DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 1-20 submitted on 10/02/2025 are pending and have been examined. Claims 1, 11, and 20 have been amended.
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 .
Priority
No foreign priority or domestic benefit was claimed by the applicant and the application has been examined with respect to its filing date of 10/31/2023.
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 without significantly more. The claims recite an abstract idea. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim(s) do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception.
Step 1
Claims 1-19 are directed to a process and claim 20 is directed to an article of manufacture (see MPEP 2106.03).
Step 2A, Prong 1
Claim 1, taken as representative, recites at least the following limitations that recite an abstract idea:
A method for recordation of interaction data, comprising:
causing:
monitor activity;
detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user and an entity;
extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction; and
transmit the extracted interaction data;
receiving, interaction processing data associated with the entity;
comparing, the extracted interaction data and the received interaction processing data:
determining, whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on the comparison; and
in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing, the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data associated with the user.
The above limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, falls within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas, enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II), in that it recites a commercial interaction, see also Fig. 2A and ¶0001, ¶0024, and ¶0034. Claims 11 and 20 recite similar limitations as claim 1.
Thus, under Prong 1 of Step 2A, claims 1, 11, and 20 recite an abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong 2
Claim 1 includes the following additional elements that are bolded:
A computer-implemented method for recordation of interaction data, comprising:
causing, via a remote device, a first electronic application installed on and operating on a user device to:
monitor activity of a second electronic application installed on and operating on the user device and separate from the first electronic application;
detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user of the user device and an entity via the second electronic application;
extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction from the second electronic application; and
transmit the extracted interaction data to the remote device;
receiving, via the remote device, interaction processing data associated with the entity;
comparing, by the remote device, the extracted interaction data and the received interaction processing data:
determining, by the remote device, whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on the comparison; and
in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing, by the remote device, the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data in a data storage associated with the user.
Claims 11 and 20 include the same additional elements as claim 1. In addition, claim 20 includes additional elements such as, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for recordation of interaction data, the instructions executable by at least one processor of a remote device to perform operations.
The additional elements recited in claims 1, 11, and 20 merely invoke such elements as a tool to perform the abstract idea and generally link the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment of devices and electronic applications (see MPEP 2106.05(f) and MPEP 2106.05(h). These additional elements are described at a high level in Applicant’s specification without any meaningful detail about their structure or configuration (see Fig. 4 and ¶0052).
As such, under Prong 2 of Step 2A, when considered both individually and as a whole, the additional elements do not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application and, thus, claims 1, 11, and 20 are directed to an abstract idea.
Step 2B
As noted above, while the recitation of the additional elements in independent claims 1, 11, and 20 are acknowledged, claims 1, 11, and 20 merely invoke such additional elements as a tool to perform the abstract idea and generally link the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment (see MPEP 2106.05(f) and MPEP 2106.05(h)).
Even when considered as an ordered combination, the additional elements of claim 1, 11, and 20 do not add anything that is not already present when they are considered individually. Therefore, under Step 2B, there are no meaningful limitations in claims 1, 11, and 20 that transform the judicial exception into a patent eligible application such that the claims amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself (see MPEP 2106.05).
As such, independent claims 1, 11, and 20 are ineligible.
Dependent claims 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18 when analyzed as a whole, are held to be patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. 101 because they do not add “significantly more” to the abstract idea. More specifically, dependent claims 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18 merely further define the abstract limitations of claims 1, 11, and 20 or provide further embellishments of the limitations recited in independent claims 1, 11, and 20. Claims 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18 do not introduce any further additional elements. Thus, dependent claims 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, and 18 are ineligible.
Furthermore, it is noted that certain dependent claims recite additional elements supplemental to those recited in independent claims 1, 11, and 20: user interface (claims 2 and 13), website (claims 5, 6, 16, and 17), and screen-shot (claims 9 and 19). However, these elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they merely amount to using a computer to apply the abstract idea to a particular technological environment or field of use and thus do not act to integrate the abstract idea into a practical application of the abstract idea. Additionally, the additional elements do not amount to significantly more because they merely amount to using a computer to apply the abstract idea and amount to no more than a general link of the use of the abstract idea to a particular technological environment.
Thus, dependent claims 2, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, 17, and 19 are ineligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
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, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mell et al. (US 2020/0320503 A1 [previously cited]) in view of Qian et al. (US 2019/0034037 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, Mell et al., hereinafter, Mell, discloses a computer-implemented method for recordation of interaction data, comprising (Fig. 1; Abstract):
causing, via a remote device, a first electronic application and operating on a user device to (Fig. 1[element 110]; ¶0030 in view of ¶0130[the examples described herein may be implemented as logical operations in a computing device in a networked computing system environment. The logical operations may be implemented as: (i) a sequence of computer implemented instructions, steps, or program modules running on a computing device; and (ii) interconnected logic or hardware modules running within a computing device.]):
monitor activity of a second electronic application and operating on the user device and separate from the first electronic application (Fig. 1; ¶0105[the platform server 110 may monitor and track the network transactions (e.g., Internet purchases) of a remote worker or group of remote workers, and may initiate interactive sessions in response to certain transactions performed by a remote worker. As described above, employees (or workers) may perform transactions at merchant point-of-sale locations such as restaurants, hotels, and other retail locations. Additionally, workers also may perform network-based transactions including Internet purchases made via their mobile devices 120 or other computing devices (e.g., work computers, laptops or desktop computers). For instance, workers in a remote work force may work from home or other locations, during which they still log into the secure/corporate networks, access company resources, and/or perform work-related transactions such as business-related purchases via the Internet with a company credit card or other company financial account credentials] in view of ¶0130; Examiner notes that purchases made on the internet are comparable to the second electronic application, see also ¶0042 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that the second application may be a browser, website, web application, or a computer program);
detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user of the user device and an entity via the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce… For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]; Examiner notes that tracking the interaction is comparable to detecting the interaction, also see ¶0022 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that an entity is involved in providing, selling or renting items to persons);
extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction from the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]); and
transmit the extracted interaction data to the remote device (Fig. 1[showing transmission of information]; ¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)] in view of ¶0042[As noted above, at operation 209, the expense report platform server 110 may receive purchase transaction details from the customer's card issuing institution server 140 (or from other sources in other examples). In various embodiments, the purchase transaction details may be transmitted to the servers 110 at operation 209 as soon as possible by the issuing institution server 140 or other data source]; Examiner notes that the platform server is comparable to the remote device);
receiving, via the remote device, interaction processing data associated with the entity (Fig. 1; ¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce, and may implement trained machine-learned models and algorithms to automatically detect deviations from the predicted network-based transactions of the remote workforce. For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.), and may use the data as training data to generate one or more machine-learned models trained to output deviating and non-deviating transactions]; see also ¶0048 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that interaction processing data may include a credit card statement, a settlement request that relates to transactions involving the user, or the entity);
comparing, by the remote device, the extracted interaction data and the received interaction processing data; determining, by the remote device, whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on the comparison (¶0090[the platform server 110 may perform an automatic audit of the transaction amount, by comparing the transaction amount received with the transaction details at operation 401 (e.g., the amount on the credit card record or merchant record), to the amount on a physical transaction receipt submitted by the user… When the platform server 110 determines that the amount on the physical purchase receipt submitted by the user does not match the transaction amount received from the merchant servers 130 and/or institution servers 140 (e.g., plus or minus a threshold amount), the platform server 140 may automatically initiate a transaction audit or potential fraud notification for the transaction, and/or may request additional data via the interactive session with the mobile device 120 to resolve the discrepancy]); and
in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing, by the remote device, the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data in a data storage associated with the user (Figs. 4 and 6[showing storing of information specific to users]; ¶0100[following an interactive session (if necessary), the platform server 110 may receive and store the transaction details received at operation 401, the additional transaction data received via the interactive session with the mobile device 120, and/or additional related data, after which the platform server 110 may classify and store data indicative of the transaction. For instance, the platform server 110 may store purchase data associated with a point-of-sale or network based (e.g., Internet) purchase, and generate purchase records, expense reports, tax forms, and other documentation based on the transaction.]).
Although Mell discloses monitoring activity of an application, Mell does not explicitly disclose a first electronic application installed on and operating on a device to monitor activity of a second electronic application installed on and operating on a device.
However, Qian et al., hereinafter, Qian teaches an application on a device that monitors the activity of another application on the same device (Figs. 2 and 4; ¶0039[uses a widget to monitor actively the activation of the first application and acquire the activation information of the first application, and proceed to monitor the deactivation of the first application and acquires its deactivation information, during which the widget identifies the user's habits. And when the first application is deactivated, the widget acquires the latest information of the first application and displays the latest information, i.e., displays the user-interested latest information of the application based on the acquired usage habits of the user.] in view of ¶0003[A widget is an application displayed on the desktop of a mobile terminal, and can display the relevant information on the desktop of the mobile terminal.]).
The method of Qian is applicable to the method of Mell as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are both targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as disclosed by Mell to include an application installed on a device that monitors the activity of another application as taught by Qian. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in order to acquire the information of these applications more quickly and easily when using a mobile terminal (¶0002).
Regarding Claim 4, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell discloses further comprising:
causing the first electronic application to prompt the user to enter additional interaction data associated with the detected interaction (Fig. 4; ¶0090[When the platform server 110 determines that the amount on the physical purchase receipt submitted by the user does not match the transaction amount received from the merchant servers 130 and/or institution servers 140 (e.g., plus or minus a threshold amount), the platform server 140 may automatically initiate a transaction audit or potential fraud notification for the transaction, and/or may request additional data via the interactive session with the mobile device 120 to resolve the discrepancy]]);
receiving, at the remote device and from the user device, the additional interaction data (Fig. 4; ¶0090[may transmit a request to the user's mobile device 120 during the interactive session (e.g., in operations 404-405) for the user to scan or photograph the physical purchase receipt received by the user for the transaction, and upload the image or scan to the platform server 110.]); and
appending the additional interaction data to the extracted interaction data (Fig. 4; ¶0091[at operation 406, after the interactive session has been completed and the platform server 110 has received and stored the additional transaction details via the interactive session]).
Regarding Claim 5, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell further discloses wherein detecting the interaction is based on one or more of a website address of a website visited by the user via the second electronic application, content of the website, an interaction or pattern of interactions of the user with the website via the second electronic application, or entry of data associated with a predetermined interaction element by the user into the website via the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce… For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]; Examiner notes that detecting items purchased from a merchant is comparable to detecting a pattern of interactions of the user with the website).
Regarding Claim 6, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell discloses further comprising:
causing the user device to limit the detected interaction with regard to one or more of at least one predetermined website, at least one predetermined item, or at least one predetermined interaction element (Fig. 4; ¶0071[As described below, the operations (or steps) in this process may be performed by one or more platform servers 110, in conjunction with mobile devices 120, merchant systems 130, issuing institution servers 140 and/or other related components, in response to a purchase initiated by a user (e.g., cardholder) at a particular merchant location or online via a merchant website]; Examiner notes that a merchant website is comparable to the detection being limited to one predetermined website).
Regarding Claim 8, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell further discloses wherein the extracting of the interaction data is performed in a background context that is opaque to the user of the user device (Figs. 1 and 11; ¶0093[Such determinations may be performed semi-autonomously (e.g., requiring user confirmation or a shortened interactive session) or fully autonomously (e.g., requiring no user input and/or completely transparent to the user)] in view of ¶0119 and ¶0127[Also, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner]).
Regarding Claim 11, Mell discloses a computer-implemented method for recordation of interaction data, comprising (Fig. 1; Abstract):
causing a first electronic application and operating on a user device to (Fig. 1[element 110]; ¶0030 in view of ¶0130[the examples described herein may be implemented as logical operations in a computing device in a networked computing system environment. The logical operations may be implemented as: (i) a sequence of computer implemented instructions, steps, or program modules running on a computing device; and (ii) interconnected logic or hardware modules running within a computing device.]):
monitor activity of a second electronic application and operating on the user device and separate from the first electronic application (Fig. 1; ¶0105[the platform server 110 may monitor and track the network transactions (e.g., Internet purchases) of a remote worker or group of remote workers, and may initiate interactive sessions in response to certain transactions performed by a remote worker. As described above, employees (or workers) may perform transactions at merchant point-of-sale locations such as restaurants, hotels, and other retail locations. Additionally, workers also may perform network-based transactions including Internet purchases made via their mobile devices 120 or other computing devices (e.g., work computers, laptops or desktop computers). For instance, workers in a remote work force may work from home or other locations, during which they still log into the secure/corporate networks, access company resources, and/or perform work-related transactions such as business-related purchases via the Internet with a company credit card or other company financial account credentials] in view of ¶0130; Examiner notes that internet purchases are comparable to the second electronic application, see also ¶0042 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that the second application may be a browser, website, web application, or a computer program);
detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user of the user device and an entity via the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce… For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]; Examiner notes that tracking the interaction is comparable to detecting the interaction, also see ¶0022 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that an entity is involved in providing, selling or renting items to persons);
extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction from the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]); and
transmit the extracted interaction data to a device remote from the user device (Fig. 1[showing transmission of information]; ¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)] in view of ¶0042[As noted above, at operation 209, the expense report platform server 110 may receive purchase transaction details from the customer's card issuing institution server 140 (or from other sources in other examples). In various embodiments, the purchase transaction details may be transmitted to the servers 110 at operation 209 as soon as possible by the issuing institution server 140 or other data source]; Examiner notes that the platform server is comparable to the remote device).
Although Mell discloses monitoring activity of an application, Mell does not explicitly disclose a first electronic application installed on and operating on a device to monitor activity of a second electronic application installed on and operating on a device.
However, Qian teaches an application on a device that monitors the activity of another application on the same device (Figs. 2 and 4; ¶0039[uses a widget to monitor actively the activation of the first application and acquire the activation information of the first application, and proceed to monitor the deactivation of the first application and acquires its deactivation information, during which the widget identifies the user's habits. And when the first application is deactivated, the widget acquires the latest information of the first application and displays the latest information, i.e., displays the user-interested latest information of the application based on the acquired usage habits of the user.] in view of ¶0003[A widget is an application displayed on the desktop of a mobile terminal, and can display the relevant information on the desktop of the mobile terminal.]).
The method of Qian is applicable to the method of Mell as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are both targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as disclosed by Mell to include an application installed on a device that monitors the activity of another application as taught by Qian. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in order to acquire the information of these applications more quickly and easily when using a mobile terminal (¶0002).
Regarding Claim 12, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 11 Mell further discloses wherein:
the extracting of the interaction data is performed in a background context that is opaque to the user of the user device (Figs. 1 and 11; ¶0093[Such determinations may be performed semi-autonomously (e.g., requiring user confirmation or a shortened interactive session) or fully autonomously (e.g., requiring no user input and/or completely transparent to the user)] in view of ¶0119 and ¶0127[Also, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of the configurations may be combined in a similar manner]); and
the method further comprises:
receiving, via the remote device, interaction processing data associated with the entity (Fig. 1; ¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce, and may implement trained machine-learned models and algorithms to automatically detect deviations from the predicted network-based transactions of the remote workforce. For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.), and may use the data as training data to generate one or more machine-learned models trained to output deviating and non-deviating transactions]; see also ¶0048 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that interaction processing data may include a credit card statement, a settlement request that relates to transactions involving the user, or the entity);
determining, by the remote device, whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on a comparison of the interaction processing data with the extracted interaction data of the detected interaction (¶0090[the platform server 110 may perform an automatic audit of the transaction amount, by comparing the transaction amount received with the transaction details at operation 401 (e.g., the amount on the credit card record or merchant record), to the amount on a physical transaction receipt submitted by the user… When the platform server 110 determines that the amount on the physical purchase receipt submitted by the user does not match the transaction amount received from the merchant servers 130 and/or institution servers 140 (e.g., plus or minus a threshold amount), the platform server 140 may automatically initiate a transaction audit or potential fraud notification for the transaction, and/or may request additional data via the interactive session with the mobile device 120 to resolve the discrepancy]); and
in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing, by the remote device, the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data in a data storage associated with the user (Fig. 4; ¶0100[following an interactive session (if necessary), the platform server 110 may receive and store the transaction details received at operation 401, the additional transaction data received via the interactive session with the mobile device 120, and/or additional related data, after which the platform server 110 may classify and store data indicative of the transaction. For instance, the platform server 110 may store purchase data associated with a point-of-sale or network based (e.g., Internet) purchase, and generate purchase records, expense reports, tax forms, and other documentation based on the transaction.]).
Regarding Claim 15, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 11, Mell discloses further comprising:
causing the first electronic application to prompt the user to enter additional interaction data associated with the detected interaction (Fig. 4; ¶0090[When the platform server 110 determines that the amount on the physical purchase receipt submitted by the user does not match the transaction amount received from the merchant servers 130 and/or institution servers 140 (e.g., plus or minus a threshold amount), the platform server 140 may automatically initiate a transaction audit or potential fraud notification for the transaction, and/or may request additional data via the interactive session with the mobile device 120 to resolve the discrepancy]]);
receiving, at the remote device and from the user device, the additional interaction data (Fig. 4; ¶0090[may transmit a request to the user's mobile device 120 during the interactive session (e.g., in operations 404-405) for the user to scan or photograph the physical purchase receipt received by the user for the transaction, and upload the image or scan to the platform server 110.]); and
appending the additional interaction data to the extracted interaction data (Fig. 4; ¶0091[at operation 406, after the interactive session has been completed and the platform server 110 has received and stored the additional transaction details via the interactive session]).
Regarding Claim 16, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 11, Mell further discloses wherein detecting the interaction is based on one or more of a website address of a website visited by the user via the second electronic application, content of the website, an interaction or pattern of interactions of the user with the website via the second electronic application, or entry of data associated with a predetermined interaction element by the user into the website via the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce… For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]; Examiner notes that detecting items purchased from a merchant is comparable to detecting a pattern of interactions of the user with the website).
Regarding Claim 17, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 11, Mell discloses further comprising:
causing the user device to limit the detected interaction with regard to one or more of at least one predetermined website, at least one predetermined item, or at least one predetermined interaction element (Fig. 4; ¶0071[As described below, the operations (or steps) in this process may be performed by one or more platform servers 110, in conjunction with mobile devices 120, merchant systems 130, issuing institution servers 140 and/or other related components, in response to a purchase initiated by a user (e.g., cardholder) at a particular merchant location or online via a merchant website]; Examiner notes that a merchant website is comparable to the detection being limited to one predetermined website).
Regarding Claim 20, Mell discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions for recordation of interaction data, the instructions executable by at least one processor of a remote device to perform operations, including (Fig. 3A-3B; ¶0026):
causing a first electronic application and operating on a user device to (Fig. 1[element 110]; ¶0030 in view of ¶0130[the examples described herein may be implemented as logical operations in a computing device in a networked computing system environment. The logical operations may be implemented as: (i) a sequence of computer implemented instructions, steps, or program modules running on a computing device; and (ii) interconnected logic or hardware modules running within a computing device.]):
monitor activity of a second electronic application and operating on the user device and separate from the first electronic application (Fig. 1; ¶0105[the platform server 110 may monitor and track the network transactions (e.g., Internet purchases) of a remote worker or group of remote workers, and may initiate interactive sessions in response to certain transactions performed by a remote worker. As described above, employees (or workers) may perform transactions at merchant point-of-sale locations such as restaurants, hotels, and other retail locations. Additionally, workers also may perform network-based transactions including Internet purchases made via their mobile devices 120 or other computing devices (e.g., work computers, laptops or desktop computers). For instance, workers in a remote work force may work from home or other locations, during which they still log into the secure/corporate networks, access company resources, and/or perform work-related transactions such as business-related purchases via the Internet with a company credit card or other company financial account credentials] in view of ¶0130; Examiner notes that internet purchases are comparable to the second electronic application, see also ¶0042 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that the second application may be a browser, website, web application, or a computer program);
detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user of the user device and an entity via the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce… For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]; Examiner notes that tracking the interaction is comparable to detecting the interaction, also see ¶0022 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that an entity is involved in providing, selling or renting items to persons);
extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction from the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]); and
transmit the extracted interaction data to the remote device (Fig. 1; ¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)] in view of ¶0042[As noted above, at operation 209, the expense report platform server 110 may receive purchase transaction details from the customer's card issuing institution server 140 (or from other sources in other examples). In various embodiments, the purchase transaction details may be transmitted to the servers 110 at operation 209 as soon as possible by the issuing institution server 140 or other data source]; Examiner notes that the platform server is comparable to the remote device);
receiving interaction processing data associated with the entity (Fig. 1; ¶0108[the platform server 110 may track the remote transactions of a remote workforce, and may implement trained machine-learned models and algorithms to automatically detect deviations from the predicted network-based transactions of the remote workforce. For instance, the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.), and may use the data as training data to generate one or more machine-learned models trained to output deviating and non-deviating transactions]; see also ¶0048 of the instant specification where it is disclosed that interaction processing data may include a credit card statement, a settlement request that relates to transactions involving the user, or the entity);
comparing the extracted interaction data and the received interaction processing data; determining whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on the comparison (¶0090[the platform server 110 may perform an automatic audit of the transaction amount, by comparing the transaction amount received with the transaction details at operation 401 (e.g., the amount on the credit card record or merchant record), to the amount on a physical transaction receipt submitted by the user… When the platform server 110 determines that the amount on the physical purchase receipt submitted by the user does not match the transaction amount received from the merchant servers 130 and/or institution servers 140 (e.g., plus or minus a threshold amount), the platform server 140 may automatically initiate a transaction audit or potential fraud notification for the transaction, and/or may request additional data via the interactive session with the mobile device 120 to resolve the discrepancy]); and
in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data in a data storage associated with the user (Fig. 4; ¶0100[following an interactive session (if necessary), the platform server 110 may receive and store the transaction details received at operation 401, the additional transaction data received via the interactive session with the mobile device 120, and/or additional related data, after which the platform server 110 may classify and store data indicative of the transaction. For instance, the platform server 110 may store purchase data associated with a point-of-sale or network based (e.g., Internet) purchase, and generate purchase records, expense reports, tax forms, and other documentation based on the transaction.]).
Although Mell discloses monitoring activity of an application, Mell does not explicitly disclose a first electronic application installed on and operating on a device to monitor activity of a second electronic application installed on and operating on a device.
However, Qian teaches an application on a device that monitors the activity of another application on the same device (Figs. 2 and 4; ¶0039[uses a widget to monitor actively the activation of the first application and acquire the activation information of the first application, and proceed to monitor the deactivation of the first application and acquires its deactivation information, during which the widget identifies the user's habits. And when the first application is deactivated, the widget acquires the latest information of the first application and displays the latest information, i.e., displays the user-interested latest information of the application based on the acquired usage habits of the user.] in view of ¶0003[A widget is an application displayed on the desktop of a mobile terminal, and can display the relevant information on the desktop of the mobile terminal.]).
The system of Qian is applicable to the system of Mell as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are both targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as disclosed by Mell to include an application installed on a device that monitors the activity of another application as taught by Qian. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the system of Mell in order to acquire the information of these applications more quickly and easily when using a mobile terminal (¶0002).
Claim(s) 2, 3, 13, and 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mell in view of Qian in further view of Dodson et al. (US 2005/0222944 A1 [previously cited]).
Regarding Claim 2, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell discloses further comprising:
receiving, via a user interface operatively connected with the remote device, data associated with the user (Figs. 4 and 6A-C; ¶¶0094-0095[Referring briefly to FIGS. 6A-6C, an example purchase report is shown illustrative of the types of reports that may be generated at operation 406. In this example, report 600 spans FIGS. 6A-6C, and contains credit card transaction data for an example sales representative (“Sam Sales”) using a company credit card for a number of purchases… For example, record 601 corresponds to three separate transactions performed by the user at Office Max]); and
in response to receiving, causing the user interface to output the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data in a standardized format (Figs. 6A-C [showing user interface with outputted interaction data in a standardized format]; ¶0083[a business or organization may generate periodic reports based on groups of transactions performed over a time period. Such reports may be generated by the platform server 110 daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc., and may be used for generating aggregations of expense reports, tax compliance reports, etc. The platform server 110 may generate the reports for individual users and/or for groups of users (e.g., by department, by title, by role, etc.) over the predetermined period.] in view of ¶¶0094-0100).
Although Mell discloses displaying interaction data in a standardized format, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly teach receiving a request for data associated with a user and outputting information in response to receiving the request.
However, Dodson et al., hereinafter, Dodson, teaches receiving a request for data (Fig. 2; ¶0035[Management module 20 may cooperate with expense report management module 16 to provide an interface for one or more expense managers (for example, the employee's manager or supervisor) to access and review expense reports 44 submitted by employees (and if permitted, by delegates on behalf of employees). Management module 20 may also cooperate with image management module 18 (either directly or via expense report management module 16) to provide an interface for accessing and viewing receipt images 60 submitted by employees and/or delegates of employees. The expense manager may review an expense report 44 and/or the receipt images 60 associated with that expense report 44 and make various determinations regarding the expense report 44, such as whether to approve the expense report 44, reject the expense report 44, request additional information from the employee regarding particular expense items, request a receipt 62 for one or more particular expenses listed on the expense report 44]).
The method of Dodson is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the displaying of interaction data as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include receiving requests for data as taught by Dodson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian so that the occurrence of fraudulent or inaccurate expense reports may be reduced (¶0010).
Regarding Claim 3, Mell in view of Qian in view of Dodson teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 2, Mell discloses further comprising:
in response to determining the correspondence, causing the first electronic application to output a notification indicative of the correspondence (Fig. 4; ¶0091[at operation 406, the platform server 110 may store and/or transmit any generated documents or forms to various parties, including the user/cardholder, the merchant, and/or may transmit the documents to separate expense processing systems, tax systems, accounting databases, etc.]; Examiner notes that transmitting documents is comparable to outputting a notification).
Regarding Claim 13, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 12, Mell discloses further comprising:
receiving, via a user interface operatively connected with the remote device, data associated with the user (Figs. 4 and 6A-C; ¶¶0094-0095[Referring briefly to FIGS. 6A-6C, an example purchase report is shown illustrative of the types of reports that may be generated at operation 406. In this example, report 600 spans FIGS. 6A-6C, and contains credit card transaction data for an example sales representative (“Sam Sales”) using a company credit card for a number of purchases… For example, record 601 corresponds to three separate transactions performed by the user at Office Max]); and
in response to receiving, causing the user interface to output the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data in a standardized format (Figs. 6A-C [showing user interface with outputted interaction data in a standardized format]; ¶0083[a business or organization may generate periodic reports based on groups of transactions performed over a time period. Such reports may be generated by the platform server 110 daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc., and may be used for generating aggregations of expense reports, tax compliance reports, etc. The platform server 110 may generate the reports for individual users and/or for groups of users (e.g., by department, by title, by role, etc.) over the predetermined period.] in view of ¶¶0094-0100).
Although Mell discloses displaying interaction data in a standardized format, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly teach receiving a request for data associated with a user and outputting information in response to receiving the request.
However, Dodson teaches receiving a request for data (Fig. 2; ¶0035[Management module 20 may cooperate with expense report management module 16 to provide an interface for one or more expense managers (for example, the employee's manager or supervisor) to access and review expense reports 44 submitted by employees (and if permitted, by delegates on behalf of employees). Management module 20 may also cooperate with image management module 18 (either directly or via expense report management module 16) to provide an interface for accessing and viewing receipt images 60 submitted by employees and/or delegates of employees. The expense manager may review an expense report 44 and/or the receipt images 60 associated with that expense report 44 and make various determinations regarding the expense report 44, such as whether to approve the expense report 44, reject the expense report 44, request additional information from the employee regarding particular expense items, request a receipt 62 for one or more particular expenses listed on the expense report 44]).
The method of Dodson is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the displaying of interaction data as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include receiving requests for data as taught by Dodson. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian so that the occurrence of fraudulent or inaccurate expense reports may be reduced (¶0010).
Regarding Claim 14, Mell in view of Qian in view of Dodson teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 13, Mell discloses further comprising:
in response to determining the correspondence, causing the first electronic application to output a notification indicative of the correspondence (Fig. 4; ¶0091[at operation 406, the platform server 110 may store and/or transmit any generated documents or forms to various parties, including the user/cardholder, the merchant, and/or may transmit the documents to separate expense processing systems, tax systems, accounting databases, etc.]; Examiner notes that transmitting documents is comparable to outputting a notification).
Claim(s) 7, 9, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mell in view of Qian in further view of Cheng et al. (US 9,965,648 B1 [previously cited]).
Regarding Claim 7, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell discloses further comprising:
causing the first electronic application to receive interaction data the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]).
Although Mell discloses the application receiving interaction data, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly teach the application inject predetermined data into the second application.
However, Cheng et al., hereinafter, Cheng teaches injecting predetermined data into an application (Fig. 1; Col. 6, lines 3-31[wherein the browser uses autofill functions. For example, users of computing device 120 may input the users' personal information into a particular website or webpage. A browser equipped with an autofill application may save the users' personal information as the user data is entered for a particular data field, and then the browser running the autofill application may automatically populate a data field with the user's personal information previously manually entered by the user. Accordingly, the user's personal information/data that is saved in a browser's cache may be accessed by the data acquisition module 131 to determine and/or obtain a first user data, such as a name of the user. In other embodiments, the user's personal information that is entered and saved as a function of the autofill process may be stored in the data repository 125 of the computing system 120 in addition to being saved in the browser's cache]; Examiner notes that autofill is comparable to inject).
The method of Cheng is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include autofill of information as taught by Cheng. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian in order to improve computer technology, whereby automatically masking sensitive data for varying types of sensitive information (Col. 10, lines 60-66).
Regarding Claim 9, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell further discloses wherein the extracting of the interaction data includes capturing a receipt of the second electronic application (Fig. 4; ¶0090[the platform server 110 may transmit a request to the user's mobile device 120 during the interactive session (e.g., in operations 404-405) for the user to scan or photograph the physical purchase receipt received by the user for the transaction, and upload the image or scan to the platform server 110. The platform server 110 receives and analyzes the image or scan of the physical purchase receipt received, and compares the transaction amount to the transaction details received at operation 401]).
Although Mell discloses extracting interaction data from the second application, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly teach capturing a screen-shot of the application.
However, Cheng teaches capturing a screenshot (Fig. 7; Col. 10, lines 20-50[a user having a need for software technical support has been sent a request to send a screenshot of the webpage 165. Before sending a screenshot or a video to the technical support team, the user may activate the masking application 130 (e.g. on/off toggle as a browser plug-in)]).
The method of Cheng is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include screenshots of information as taught by Cheng. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian in order to improve computer technology, whereby automatically masking sensitive data for varying types of sensitive information (Col. 10, lines 60-66).
Regarding Claim 18, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 11, Mell discloses further comprising:
causing the first electronic application to receive interaction data the second electronic application (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]).
Although Mell discloses the application receiving interaction data, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly teach the application inject predetermined data into the second application.
However, Cheng teaches injecting predetermined data into an application (Fig. 1; Col. 6, lines 3-31[wherein the browser uses autofill functions. For example, users of computing device 120 may input the users' personal information into a particular website or webpage. A browser equipped with an autofill application may save the users' personal information as the user data is entered for a particular data field, and then the browser running the autofill application may automatically populate a data field with the user's personal information previously manually entered by the user. Accordingly, the user's personal information/data that is saved in a browser's cache may be accessed by the data acquisition module 131 to determine and/or obtain a first user data, such as a name of the user. In other embodiments, the user's personal information that is entered and saved as a function of the autofill process may be stored in the data repository 125 of the computing system 120 in addition to being saved in the browser's cache]; Examiner notes that autofill is comparable to inject).
The method of Cheng is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include autofill of information as taught by Cheng. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian in order to improve computer technology, whereby automatically masking sensitive data for varying types of sensitive information (Col. 10, lines 60-66).
Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mell in view of Qian in further view of Mardikar et al. (US 2012/0158503 A1 [previously cited]).
Regarding Claim 10, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 1, Mell further discloses wherein the extracting of the interaction data is performed after the detected interaction being completed (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]).
Although Mell discloses extracting interaction data from the second application, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly teach extracting data prior to the interaction being completed.
However, Mardikar teaches monitoring interaction prior to the completion of that interaction (¶0057[In one aspect, the service provider 180 interfaces with the user device 120 via the user interface application 122 (e.g., a browser application) to monitor, track, log, and store user navigation events during online navigation over the network 160. For example, a user may visit an online resource, social, and/or merchant website and navigate through pages to view data and information related to the particular site. In another aspect, the pattern identifying module 186 may be utilized by the service provider 180 to identify a mood of the user based on user navigation events]; Examiner notes monitoring while the user is navigating through pages to view data is comparable to monitoring prior to the interaction being completed).
The method of Mardikar is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include monitoring interactions prior to completion as taught by Mardikar. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian in order to improve user experience for online searching and locating desirable items for purchase (¶0005).
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mell in view of Qian in view of Cheng in further view of Mardikar.
Regarding Claim 19, Mell in view of Qian teaches the computer-implemented method of claim 11, Mell further discloses wherein:
the extracting of the interaction data includes capturing a of the second electronic application (Fig. 4; ¶0090[the platform server 110 may transmit a request to the user's mobile device 120 during the interactive session (e.g., in operations 404-405) for the user to scan or photograph the physical purchase receipt received by the user for the transaction, and upload the image or scan to the platform server 110. The platform server 110 receives and analyzes the image or scan of the physical purchase receipt received, and compares the transaction amount to the transaction details received at operation 401]); and
the extracting of the interaction data is performed the detected interaction being completed (¶0108[the platform server 110 may receive and store data corresponding to the transactions performed by a set of remote workers in a particular role and at a particular organization (e.g., items purchased, merchants, purchase dates/times, associated client accounts, financial cards or accounts used, etc.)]).
Although Mell discloses extracting interaction data from the second application, Mell in view of Qian does not explicitly disclose capturing a screen-shot of the application.
However, Cheng teaches capturing a screenshot (Fig. 7; Col. 10, lines 20-50[a user having a need for software technical support has been sent a request to send a screenshot of the webpage 165. Before sending a screenshot or a video to the technical support team, the user may activate the masking application 130 (e.g. on/off toggle as a browser plug-in)]).
The method of Cheng is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as taught by Mell in view of Qian to include screenshots of information as taught by Cheng. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian in order to improve computer technology, whereby automatically masking sensitive data for varying types of sensitive information (Col. 10, lines 60-66).
Although Mell discloses extracting interaction data from the second application, Mell in view of Qian in view of Cheng does not explicitly teach extracting data prior to the interaction being completed.
However, Mardikar teaches monitoring interaction prior to the completion of that interaction (¶0057[In one aspect, the service provider 180 interfaces with the user device 120 via the user interface application 122 (e.g., a browser application) to monitor, track, log, and store user navigation events during online navigation over the network 160. For example, a user may visit an online resource, social, and/or merchant website and navigate through pages to view data and information related to the particular site. In another aspect, the pattern identifying module 186 may be utilized by the service provider 180 to identify a mood of the user based on user navigation events]; Examiner notes monitoring while the user is navigating through pages to view data is comparable to monitoring prior to the interaction being completed).
The method of Mardikar is applicable to the method of Mell in view of Qian in view of Cheng as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are all targeted to tracking and managing sensitive data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as taught by Mell in view of Qian in view of Cheng to include monitoring interactions prior to completion as taught by Mardikar. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to expand the method of Mell in view of Qian in view of Cheng in order to improve user experience for online searching and locating desirable items for purchase (¶0005).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments on pages 10-16 of the remarks filed 10/02/2025, with respect to the previous 35 USC § 101 rejections have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on pages 11 and 12 of the remarks that the amended claims do not recite methods of organizing human activity. Examiner respectfully disagrees. According to the MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II), the methods of organizing human activity relate to concepts of fundamental economic principles or practices (including hedging, insurance, mitigating risk), commercial or legal interactions (including agreements in the form of contracts, legal obligations, advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors, and business relations) and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, (including social activities, teaching, and following rules or instructions). A method for recordation of interaction data, comprising: causing: monitor activity; detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user and an entity; extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction; and transmit the extracted interaction data; receiving, interaction processing data associated with the entity; comparing, the extracted interaction data and the received interaction processing data: determining, whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on the comparison; and in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing, the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data associated with the user as recited in amended claim 1 constitutes a commercial or legal interaction because it is directed to advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors, and business relations, see MPEP 2106.04(a)(2)(II).
Applicant argues on pages 12-15 of the remarks that the amended claims integrate the abstract idea into a practical application and improve the functioning of a technology. Examiner respectfully disagrees. A method for recordation of interaction data, comprising: causing: monitor activity; detect, based on the monitoring, an interaction between a user and an entity; extract interaction data associated with the detected interaction; and transmit the extracted interaction data; receiving, interaction processing data associated with the entity; comparing, the extracted interaction data and the received interaction processing data: determining, whether the received interaction processing data corresponds to the detected interaction based on the comparison; and in response to determining a correspondence between the detected interaction and the interaction processing data, storing, the extracted interaction data and the interaction processing data associated with the user as recited in amended claim 1 is all part of the abstract idea. The mere execution of the abstract idea on generic additional components such as a “remote device”, an “electronic application installed on and operating on a user device”, a “data storage”, and a “processor” which are recited at a high level does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide an improvement to existing technologies. These additional elements are recited at a high level and as generic in ¶¶0028-0030, ¶¶0052-0054, and Fig. 4 of the instant specification.
Furthermore, an employee submitting the wrong receipt to a company’s accounting team resulting in an error, communication of an employee with an accounting team to identify an error and submitting the correct receipt, obtaining an itemized list of products included in a purchase by an accounting team and from an employee in order to verify receipts for purchases made by an employee on behalf of their company as recited in ¶0004 of the instant specification is all directed to the abstract idea of Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity. The mere execution of the abstract idea on generic and high-level additional components does not overcome the rejection or provide a technical improvement. Further, claiming the improved speed or efficiency inherent with applying the abstract idea on a computer does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application or provide an inventive concept, refer to the MPEP 2106.05(f)(2).
Applicant argues on page 14 of the remarks that the second electronic application provides a technical improvement and constitutes a practical application of the abstract idea. Examiner respectfully disagrees. The “second electronic application” is recited at a high level and as generic in ¶0042 of the instant specification. The mere execution of the abstract idea on generic and high-level components does not overcome the rejection or provide a technical improvement.
Applicant argues on pages 15 and 16 of the remarks that the amended claims do not represent well-understood, routine, or conventional activity for data management processes. Examiner did not previously state that claim 1 was routine, conventional, or well-known. However, the additional elements fail to provide significantly more also because the claim simply appends well-understood, routine, conventional activities previously known to the industry, specified at a high level of generality, to the judicial exception. For example, the additional elements of claims 1, 11, and 20 utilize operations the courts have held to be well-understood, routine, and conventional (see: MPEP 2106.05(d)(II)), including at least:
receiving or transmitting data over a network,
storing or retrieving information from memory,
presenting offers
Accordingly, Examiner maintains that the invention is directed to a judicial exception without significantly more. The claims recite an abstract idea. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. The claim(s) do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Thus the 35 USC §101 rejections are maintained.
Applicant’s arguments on pages 16-18 of the remarks filed 10/02/2025, with respect to the previous 35 USC § 102/103 rejections have been fully considered but are not persuasive.
Applicant argues on page 16 of the remarks that the references cited do not disclose “causing, via a remote device, a first electronic application installed on and operating on a user device to: monitor activity of a second electronic application installed on and operating on the user device and separate from the first electronic application.” Examiner respectfully disagrees. Mell describes a number of program modules running on a computer device which is comparable to multiple applications, see ¶0030 and Fig. 1. Furthermore, Mell describes that a platform server monitors and tracks internet purchases of a remote worker which take place on the worker’s mobile device, see ¶0105. It is stated in ¶0042 of the instant specification that a second application may be “a browser, a website or web application.” Accordingly, Examiner maintains that Mell discloses “causing, via a remote device, a first electronic application and operating on a user device to: monitor activity of a second electronic application and operating on the user device and separate from the first electronic application.”
Mell does not explicitly disclose the amended part of a first electronic application “installed on” and a second application “installed on” the user device. However, the newly added reference Qian teaches a widget application on a user device that is separate from another application that it monitors, both of which are installed and operating on the same device, see ¶0039 and Figs. 2 and 4.
The method of Qian is applicable to the method of Mell as they share characteristics and capabilities, namely, they are both targeted to tracking and managing data. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the electronic application as disclosed by Mell to include an application installed on a device that monitors the activity of another application as taught by Qian.
Accordingly, references Mell, Dodson, Cheng, and Mardikar have been maintained and reference Qian has been newly added, as necessitated by the claim amendments.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 extension fee 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 date of this final action.
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/AHOORA LADONI/Examiner, Art Unit 3689
/VICTORIA E. FRUNZI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3689 12/18/2025
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