining profits and losses. More generally, the node hierarchy may describe asset accounts, liability accounts, equity accounts, profit and loss accounts.);
generating, based on the parent cost object and the one or more child cost objects, a data structure that represents a hierarchy of cost objects, wherein the hierarchy of cost objects includes both one or more parent cost objects and one or more corresponding child cost objects that depend form the one or more parent cost objects (Chen: [0077], An interface may be provided with a data storage unit 190 to store financial data and metadata. The node data object management system 104 communicates with a user interface (UI) visualization system 140 to generate interactive financial visualizations for one or more client devices 195., [0079] The nodes have an associated hierarchical tree structure. That is, there is a collection of nodes, with the hierarchical tree structure defining a root node, parent nodes, and children nodes. However, the nodes have a reorganizable node tree hierarchy 110. This means that the organization of the tree structure may be modified. A default hierarchy 125 may be provided, which may be in the form of a default chart of accounts node hierarchy. [0080] The node tree hierarchy may define financial categories and dimensions such as income (revenue) and expenses associated with determining profits and losses. More generally, the node hierarchy may describe asset accounts, liability accounts, equity accounts, profit and loss accounts.);
continually monitoring for a selection of an expander control associated with a selected parent cost object of the one or more parent cost objects (Chen: Figs. 37A-E, depicting a node structure diagram, each node is indicated as being expandable by be preceded by a + or – sign, and with each child node further indented under the node ranked higher in the hierarchy); and
expanding the first unexpanded node responsive to the selection of the expander control, to make visible in the GUI the nodes representing the one or more corresponding child cost objects and the corresponding child cost object expenditure visualizations, wherein the nodes are displayed beneath and indented relative to the one or more parent cost objects that the one or more corresponding child cost objects depend from (Chen: Figs. 37A-E, depicting a node structure diagram, each node is indicated as being expandable by be preceded by a + or – sign, and with each child node further indented under the node ranked higher in the hierarchy);
wherein at least one of the obtaining, the accessing, the generating the data structure, the generating the tree view GUI control, the displaying, the continually monitoring, and the expanding are performed by one or more computers (Chen: [0117] The system 100 may be implemented in different ways, such as a network service, cloud-based service, SAAS etc. Individual modules, engines, units, methods, and UI implementation may be implemented as computer program instructions and APIs, with the computer program instructions stored on a non-transient computer readable storage medium executable by one or more processors.).
Chen fails to disclose a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
the data structure storing both a budgeted amount for each cost object and an actual expenditure amount for each cost object;
generating, based on the data structure, a tree view graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents the hierarchy of cost objects, wherein each node in the tree view GUI control includes both the cost accounting data for a corresponding cost object and an expenditure visualization representing a comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount for the corresponding cost object;
displaying the tree view GUI control via a GUI of the expenditure visualization application, wherein the tree view GUI control is configured to initially display unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent cost objects and corresponding parent cost object expenditure visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child cost objects and corresponding child cost object expenditure visualizations are not visible.
Ares teaches a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
generating, based on the data, a graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents the hierarchy of objects (Ares: [0072] The nodes within the nodal network 112 may correspond to the hierarchical structure of the data… when the analytics server 110 identifies that data represented by two node are related, the analytics server 110 may link the related nodes., [0074] To efficiently access a node and to retrieve all related data, the analytics server 110 may index each node based on its associated metadata and/or links. The analytics server 110 may also make each node searchable based on its metadata and/or links. To identify a node and/or to traverse the nodal network 112, the analytics server may utilize one or more existing methodologies (e.g., Solr®). Indexing the nodes within the nodal network 112 allows the nodes to be searchable by their associated metadata and/or links., [0115] Among other technical advantages provided, the GUIs described herein provide a navigation method that corresponds to the nodal network. Therefore, a user can navigate through data (e.g., moved from a broad view to a granular view or vice versa or move cross domains and dimensions) in a more efficient manner, [0216] The analytics server may also specify a measure catalog for each domain to organize measures into logical groupings. Upon identifying the relevant domains, the analytics server may also identify relevant measure catalogs (MCs) for each identified domain. A catalog of measure or measure catalog is implemented for each domain. MCs allow the analytics server to quantify the absolute and relative size of concepts. Non-limiting examples of MCs include revenue expenses net income, number of facilities, number of ATMs, gross loans and acceptance, write-offs, provisions for credit losses.);
displaying the GUI control via a GUI of the expenditure visualization application, wherein the GUI control is configured to initially display unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent objects and corresponding parent object visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child objects and corresponding cost object visualizations are not visible (Ares: [0072] The nodes within the nodal network 112 may correspond to the hierarchical structure of the data… when the analytics server 110 identifies that data represented by two node are related, the analytics server 110 may link the related nodes., [0074] To efficiently access a node and to retrieve all related data, the analytics server 110 may index each node based on its associated metadata and/or links. The analytics server 110 may also make each node searchable based on its metadata and/or links. To identify a node and/or to traverse the nodal network 112, the analytics server may utilize one or more existing methodologies (e.g., Solr®). Indexing the nodes within the nodal network 112 allows the nodes to be searchable by their associated metadata and/or links., [0115] Among other technical advantages provided, the GUIs described herein provide a navigation method that corresponds to the nodal network. Therefore, a user can navigate through data (e.g., moved from a broad view to a granular view or vice versa or move cross domains and dimensions) in a more efficient manner, [0216] The analytics server may also specify a measure catalog for each domain to organize measures into logical groupings. Upon identifying the relevant domains, the analytics server may also identify relevant measure catalogs (MCs) for each identified domain. A catalog of measure or measure catalog is implemented for each domain. MCs allow the analytics server to quantify the absolute and relative size of concepts. Non-limiting examples of MCs include revenue expenses net income, number of facilities, number of ATMs, gross loans and acceptance, write-offs, provisions for credit losses.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen to include the tree based GUI as taught by Ares, node presentation of financial data as taught by Chen with the motivation of providing an efficient method of navigating large volumes of data (Ares: [0007]).
Chen and Ares fail to disclose a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
the data structure storing both a budgeted amount for each cost object and an actual expenditure amount for each cost object;
generating, based on the data structure, a tree view graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents the hierarchy of cost objects, wherein each node in the tree view GUI control includes both the cost accounting data for a corresponding cost object and an expenditure visualization representing a comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount for the corresponding cost object;
displaying the tree view GUI control via a GUI of the expenditure visualization application, wherein the tree view GUI control is configured to initially display unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent cost objects and corresponding parent cost object expenditure visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child cost objects and corresponding child cost object expenditure visualizations are not visible.
Nehring teaches a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
the data structure storing both a budgeted amount for each cost object and an actual expenditure amount for each cost object (Nehring: [0074], assume that the values found in the Initial Estimate are the shipbuilder's Budget at Complete (BAC)… the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) may be added to the chart. [0077] The confluence of BAC, LRE, and ACWP circles may provide at least two useful insights to EVM performance. First, work sequencing may be visible. Those hierarchical data structure elements for which ACWP shading is a higher percentage of the corresponding BAC or the LRE circles are the most complete hierarchical data structure elements, [0078] The second insight may include that the ACWP circles indicate actual and potential overruns and under runs. For example, FIG. 17 indicates a significant overrun occurred for the Plan Cost element, i.e., its current ACWP is greater than its BAC.);
generating, based on the data structure, wherein each node includes both the cost accounting data for a corresponding cost object and an expenditure visualization representing a comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount for the corresponding cost object (Nehring: [0074], assume that the values found in the Initial Estimate are the shipbuilder's Budget at Complete (BAC)… the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) may be added to the chart. [0077] The confluence of BAC, LRE, and ACWP circles may provide at least two useful insights to EVM performance. First, work sequencing may be visible. Those hierarchical data structure elements for which ACWP shading is a higher percentage of the corresponding BAC or the LRE circles are the most complete hierarchical data structure elements, [0078] The second insight may include that the ACWP circles indicate actual and potential overruns and under runs. For example, FIG. 17 indicates a significant overrun occurred for the Plan Cost element, i.e., its current ACWP is greater than its BAC.); and
displaying unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent cost objects and corresponding parent cost object expenditure visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child cost objects and corresponding child cost object expenditure visualizations are not visible (Nehring: [0074], assume that the values found in the Initial Estimate are the shipbuilder's Budget at Complete (BAC)… the Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) may be added to the chart. [0077] The confluence of BAC, LRE, and ACWP circles may provide at least two useful insights to EVM performance. First, work sequencing may be visible. Those hierarchical data structure elements for which ACWP shading is a higher percentage of the corresponding BAC or the LRE circles are the most complete hierarchical data structure elements, [0078] The second insight may include that the ACWP circles indicate actual and potential overruns and under runs. For example, FIG. 17 indicates a significant overrun occurred for the Plan Cost element, i.e., its current ACWP is greater than its BAC.).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen and Ares to include an expenditure visualization representing the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount as taught by Nehring, with the node presentation of financial data as taught by Chen and Ares with the motivation to illustrate an entire hierarchical data structure on a single chart, showing many or all hierarchical data structure elements, relationships, and costs or other data, in a visual manner (Nehring: [0006]).
Chen, Ares, and Nehring fail to disclose a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
generating, based on the data structure, a tree view graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents the hierarchy of objects;
displaying the tree view GUI control via a GUI of the application, wherein the tree view GUI control is configured to initially display unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent objects and corresponding parent object visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child objects and corresponding child object visualizations are not visible.
Cummings teaches a computer-implemented method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device for implementing an expenditure visualization application, comprising:
generating, based on the data structure, a tree view graphical user interface (GUI) control that represents the hierarchy of objects (Cummings: [0043] Utilizing portfolio management service 202, the user may create a new portfolio hierarchy or modify (i.e., revise) an existing portfolio hierarchy via user interface functions or through an import function. The newly created portfolio hierarchy or the modified existing portfolio hierarchy may include multiple levels, with each level signifying an important analytical dimension. Analytical dimensions may include, but are not limited to, user, organization, time, custodian, account, asset class, geography, style, theme, smart factor, sector, category, risk classification, rank, or fund. The user may then navigate the new or modified hierarchical portfolio (which may exceed the boundaries of the display of client device 106) by scrolling vertically or horizontally, zooming in or out, or expanding or collapsing nodes in the hierarchy via user gestures, voice commands, or user interface icons. [0124] enables hierarchical portfolio 300 to be displayed to the user in a tree structure containing cells which represent portfolio elements, attributes, and values (e.g., portfolio items, portfolio item attributes, and portfolio item attribute values).);
displaying the tree view GUI control via a GUI of the application, wherein the tree view GUI control is configured to initially display unexpanded nodes representing the one or more parent objects and corresponding parent object visualizations, and wherein nodes representing the one or more corresponding child objects and corresponding child object visualizations are not visible (Cummings: [0043] Utilizing portfolio management service 202, the user may create a new portfolio hierarchy or modify (i.e., revise) an existing portfolio hierarchy via user interface functions or through an import function. The newly created portfolio hierarchy or the modified existing portfolio hierarchy may include multiple levels, with each level signifying an important analytical dimension. Analytical dimensions may include, but are not limited to, user, organization, time, custodian, account, asset class, geography, style, theme, smart factor, sector, category, risk classification, rank, or fund. The user may then navigate the new or modified hierarchical portfolio (which may exceed the boundaries of the display of client device 106) by scrolling vertically or horizontally, zooming in or out, or expanding or collapsing nodes in the hierarchy via user gestures, voice commands, or user interface icons. [0124] enables hierarchical portfolio 300 to be displayed to the user in a tree structure containing cells which represent portfolio elements, attributes, and values (e.g., portfolio items, portfolio item attributes, and portfolio item attribute values).).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen, Ares, and Nehring to include a tree view GUI that expands or unexpands child nodes as taught by Cummings, with the node presentation of financial data as taught by Chen, Ares, and Nehring with the motivation to make better financial decisions based on knowledge and insights accumulated over time (Cummings: [0007]).
As per Claims 2, 10, and 18, Chen fails to disclose a method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device, further comprising:
generating a waterfall visualization for the parent cost object based on the comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount associated therewith, wherein the waterfall visualization depicts at least the comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount for the parent cost object by fiscal period; and
displaying the waterfall visualization via the GUI.
Ares teaches a method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device, further comprising:
generating a waterfall visualization for the parent cost object based on the comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount associated therewith, wherein the waterfall visualization depicts at least the comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount for the parent cost object by fiscal period (Ares: [0115]-[0117]); and
displaying the waterfall visualization via the GUI (Ares: [0115]-[0117]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen to include the tree based GUI as taught by Ares, node presentation of financial data as taught by Chen with the motivation of providing an efficient method of navigating large volumes of data (Ares: [0007]).
As per Claims 3, 11, and 19, Chen discloses a method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device, further comprising:
determining that a user has interacted with a particular node of the tree view GUI control (Chen: Claim 7); and
in response to determining that the user has interacted with the particular node of the tree view GUI control, generating one or more of the following for display via the GUI:
a waterfall visualization for the particular cost object corresponding to the particular node, wherein the waterfall visualization depicts at least the comparison between the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount for the particular cost object by fiscal period;
a second tree view GUI control representing particular child cost objects in the hierarchy of cost objects that depend from the particular cost object that corresponds to the particular node; or
a budget utilization alert corresponding to the particular cost object associated with the particular node (Chen: Claim 7).
As per Claims 4, 12, and 20, Chen discloses a method, system, and non-transitory computer-readable device, further comprising:
providing one or more personalization GUI controls for display via the GUI, the one or more personalization GUI controls enabling a user to define one or more user-specific parameters for generating the tree view GUI control, the one or more user-specific parameters including one or more of: the identifier of the parent cost object; one or more filters for determining which cost objects to include in the hierarchy of cost objects; a time period for expenditure visualizations; a currency for the expenditure visualizations; or one or more thresholds for generating one or more of budget utilization indicators included in the expenditure visualizations or budget utilization alerts (Chen: [0104]).
As per Claims 5 and 13, Chen discloses a method and system, further comprising:
in response to a subsequent launch of the expenditure visualization application by the user, attempting to load the one or more user-specific parameters for generating the tree view GUI control (Chen: [0083]); and
in response to determining that the one or more user-specific parameters cannot be loaded, using a default set of parameters for generating the tree view GUI control (Chen: [0083]).
As per Claims 6 and 14, Chen discloses a method and system, further comprising:
providing a trend view GUI control for display in the GUI in association with each node (Chen: [0159]);
in response to determining that a user has interacted with the trend view GUI control corresponding to a particular node:
generating a trend view for a particular cost object corresponding to the particular node, the trend view including one or more visualizations that represent one or more of budgeted amount or the actual expenditure amount for the particular cost object for one or more prior fiscal periods (Chen: [0159]); and
providing the trend view for display via the GUI (Chen: [0159]).
As per Claims 7 and 15, Chen discloses a method and system, further comprising:
providing a predictive analysis GUI control for display in the GUI in association with each node (Chen: [0144]);
in response to determining that a user has interacted with the predictive analysis GUI control corresponding to a particular node:
performing a predictive analysis for a particular cost object corresponding to the particular node based on one or more of budgeted amount or the actual expenditure amount for the particular cost object for one or more prior fiscal periods (Chen: [0144]);
based on results of the predictive analysis, generating a predictive analysis visualization (Chen: [0144]); and
providing the predictive analysis visualization for display via the GUI (Chen: [0144]).
As per Claims 8 and 16, Chen fails to disclose a method and system, wherein performing the predictive analysis for the particular cost object comprises:
performing the predictive analysis for the particular cost object using a machine learning model.
Ares teaches a method and system, wherein performing the predictive analysis for the particular cost object comprises:
performing the predictive analysis for the particular cost object using a machine learning model (Ares: [0109]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen to include the tree based GUI as taught by Ares, node presentation of financial data as taught by Chen with the motivation of providing an efficient method of navigating large volumes of data (Ares: [0007]).
As per Claim 21, Chen and Ares fail to disclose a method, further comprising displaying a budget utilization status corresponding to a particular range of budget utilization percentage for each of cost objects of the hierarchy of cost objects.
Nehring teaches a method, further comprising displaying a budget utilization status corresponding to a particular range of budget utilization percentage for each of cost objects of the hierarchy of cost objects (Nehring: [0076]-[0078]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chen and Ares to include an expenditure visualization representing the budgeted amount and the actual expenditure amount as taught by Nehring, with the node presentation of financial data as taught by Chen and Ares with the motivation to illustrate an entire hierarchical data structure on a single chart, showing many or all hierarchical data structure elements, relationships, and costs or other data, in a visual manner (Nehring: [0006]).
Response to Arguments
35 USC 101
Applicant's arguments filed November 20, 2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
First, Applicant argues that the claims are not directed to an abstract idea for similar reasons to Core Wireless. The independent claim in Core Wireless is directed to a specific display, and it does not include any specific type of data being presented in the claim. Since the claim is only directed to a display on a computing device, and not to any particular application to specific data being presented, it was found to not be directed to an abstract idea. Unlike Core Wireless, this application includes limitations directed to a specific application of displaying cost objects at various levels on a GUI. Because the GUI is being applied to a specific type of data, more specifically, accounting data, the claims are found to be fundamentally different than those of Core Wireless, and directed to the abstract ideas of organizing human activity and mental processes.
Next, Applicant argues that the additional elements of the claims integrate the abstract ideas into a practical application because the claim improves the functioning of a computer or technical field of organizing expenditure visualization by optimizing the display of cost accounting data across different levels of an organization to improve the efficiency of analysis and comparison for cost objects at each level of expenditure. If the abstract idea were to be removed from the argued improvement to a computer or technical field we are left with…the claim improves visualization by optimizing the display of data. However, the use of the graphical user interface of the Applicant’s claims is found to be more analogous to Trading Technologies International v. IBG LLC, 921 F.3d 1306 (Ded. Cir. 2019). The court was not persuaded that the claims were directed to an improved graphical user interface, finding that a "purportedly new arrangement of generic information" was not enough to improve the functioning of the computer in the manner of Core Wireless.
35 USC 103
Applicant’s arguments, see Applicant Arguments/Remarks Made in an Amendment, filed November 20, 2025, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-17 and 19-21 under 35 USC 103 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of US Pat Pub 2023/0245245 “Chen”, in view of US Pat Pub 2021/0248166 “Ares”, in view of US Pat Pub 2016/0196673 “Nehring”, in view of US Pat Pub 2021/0264520 “Cummings”.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to REVA R MOORE whose telephone number is (571)270-7942. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 9:00-6:00.
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, Fahd Obeid can be reached at 571-270-3324. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/REVA R MOORE/Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/PETER LUDWIG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627