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 .
Final Rejection, Withdrawal of, Premature
Applicant on August 03, 2026 raised issues concerning non-addressed amendments which were reflexed in the Applicant’s Request for Consideration on 7/14. These issues are being further addressed herein. Thus, Applicant’s request for reconsideration of the finality of the rejection of the last Office action is persuasive and, therefore, the finality of that action is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
The 35 U.S.C. 112a rejection is withdrawn.
Regarding the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection-The Applicant contends that the combination of references does not disclose, "receiving…production information indicating an amount of a resource produced, a batch identifier for the resource produced, and a plurality of wallet identifiers for a corresponding plurality of resource recipients within an allocation of one or more units of the amount of resource produced based on a unit size of the resource; determining a number of blocks for the blockchain corresponding to each unit of the one or more units of the allocation based on the unit size of the resource and the amount of resource produced; generating a plurality of blocks on the blockchain according to the number of blocks and using the allocation of the production information; and the first set of the plurality of sets of blocks includes a claim status to indicate that the first set is untradeable to any resource recipients of the plurality of resource recipients indicated within the allocation," as recited in claim 1 and similarly recited in claims 7, 13, and 16.
It should be noted that:
PATENTS ARE RELEVANT AS PRIOR ART FOR ALL THEY CONTAIN [MPEP 2123]
"The use of patents as references is not limited to what the patentees describe as their own inventions or to the problems with which they are concerned. They are part of the literature of the art, relevant for all they contain." In re Heck, 699 F.2d 1331, 1332-33, 216 USPQ 1038, 1039 (Fed. Cir. 1983) (quoting In re Lemelson, 397 F.2d 1006, 1009, 158 USPQ 275, 277 (CCPA 1968)).
Moreover, a reference may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art, including nonpreferred embodiments. Merck & Co. v. Biocraft Labs., Inc. 874 F.2d 804, 10 USPQ2d 1843 (Fed. Cir. 1989), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 975 (1989). See also Upsher-Smith Labs. v. Pamlab, LLC, 412 F.3d 1319, 1323, 75 USPQ2d 1213, 1215 (Fed. Cir. 2005) (reference disclosing optional inclusion of a particular component teaches compositions that both do and do not contain that component); Celeritas Technologies Ltd. v. Rockwell International Corp., 150 F.3d 1354, 1361, 47 USPQ2d 1516, 1522-23 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (The court held that the prior art anticipated the claims even though it taught away from the claimed invention. "The fact that a modem with a single carrier data signal is shown to be less than optimal does not vitiate the fact that it is disclosed.
The Applicant’s invention generally relates to database management [see Specification, ¶0002]. In particular, The Applicant’s invention describes block-chain based tracking of resource consumption and environmental attributes. Similarly, the primary reference discloses block-chain tracking of carbon credits and materials that are used to sequester carbon. Particularly, Wollack describes, “receiving production information indicating an amount of resource produced,…” in the provision of carbon-sequestering materials (via polymer and optional material inventory) in the form of resins that are shipped to a customer (item# 148) [¶0032] and are sent from the vendor to customers in the form of a packet (item# 150a,b); ¶0065]. The materials packet reads on “receiving product information” wherein it provides information such as a unit count, amount of polymer used and other relevant information which is collected by sensors [¶0033]. Wollack reads on, “… a batch identifier for the resource produced…” [¶0039-product identifiers of goods; ¶0065-first packet 150a may include a finished polymer weight…batch identifier] and “…a plurality of wallet identifiers for corresponding plurality of resource recipients” [¶0062-the product identifier of goods providing suitable account or identification information such as digital wallet identifier ( or suitable information that identifies a third-party beneficiary)].
In regards to, “…within an allocation of one or more units of the amount of resource produced based on a unit size of the resource”, it should be noted that, references, in determining obviousness are not read in isolation, but for what they fairly teach in combination as a whole and are evaluated by what they suggest to one versed in the art. Thus, it is maintained that it would be well understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that “…an allocation of one or more units…based upon a size unit” is suggested in the combination of Wollack in view of Metzler, as a distribution or shipment of carbon-sequestering materials or resins based upon a resin order of an “appropriate” amount of resins/resources which [see Wollack, ¶0032]. It is clear that one of ordinary skill in the art would know from the combination of Wollack and Metzler that the production details that are monitored and recorded, such as weight of the material produced, batch information that are recorded via one or more entries within the block-chain ledger [see Wollack, ¶0020], suggests unit size (e.g., weight of material (in lbs or kg-say) or a batch of material describes attributes of a distinct group of items).
In regards to, “generating,…, a plurality of blocks on the blockchain…”[¶0027-the producer may send first packet to block-chain; ¶0058, ¶0062-¶0063] “using the allocation of the product information” (e.g., first packet having product information). It is also the case that, “using the allocation of product information” is not clearly defined what exactly what steps are performed besides what one of ordinary skill in the art would expect from the details of the packet information that would be found within the data packet details stored on the blockchain.
Thus for the following reasons, 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection is maintained below.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wollack et al (US 2022/0237628) in view of Metzler (US 2023/0259640). Please consider additional reasoning and supplemental recitations provided in the Response to Arguments above.
Regarding claim 1, Wollack discloses a computer-implemented method for eliminating duplicate allocations of blocks on a blockchain, the method comprising:
receiving, by a producer computer of a plurality of computers associated with a blockchain, production information indicating an amount of a resource produced [¶0020-production details are monitored and recorded including details for a batch of material], a batch identifier for the resource produced (see ¶0020-describing unique product identifiers with a batch of material], and a plurality of wallet identifiers for a corresponding plurality of resource recipients [¶0039], [¶0062];
determining, by the producer computer, a number of blocks for the blockchain to generate for representing a unit of the resource produced of the amount of resource produced; [¶0058- wherein raw material batches (or units) and blockchain entries may be stored in blocks, (item# 304), (item# 308)] generating, by the producer computer, a plurality of blocks on the blockchain according to the number of blocks and using the production information, the plurality of blocks including a plurality of sets of blocks for a corresponding resource recipient of the plurality of resource recipients, [¶0058] each block in the set of blocks for the corresponding resource recipient including a wallet identifier for the resource recipient. [¶0058], [¶0062-¶0063]
Wollack fails but Metzler discloses, executing, by the producer computer, a smart contract configured to perform a transfer of a first set of the plurality of sets of blocks to the wallet identifier for the resource recipient, the first set of the plurality of sets of blocks includes a claim status to indicate that the first set is untradeable to any resource recipients of the plurality of resource recipients indicating with the allocation [see 0005, 0012, 0059, esp. (Fig. 18) 0083]. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date to that provided the features of Metzler into Wollack. The motivation would be to remove certain tokens.
Regarding claim 2, Wollack discloses further comprising generating, by the producer computer (item# 604), a graphical user interface (Fig. (item# 410) indicating ownership of one or more units of the resource produced. [¶0061], [¶0071]
Regarding claim 3, Wollack discloses wherein each block includes a pointer to a non-transitory storage medium containing at least a portion of the production information. (Fig. )(item# 614)[1|¶0072]
Regarding claim 4, Wollack discloses wherein the set of blocks for the resource recipient includes a first subset of blocks and a corresponding second subset of blocks. [¶0082-describing a subset of product identifiers]
Regarding claim 5, Wollack discloses wherein the producer computer receives one or more user inputs containing the production information via a user interface of the producer computer. (Fig. 6)(item# 604) (item# 612) (item# 628()(item# 616)[1]¶0070-¶0072]
Regarding claim 6, Wollack discloses wherein a set of one or more blocks includes a digital record (item# 512) including data (item# 150a) defining a physical and sustainability profile of a physical commodity represented by the digital record. (Fig. 5)(item# 510) (item# 50a)(item#512-digital signature) [¶0065]
Regarding claim 7, Wollack discloses transmitting, by a consumer computer associated with a consumer of a plurality of computers associated with a blockchain, to a producer computer of the plurality of computers a request for a portion of an amount of a resource; [¶0073-¶0074], [¶0079] receiving, by the consumer computer, a notification confirming that a blockchain wallet of the consumer has been associated with a set of blocks added to the blockchain, the set of blocks representing the portion of the amount of the resource; and in response to the consumer computer receiving one or more user inputs for updating a claim status of the portion of the amount of resource represented by the set of blocks, ¶0064-electronic communication is sent to the owner or the owner is contacted] executing, by the consumer computer, a smart contract of the blockchain configured to update the set of blocks to being untradeable. [¶0068]
Regarding claim 8, Wollack discloses generating, by the consumer computer, a graphical user interface indicating each block associated with the blockchain wallet of the consumer being indicated as untradeable. (Fig. 6)(item# 604) (item# (item# 628)(item# 616)[¶0070-¶0072]
Regarding claim 9, Wollack discloses, obtaining, by the consumer computer, a computer file for the portion of the amount of resource indicated by a block indicated as being untradeable, the computer file including a sustainability attribute associated with the portion of the amount of resource. [¶0075-¶0076]
Regarding claim 10, Wollack discloses wherein updating the set of blocks as untradeable includes updating, by the consumer computer executing the smart contract, the set of blocks to indicate a transfer from the blockchain wallet of the consumer to a burn wallet of the blockchain. [9|0058-modified blocks], [¶0061], [ the recitation of, " the set of blocks to indicate a transfer...", is intended use language and has limited patentable weight.]
Regarding claim 11, Wollack discloses wherein updating the set of blocks as untradeable includes updating, by the consumer computer executing the smart contract, the set of blocks to indicate a transfer
from the blockchain wallet of the consumer to an unusable pointer address. [10058-modified blocks], [90061].
Regarding claim 12, Wollack discloses wherein updating the set of blocks as untradeable includes updating, by the consumer computer executing the smart contract, a tradability attribute stored in a database for each block of the set of blocks. [¶0072]
Regarding claim 13, Wollack discloses receiving, by a computer of a plurality of computers associated with a blockchain, a notification confirming that a first blockchain wallet has been associated with a first set of blocks and a second set of blocks added to the blockchain, the first set of blocks representing an amount of a resource; [9|0061-9|0063, 1|0064-electronic communication is sent to the owner or the owner is contacted] executing, by the computer, a first smart contract of the blockchain configured to transfer the second set of blocks to a second blockchain wallet; [9|0039], [9062]and executing, by the computer, a second smart contract of the blockchain configured to update the first set of blocks to being untradeable in response to receiving an update to a claim status for the resource represented by the first set of blocks. [10058]
Regarding claim 14, Wollack discloses wherein a portion of the first set of blocks or the second set of blocks correspond to consumed fuel. [0020], [90035], [10040]
Regarding claim 15, Wollack discloses further comprising generating, by the computer, a graphical user interface indicating each block associated with the second blockchain wallet being indicated as untradeable. [10063-9|0064-indicating webpage, ||0072]
Regarding claim 16, Wollack discloses a system comprising: a database configured to store fuel information on a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium;[90028],[90036,
one or more computing devices configured as nodes of a blockchain (Fig. 6) [90052, 110055, 10070-90071], including a first computing device comprising a processor configured to: immutably store on one or more blocks of the blockchain environmental and performance characteristics of a physical fuel, wherein the environmental and performance characteristics of the physical fuel indicate a plurality of supply chain types. [90020]
Regarding claim 17, Wollack discloses wherein the one or more nodes are configured to merge the emission accounting from a mass balance physical inventory with the accounting for a book and claim program. [90023], [¶0044]
Regarding claim 18, Wollack discloses wherein the one or more nodes are configured to store additional blocks on the blockchain indicating environmental claims from at least one of physical consumption or virtual consumption according to a claim received from the computer. [¶0042], [¶0044]
Regarding claim 19, Wollack discloses wherein a set of one or more nodes includes a digital record including data defining a physical and sustainability profile of a physical commodity represented by the digital record. [¶0044],[¶0046-batch polymer recorded into blockchain ledger], (block 208)[1|0048-each batch of resin may be recorded via one more blockchain entries]
Regarding claim 20, Wollack discloses wherein the first computing device is configured to generate and store a summary reporting associated with one or more tokens for an environmental program compliance, the summary reporting including sustainability information based upon a physical and sustainability profile data for one or more physical resources. [¶0020-product details are memorialized and recorded via one or more blockchain entries]
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 DANIEL S FELTEN whose telephone number is (571)272-6742. The examiner can normally be reached Flex.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ryan D Donlon can be reached at 5712703602. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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DANIEL S. FELTEN
Examiner
Art Unit 3692
/DANIEL S FELTEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3692
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