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 .
Status of the Application
This is a final office action prepared in response to claim amendments and Remarks submitted by Applicant on August 17, 2026 relating to U.S. Patent Application No. 18/370,852 filed on September 20, 2023, which is a Continuation-in-Part of Application 17/948,156, filed on Sep. 19, 2022 and has Provisional Application 63/408,425 filed on September 20, 2022. Applicant has amended Claims 1, 2, 9 10-11, 14-15, 21, 24 and 26-28. Claims 1-21, 24, and 26-28 are pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
The Remarks submitted by Applicant on August 17, 2026 have been fully considered.
With respect to the Claim Objection, Applicant has amended Claim 2 to correct the typographical error. The Claim Objection is withdrawn.
With respect to the Section 112(b) Rejection, Applicant has amended independent Claim 14 and addressed the antecedent basis issues. The Section 112(b) Rejection is withdrawn.
With respect to the Section 101 Rejection, Applicant asserts that the claims are patent eligible in that they do not recite any limitation that falls within the groupings of abstract ideas enumerated in MPEP 2106.04 and, further, that the claims are directed to improvements to existing computer technology. (Remarks, pp. 14-19). Examiner respectfully disagrees (See Section 101 Rejection below). Applicant asserts that claim 1 recites “one or more categories of content” and that this is not limited to any particular subject matter, financial or otherwise and that despite the recitations in the Specification at Paragraph 35, the categories are not limited to tradable assets. (Remarks, pp. 16-17). Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant’s assertion is belied by the disclosure, including, the name of the invention, “Real-Time Equity Monitoring System, Process and Interface,” the Abstract (A method for generating a dynamic interface to display real-time information about a plurality of tradeable assets within a portfolio. …) and numerous paragraphs in the Specification (ie. Pars, 27, 29, 35, 36, 43, 44, 55, 61, 62 etc.). Indeed, throughout the Specification where the “categories of content” are recited, the term is followed by for a plurality of different tradable assets, securities or equities.
Applicant further asserts that the office action’s position that the claimed subject matter may be used to mitigate risk is misplaced in that usefulness in an economic context does not render a claim directed to a fundamental economic practice. (Remarks, pp. 17-18). Examiner respectfully disagrees. The information provided to the user about a selected financial asset can inform the user with respect to taking, or not taking an action, related to the asset that can affect the user’s financial risk and falls within the category of fundamental economic principles including mitigation of risk.
Applicant also refers to Example 37 to support Claim 1 being integrated into a practical application because it solves a specific technical problem in that it improves the user interface because information is updated in real time, without requiring the user to navigate to a separate interface to access underlying real-time information. Applicant asserts that this improvement “increases the efficiency of the decision making process” (referring to Specification Pars. 76 and 94 - which involve evaluation and potential trading of assets). (Remarks, pp. 18-19). Examiner respectfully disagrees. The claimed additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and are used as tools to implement the abstract idea. They do not provide improvements to the functioning of a computer or to technology or to a technical field. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide significantly more. (See Section 101 Rejection below). The Section 101 Rejection is maintained.
Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 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 1-21, 24, and 26-28 are rejected pursuant to 35 USC § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 - Statutory Class
Claims 1-13, 24 and 26-28 are directed to a method. Claims 14-21 are directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions. Therefore, on its face, each of the claims is directed to a statutory class of invention.
Step 2A, Prong 1 – Abstract Idea
Claim 14 recites receive from a user, selection of a plurality of one or more categories of content, receive data for at least one of the one or more categories of content; generate a representation of at least one node for at least one category of content in the one or more categories of content, based at least in part, on the received data, wherein at least one node comprises: a first characteristic indicative of a quantity relative to the categories of content, and a second characteristic indicative of a momentum value; generate a common display region, wherein the node is positioned within the common display region according to the first and second characteristics, the node comprises one or more graphical aspects that correspond to respective real-time information; convert one or more values of the first characteristic and/or the second characteristic to one or more new values to update the one or more graphical aspects; and rotate the at least one node in a first angular direction on the interface while the angular momentum movement is positive, and rotate the at least one node in a second angular direction on the interface while the on-screen angular momentum movement is negative. The abstract idea recited in Claim 14 involves continually receiving, updating and displaying data, information and values about various categories of content in real-time. Insofar as the Specification (Paragraph 36) discloses that the different categories of content displayed by the computing system can include a plurality of different tradable assets, and as asserted by the Applicant, (Remarks, pp. 18-19, Specification, Pars. 76, 94) because the (tradeable asset) information is updated and presented to the user in real time this “increases the efficiency of the decision making process” and allows the user, in real-time, to recognize the risk of a potential loss and take a real-time action that would mitigate this loss, the abstract idea can amount to fundamental economic principles including mitigation of risk under Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a). Additionally, the real-time measuring, updating and displaying of data and information relating to categories of content, particularly, categorization of content (e.g. consumed) is a well-known pre and post-sale activity that would be used to analyze and facilitate sales and amount to sales activity in commercial or legal interactions under Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a). Claim 1 also recites the same abstract idea discussed above.
Step 2A, Prong 2 – Practical Application
Claim 14 recites a non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions, a computing system, one or more processors, a network interface, a computer network and the visual interface. The additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and are used as tools to implement the abstract idea. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. They do not provide improvements to the functioning of a computer or to technology or a technical field. The claims do not invoke a particular machine as our guidance is clear that a generic computer is not the particular machine envisioned, they do not transform matter as they only manipulate data which is not matter.
Step 2B – Significantly more
As set forth in the discussion in Step 2A, Prong 2, above, the additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and are used as tools to implement the abstract idea. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or add significantly more to the abstract idea.
Dependent claims
Claims 2 (the node further includes a third characteristic indicative of a quantity change, and a fourth characteristic indicative of a recommended action; and generating the digital dynamic interface, the node has a size based, at least in part, on the third characteristic, and the node has a color based, at least in part, on the fourth characteristic), Claim 3 (generating, with the computing system, a connection indicator between a particular node of a user-selected category of content and one or more nodes of one or more related categories of content, wherein the connection indicator is displayed on the digital dynamic interface) Claim 4 (the connection indicator is based, at least in part, on the user-selected category of content and the one or more related categories of content being within an economic and/or non-economic industry), Claim 5 (the economic industry and/or non-economic industry comprises at least one of: aerospace, asset management, banking, consumer electronics, credit services, drug manufacturing, electrical equipment, multimedia, engineering, construction, or any combination thereof), Claim 6 (the connection indicator is based, at least in part, on the user-selected category of content and the one or more categories of content being within an economic sector and/or non-economic sector), Claim 7 (the economic sector and/or non-economic sector comprises at least one of the following sectors: basic materials, communication services, consumer cyclical, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials, technology, or any combination thereof), Claim 8 (the third characteristic is based, at least in part, on an initial quantity-type value of the category of content, further wherein the size increases with a positive change in the quantity type value and decreases with a negative change in the quantity type value, and further wherein the color of the node relates to a recommendation type of a plurality of recommendation types), Claim 9 (the first angular direction is clockwise, and wherein a speed of the on-screen angular momentum movement increases with a larger positive momentum value), Claim 10 (the second angular direction is counterclockwise, and wherein a speed of the on-screen angular momentum movement increases with a larger negative momentum value), Claim 11 (receiving, across a computer network via the network interface, data for one or more content classes, wherein the data is received in real- time; and generating, with the computing system, an on-screen wedge for a particular content class of the one or more content classes based, at least in part, on the data of the one or more content classes, wherein the on-screen digital wedge includes: a third characteristic indicative of a quantity relative to the one or more content categories, a fourth characteristic indicative of a recommended action, and a fifth characteristic indicative of a momentum value of categories of content within the content class; wherein the dynamic interface includes: the plurality of concentric wedges arranged within the circular common area, and one or more concentric wedges having an angular movement based, at least in part, on the fifth characteristic of the on-screen digital wedge, the on-screen digital wedge having a color based, at least in part, on the fourth characteristic, and the on-screen digital wedge having a size based, at least in part, on the third characteristic), Claim 12 (the angular movement of the on-screen digital wedge is clockwise when the momentum value of the category of content is positive, and wherein a speed of the angular movement increases with a larger positive momentum value), Claim 13 (the angular movement of the on-screen digital wedge is counterclockwise when the momentum value is negative, and wherein a speed of the angular movement increases with a larger negative trading momentum value), Claim 15 (at least one node further includes a third characteristic indicative of a quantity change, and a fourth characteristic indicative of a recommended action; and the computer readable medium stores additional instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes the one or more processors to generate the dynamic interface such that at least one node has a size based on the third characteristic, and at least one node has a color based on the fourth characteristic), Claim 16 (generate a connection indicator between a node of a user-selected category of content and nodes of one or more related categories of content, wherein the connection indicator is displayed on the dynamic interface), Claim 17 (the connection indicator is based on the user-selected category of content and the one or more related categories of content being within an economic industry, and wherein the economic industry comprises at least one of: aerospace, asset management, banking, consumer electronics, credit services, drug manufacturing, electrical equipment, multimedia, engineering, and construction), Claim 18 (the connection indicator is based on the user-selected category of content and the one or more related categories of content being within the same economic sector, and wherein the economic sector comprises at least one of: basic materials, communication services, consumer cyclical, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrials, and technology), Claim 19 (the third characteristic is based on an initial quantity of the category of content, further wherein the size increases with a positive quantity change and decreases with a negative quantity change, and further wherein the color of the node relates to a recommendation type), Claim 20 (the angular movement of a node is clockwise when trading the momentum value is positive, and the angular movement of a node is counterclockwise when momentum value is negative; and a speed of the angular movement increases with a larger positive momentum value, and the speed of the angular movement increases with a larger negative momentum value), Claim 21 (the dynamic interface includes the node at least one node located within a circular common area of the common display region, at least one node has a position between a center of the circular common area and an outer edge of the circular common area, the position based, at least in part, on the first characteristic of at least one node, and a speed of the angular movement within the circular common area is based, at least in part, on the second characteristic), Claim 24 (receiving a request from a third party to follow a grouping of categories of content; and providing access to the grouping to a third party), Claim 26 (generating a leaderboard to display rankings of groupings), Claim 27 (the ranking of groupings is based on average return and/or total value of categories of content in the groupings) and Claim 28 (the digital dynamic interface includes at least one node located within a circular common area of the common display region, at least one node has a position between a center of the circular common area and an outer edge of the circular common area, the position based, at least in part of, on the first characteristic of at least one node, and a speed of the angular movement is based, at least in part, on a magnitude of the second characteristic) further define and add specificity to the abstract idea. Thus, the dependent claims also fail to add significantly more to the abstract idea.
As such, Claims 1-21, 24, and 26-28 are not patent eligible.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 GEORGE PROIOS whose telephone number is (571)272-4573. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/GEORGE N. PROIOS/Examiner, Art Unit 3694
/BENNETT M SIGMOND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3694
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