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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 05/08/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the RCE filed on 05/08/2026
Claims 1, 8, and 15 are amended.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 05/08/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues the 101 rejection start on page 9 of the response.
Applicant argues that the claims do not recite a fundamental economic practice and that the office action does not cover the newly amended claim elements.
Examiner asserts that the claims do recite fundamental economic practice as the claim are addressed to staked tokens and the returned the tokens generate. Furthermore the newly addressed claim elements require further examination. Specifically "generating ... a wrapped amount of a second crypto token," in which "the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is minted by a self-executing program deployed on the blockchain network and the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is in accordance with a first conversion ratio provided by the custodial token platform to the self-executing program," however the "the second crypto token is minted... in accordance with a first conversion ratio provided by the custodial token platform" represents fundamental economic practice.
Applicant argues step 2A prong 2 starting on page 13 of the response.
Specifically applicant argues "generating, by the custodial token platform and after receiving the request, a wrapped amount of a second crypto token," in which "the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is minted by a self-executing program deployed on the blockchain network and the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is in accordance with a first conversion ratio provided by the custodial token platform to the self- executing program," "combining the first return amount and the second return amount as the additional return amount," and "storing, at the custodial token platform in a user profile, the additional return amount, the first principal amount, and the second principal amount with the user," in which "the additional return amount, the first principal amount, and the second principal amount associated with the user increase linearly with each return distribution," improves the functioning of the custodial token platform and improves processing and latency associated with principal and return amount computation.) (response at 14-15).
Examiner respectfully disagrees. "the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is minted... in accordance with a first conversion ratio ", "combining the first return amount and the second return amount as the additional return amount", "storing, at the custodial token platform in a user profile, the additional return amount, the first principal amount, and the second principal amount with the user", "the additional return amount, the first principal amount, and the second principal amount associated with the user increase linearly with each return distribution," represent abstract subject matter as fundamental economic practice. "...by the custodial token platform and after receiving the request,... by a self-executing program deployed on the blockchain network and the wrapped amount of the second crypto token ... provided by the custodial token platform to the self- executing program" represent additional elements, however it reprints mere instruction to apply the excretion to an computer environment.
Applicant further argues that the recites improvement cited in the specification and cites Enfish on pages 15 - 17). Specially " "reduce latency and utilize relatively less power at the computing resources with respect to multiple occurrences of the principal income amounts 310 and/or the reward amounts 315, and thus, provide a more efficient technique for processing and tracking multiple principal income amounts 310 and/or the reward amounts 315." Specification [0059] (emphasis added). That is, described techniques do not merely result in using less resources. Described techniques provide specific improvements for calculation and tracking of return amounts that "increase linearly with each return distribution" in such a manner as to "reduce latency and utilize relatively less power," providing "a more efficient technique for processing and tracking multiple income amounts." Id. Described techniques further provide that "the custodial token platform 210 allows users 205 to stake via the custodial token platform 210, which improves user experience while also contributing to the security of the blockchain network." Id. [0035]." (response at 16).
Examiner respectfully disagrees, the "reduce latency and utilize relatively less power," represents mere instructions to apply the exception as, the claim fails to recite details of how a solution to a problem is accomplished, and the argued improvement to security appear to be a result of using a custodial token platform.
For at least the reasons stated above applicant’s arguments regarding 35 U.S.C. § 101 are not persuasive.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
In the instant case, claims 1, 8 and 15 are directed to a method, apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium.
For the purposes of this analysis, representative claim 1 is addressed. (Step 2A, prong 1) Abstract ideas are in bold below, and represents a “tracking returns on staked tokens” which is a grouped under “Certain methods of organizing human activity — fundamental economic practices” in prong one of step 2A (MPEP 2106.04(a)).
method for token management, comprising:
receiving, at a custodial token platform and from a user, a request to wrap an initial first amount of a first crypto token that is staked in accordance with a protocol associated with a blockchain network supported distributed data store;
generating, by the custodial token platform and after receiving the request, a wrapped amount of a second crypto token associated with the user based at least in part on wrapping the initial first amount of the first crypto token, wherein the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is minted by a self-executing program deployed on the blockchain network and the wrapped amount of the second crypto token is in accordance with a first conversion ratio provided by the custodial token platform to the self-executing program;
detecting, by the custodial token platform, a first trigger event, wherein the user is associated with at least one prior principal amount and a prior return amount of the second crypto token as a result of a prior trigger event, and wherein the first trigger events the prior trigger event, or both comprise a return distribution for the first crypto token, the return distribution a result of staking the first crypto token via the protocol;
determining, by the custodial token platform and in response to detection of the first trigger event, an additional return amount, the determining comprising:
calculating, using an updated conversion ratio resulting from the return distribution, a first principal amount and a first return amount for the at least one prior principal amount,
calculating, using the updated conversion ratio, a second principal amount and a second return amount for the prior return amount, and
combining the first return amount and the second return amount as the additional return amount; and
storing, at the custodial token platform in a user profile, the additional return amount, the first principal amount, and the second principal amount with the user, wherein the additional return amount, the first principal amount, and the second principal amount associated with the user increase linearly with each return distribution.
The additional elements of claim 1 such as “at a custodial token platform”, “…a blockchain network supported distributed data store …”, “…crypto…”, represent the use of a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and/or does no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration into a practical application, the additional elements amount to no more than mere instructions to apply the abstract idea of using generic computer components. The claim elements when considered separately and in an ordered combination, do not add significantly more than implementing the abstract idea of “tracking returns on staked tokens.”
Hence, claims 1, 8 and 15 are not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 2-7, 9-14, an d16-20 recited additional details which only further narrow the abstract idea and do not add any additional features, alone or in combination, that would provide a practical application or provide significantly more.
Claim 3 recites additional elements of “…crypto…” does no more than use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use. Therefore, as it is no more than apply it does not improve the functioning of a computer, or improve other technology or technical field.
Claim 4 recites the additional elements of “…crypto…” does no more than use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use. Therefore, as it is no more than apply it does not improve the functioning of a computer, or improve other technology or technical field.
Claims 6, 13, and 20 recite the additional elements of “…crypto…” and “…blockchain network supported distributed data store.” does no more than use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use. Therefore, as it is no more than apply it does not improve the functioning of a computer, or improve other technology or technical field.
Claim 7 recites the additional elements of “…at a user interface …” does no more than use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use. Therefore, as it is no more than apply it does not improve the functioning of a computer, or improve other technology or technical field.
Claims 10, and 17 recite the additional elements of “…crypto…” does no more than use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use. Therefore, as it is no more than apply it does not improve the functioning of a computer, or improve other technology or technical field.
Claims 11 and 18 recite the additional elements of “…crypto…” does no more than use a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and do no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use. Therefore, as it is no more than apply it does not improve the functioning of a computer, or improve other technology or technical field.
The claims as a whole do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. This is because the claims do not affect an improvement to another technology or technical field, the claims do not amount to an improvement to the functioning of a computer system itself, and the claims do not move beyond a general link of the use of an abstract idea to a particular technological environment.
Accordingly, there are no meaningful limitations in the claims that transform the judicial exception into a patent eligible application such that the claims amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Prior Art of Record Not Currently Relied Upon
Collinge et al. (US 2022/0321336 A1) Teaches: Credential management in distributed computing system.
Frederick et al. (US 2021/0021591 A1) Teaches: Multi-legged network attribution using tracking tokens and attribution.
Alen (US 2022/0414773 A1) Teaches: Method to create and trade securities from equity.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY MARK JAMES whose telephone number is (571)272-5155. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am - 5:00pm EST.
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/GREGORY M JAMES/Examiner, Art Unit 3692
/RYAN D DONLON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3692
June 26, 2026
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