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 Claims
The following is Office Action on the merits in response to the communication received on 1/5/26.
Claim status:
❖ Amended claims: 1, 11
❖ Canceled claims: none
❖ Added New claims: None
❖ Pending claims: 1-20
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 not directed to statutory subject matter. Specifically, the invention of claims 1-20 is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Independent claims 1 and 11 are directed to a method (claim 1), and a system (claim 11). Therefore on its face, claims 1 and 11 are directed to a statutory category of invention under Step 1 of the 2019 PEG. However claims 1 and 11 are also directed to an abstract idea without significantly more, under Step 2A (Prong One and Prong Two) and Step 2B of the 2019 PEG, which is a judicial exception to 35 U.S.C. 101, as detailed below. Using the language of independent claim 11 to illustrate the claim recites the limitations of, (i) converting ingested data feeds into a standardized format by transforming multiple different data formats into a uniform format, (ii) forecasting an impact of macroeconomic fluctuations on interdependencies among industries, (iii) automatically analyze ingested data feeds in the uniform format using predefined criteria defining thresholds for excluding data that does not meet the predefined criteria and cross-referencing data points to verify an accuracy of industry classifications and amounts of payment transactions; (iv) automatically apply internal consistency checks to detect anomalies and validate completeness of the ingested data feeds; (v) acquire payment transaction data from the ingested data feeds of a plurality of banking customers, wherein the payment transaction data includes an industry classification of the originating party, an industry classification of one or more receiving parties, and amounts of the payment transactions; (vi) aggregate the payment transaction data by industry to establish dependencies between the industry classification of the originating party and the industry classification of one or more receiving parties, wherein the dependencies are based on an aggregated total of the amounts of the payment transactions occurring between the originating party and the one or more receiving parties over a period of time; (vii) establish a network model to represent the dependencies between the two or more industries, wherein each industry is denoted as a node in the network model, and the dependencies between the nodes are denoted as links, with a characteristic of each link visually indicating a strength of the dependencies between the two or more industries; and (viii) add a temporal element to the network model, enabling a customer to observe a relative change in the strength of the dependencies between the two or more industries relative to macroeconomic fluctuations wherein adding the temporal element includes an interactive interface with a slider bar for scrolling through a timeline under the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) covers mental processes but for the recitation of generic computers and generic computer components. (Independent claim 1 recites similar limitations and the analysis is the same).
That is, other than reciting, a computer system, one or more processors; and non-transitory computer readable storage media and databases nothing in the claim precludes the steps from being directed to mental processes. If a claim limitation under its BRI, covers mental processes but for the recitation of generic computers, then the limitations fall within the “mental process” grouping of abstract ideas. Therefore, claim 11 recites an abstract idea under Step 2A Prong One of the Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance 84 Fed.Reg 50 (“2019 PEG”).
This “mental process” is not integrated into a practical application under Step 2A prong Two of the 2019 PEG. In particular the claim recites the following additional elements of, a computer system, one or more processors; and non-transitory computer readable storage media and databases. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites the additional elements – a computer system, one or more processors; and non-transitory computer readable storage media and databases.
The computer system, one or more processors; and non-transitory computer readable storage media and databases are recited at a high-level or generality (i.e. as a generic computer performing generic computer functions) such that, they amount to no more than an instruction to apply the abstract idea with a general computer (see MPEP 2106.05(h)). Accordingly these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claims are directed to an abstract idea.
Under Step 2B of the 2019 PEG independent claim 11 does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. The claim(s) do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of using, a computer system, one or more processors; and non-transitory computer readable storage media and databases, converting ingested data feeds into a standardized format by transforming multiple different data formats into a uniform format, forecasting an impact of macroeconomic fluctuations on interdependencies among industries, automatically analyze ingested data feeds in the uniform format using predefined criteria defining thresholds for excluding data that does not meet the predefined criteria and cross-referencing data points to verify an accuracy of industry classifications and amounts of payment transactions; automatically apply internal consistency checks to detect anomalies and validate completeness of the ingested data feeds; acquire payment transaction data from the ingested data feeds of a plurality of banking customers, wherein the payment transaction data includes an industry classification of the originating party, an industry classification of one or more receiving parties, and amounts of the payment transactions; aggregate the payment transaction data by industry to establish dependencies between the industry classification of the originating party and the industry classification of one or more receiving parties, wherein the dependencies are based on an aggregated total of the amounts of the payment transactions occurring between the originating party and the one or more receiving parties over a period of time; establish a network model to represent the dependencies between the two or more industries, wherein each industry is denoted as a node in the network model, and the dependencies between the nodes are denoted as links, with a characteristic of each link visually indicating a strength of the dependencies between the two or more industries; and add a temporal element to the network model, enabling a customer to observe a relative change in the strength of the dependencies between the two or more industries relative to macroeconomic fluctuations wherein adding the temporal element includes an interactive interface with a slider bar for scrolling through a timeline, amounts to an instruction to apply the abstract idea with a general computer. The claims are not patent eligible.
The dependent claims have been given the full two part analysis including analyzing the additional limitations individually. The Dependent claim(s) when analyzed individually are also held to be patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. 101 because for the same reasoning as above and the additional recited limitation(s) fail to establish that the claim(s) are not directed to an abstract idea. The additional limitations of the dependent claim(s) when considered individually do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. Claims 2-10 and 12-20 merely further explain the abstract idea.
When viewed individually the additional limitations do not amount to a claim as a whole that is significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly claims 1-20 are ineligible.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 1/5/26 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Response Remarks On Claim Rejections – 35 USC 101
The Applicant states that the claim “integrates the recited concepts into a practical application that improves computer functionality” (page 8) and that “the claim improves computer capabilities rather than merely using computers as a tool.” (page 8). The Examiner disagrees with these sentences because the claims are an improvement of the abstract idea only. It is a business solution to the business problem of automated data validation. The applicant has not shown how the claims improve a computer or other technology, invoke a particular machine, transform matter, or provide more than a general link between the abstraction and the technology, MPEP 2106.05(a)-(c) & (e). The Claims do not provide an improvement over prior systems and only add details to the abstract idea (i.e., they add specificity to the cause and effect of financial manipulations). The Example disagrees that the invention is like example 47 because it “improves the technical field of financial data processing by implementing automated data validation that addresses fundamental challenges in processing large transaction volumes while maintaining data integrity”. (page 9). They do not address a problem particular to computer networks and merely apply the abstract idea on general computer components. The amended claims make the abstract idea more specific, and managing loans is not an unconventional activity. Applicant’s remarks about why these limitations provide a practical application fail to surface any technical improvement identified in the spec, therefore this is not an inventive concept and significantly more. The fact that the prior art does not teach or suggest the combination of is irrelevant in a 101 analysis.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARLA HUDSON whose telephone number is (571)272-1063. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. ET.
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/M.H./Examiner, Art Unit 3694
/BENNETT M SIGMOND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3694