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 .
Acknowledgement
The Amendment/Request for reconsideration filed 06/03/2026 is acknowledged.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 06/03/2026 has been entered.
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 5, 8, 12, 15 and 19 are amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments
The 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections are maintained. The amended claim language at least in claim 1 recites, “maintaining,…, a plurality of electronic records in a database…data related to a service…” does not provide significantly more to the abstract idea of maintaining or managing data records. Particularly, the claims recites mere instructions to implement an abstract idea on a computer, e.g., a limitation indicating that a particular function such as creating and maintaining electronic records is performed by a computer (i.e., records management and processing system), as discussed in Alice Corp., 573 U.S. at 225-26, 110 USPQ2d at 1984 (see MPEP § 2106.05(f)).
Furthermore, the Supreme Court and Federal Circuit has recognized certain elements performing functions that are well-understood, routine and conventional. In the instant claim(s), the amended claim language of adjusting values used for processing database records by maintaining electronic records, identifying a set of records from electronic records, filtering, collecting and evaluating options for adjusting electronic data, etc., is similar to computer functions of electronic recordkeeping that the courts have determined as patent ineligible, being performed in a generic manner [see e.g., Alice Corp, 134 S. Ct at 2359 (creating and maintaining “shadow accounts”); Ultramercial, 772 F.3d at 716 (updating an activity log); see also MPEP 2106].
For these reasons the 35 U.S.C. 101 is maintained below.
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 an abstract idea without significantly more.
In the instant case, claim 1 a method and claim 8 a system for maintaining and/or processing data records.
Claim 1 is directed to the abstract idea of “maintaining or managing data records” which is grouped under certain methods of organizing human activity involving legal interactions including agreements in the form or contracts as well as following rules or instructions, as in prong one of step 2A (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance).
Claim 1 recites, “maintaining,..., a plurality of records in a database, each record of the plurality of records comprising a record of a service provided to a consumer by a service provider of a plurality of service providers and identifying a value for the service provided to the consumer and at least one required action by at least one responsible entity of a plurality of responsible entities ...; identifying, ..., a set of records from the plurality of records for evaluation; filtering, ..., the identified set of records based on one or more services indicated in one or more fields of each record of the set of records, ... and indicating a service provided by the service provider to a consumer; collecting, ..., information related to the one or more services and indicating a value associated with service of the one or more services; evaluating, ..., options for adjusting a schedule of values for processing the plurality of records based on the collected information related to the one or more services, the schedule of values comprising a predetermined maximum value associated with each service of the one or more services; and adjusting, ..., one or more of the predetermined maximum values in the schedule of values based on the evaluating of the options for adjusting the schedule of values”,
which is similar to collecting information, analyzing it and displaying certain results (MPEP 2106.04(a)(1) 5. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance). 4. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because, when analyzed under prong two of step 2A (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance), the additional elements of the claim such as “a processor”, “a memory”, “a records management and processing system” 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. Therefore, the additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application as they do no more than represent a computer performing functions that correspond to (i.e. automate) the acts of maintaining data records. 5. When analyzed under step 2B (See 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance), the claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself. Viewed as a whole, the combination of elements recited in the claims merely describe the concept of maintaining data records using computer technology (e.g. a records management and processing system). Therefore, the use of these additional elements does no more than employ a computer as a tool to automate and/or implement the abstract idea, which cannot provide significantly more than the abstract idea itself (MPEP 2106.05(I)(A)(f) & (h)).
Hence, claim 2-7 further implement the abstract idea and do not provides significantly more to the judicial exception.
Claim 8 similar to claim 1 does not provide additional elements (processor, memory, that provide an improvement to a computer or technical area.
Claims 9-14 further implement the abstract idea and do not provides significantly more to the judicial exception
Claim 15 is similar to claim 1 does not provide additional elements (processor, memory, that provide an improvement to a computer or technical area and is not patent eligible.
Claims 16-20 further implement the abstract idea and do not provides significantly more to the judicial exception.
Conclusion
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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DANIEL S. FELTEN
Examiner
Art Unit 3692
/DANIEL S FELTEN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3692
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