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 Application
This is a non-final rejection relating to U.S. Patent Application No. 18/541,202 which was filed on December 15, 2023. The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/435,801 which was filed on December 28, 2022. Claims 1 - 18 are pending and have been examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement submitted by the applicant on December 15, 2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97 and has been reviewed.
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 - 18 are rejected pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 - Statutory Class
Claims 1- 6 are directed to a method. Claims 7-12 are directed to a device of a computing system. Claims 13-18 are directed to a non-transitory computer readable memory. Therefore, on its face, each of the claims is directed to a statutory class of invention.
Step 2A, Prong 1 – Abstract Idea
Claim 7 recites: determine, in accordance with a securely passing process, baseline content associated with a longevity-contingent instrument for a contingency-action token (CAT) wherein the baseline content includes an obligation provider identifier (ID) and an outcome recipient ID, wherein the obligation provider ID is associated with providing of an obligation tied to an obligation recipient ID in accordance with obligation requirements, wherein the outcome recipient ID is associated with a result of a triggered outcome tied to an outcome provider ID in accordance with contingent outcome rules and an obligation status, wherein a positive obligation status indicates that the obligation has historically been provided in accordance with the obligation requirements, wherein a contingency status indicates whether the triggered outcome has been triggered for a contingency entity identifier in accordance with the contingent outcome rules; obtain approval with regards to availability status of the longevity-contingent instrument for one of a life insurance investment and a life settlement investment utilization; establish, in accordance with the securely passing process, CAT content to include the baseline content, the availability status, and a calculated cryptographic token value of the CAT; and cause generation of a new block affiliated with the CAT, wherein the new block includes the CAT content to be utilized in a subsequent operation of the securely passing process to transfer control of the CAT from the outcome recipient ID to a new outcome recipient ID. Claim 7 recites the abstract idea of determining whether a longevity-contingent instrument, associated with an obligation provider, an outcome recipient, an outcome provider, contingent outcome rules and an obligation status is approved and available with respect to a life insurance investment and a life settlement investment utilization and transferring control of the instrument to a new outcome recipient which constitutes commercial interactions including business relations and fundamental economic practices falling under Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity enumerated in MPEP 2601.04(a). Claims 1 and 13 recite the same abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong 2 – Practical Application
Claim 7 recites an interface, a local memory, a processing module operably coupled to the interface and the local memory, a contingency-action token (CAT), an object distributed ledger, a blockchain of the object distributed ledger. The additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and are used as tools to implement the abstract idea using blockchain and tokenization technology. They do not provide a technical improvement such as an improvement to the functioning of a computer or to technology or to a technical field. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application. The claims do not invoke a particular machine as our guidance is clear that a generic computer is not the particular machine envisioned, they do not transform matter as they only manipulate data which is not matter.
Step 2B – Significantly more
As set forth in the discussion in Step 2A, Prong 2, above, the additional elements are recited at a high level of generality and are used as tools to implement the abstract idea. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or add significantly more to the abstract idea.
Dependent claims
Claims 2, 8 and 14 (the determining, in accordance with the securely passing process, the baseline content comprises: extracting, from a request to generate a token with regards to the longevity-contingent instrument, one or more of the contingency entity ID, the outcome provider ID, a value of the result of the triggered outcome, the obligation requirements, and the obligation recipient ID; verifying with an accreditation authority computing device of the computing system, validity of the baseline content; and identifying an approval for the CAT), Claims 3, 9 and 15 (the verifying the validity of the baseline content comprises: identifying the accreditation authority computing device based on a first identified corresponding accreditation authority associated with the obligation recipient TD; obtaining baseline validation information from the accreditation authority computing device for the baseline content; and indicating that the baseline content is valid when the baseline validation information is substantially the same as the baseline content), Claims 4, 10 and 16 (the obtaining, in accordance with the securely passing process, approval with regards to availability status of the longevity-contingent instrument for one of the life insurance investment and the life settlement investment utilization comprises: identifying the availability status based on one or more of the baseline content and a user input with regards to disposition of the longevity-contingent instrument, wherein the disposition of the longevity-contingent instrument includes idling without a utilization, a life settlement utilization, and the life insurance investment utilization, wherein the availability status includes at least two of: unavailable, available within a first timeframe for a set of utilizations, and available within a second timeframe for a second set of utilizations; and interpreting the availability status to produce an exposure level, wherein the exposure level includes one of hidden without exposure, a private portion of the object distributed ledger, and a public portion of the object distributed ledger), Claims 5, 11 and 17 (the establishing, in accordance with the securely passing process, the CAT content comprises: identifying a priority portion of the CAT to include: the obligation provider identifier, and the outcome recipient identifier; generating a nonce utilizing a cryptographic function and based on the outcome recipient identifier and a current timestamp; and determining the calculated cryptographic token value for the priority portion of the CAT) and Claims 6, 12 and 18 (the causing, in accordance with the securely passing process, the generation of the new block affiliated with the CAT via the blockchain of the object distributed ledger comprises: determining whether to indirectly or directly update the object distributed ledger; when indirectly updating the object distributed ledger: issuing a blockchain update request to an object ledger computing device of the computing system serving as a blockchain node of the object distributed ledger, wherein the blockchain update request includes the CAT content; and when directly updating the object distributed ledger: obtaining a copy of the object distributed ledger, hashing the CAT content utilizing a receiving public key of the object distributed ledger to produce a next transaction hash value, encrypting the next transaction hash value utilizing a private key of the computing device to produce a next transaction signature, generating a next block of the other blockchain of the object distributed ledger to include the CAT content and the next transaction signature, and causing inclusion of the next block as the new block in the object distributed ledger) contain additional elements (underlined above) that are recited at a high level of generality and used as tools to implement the abstract idea and/or further define and merely add specificity to the abstract idea. Thus, the dependent claims also fail to add significantly more to the abstract idea.
As such, Claims 1-18 are not patent eligible.
No Prior Art Rejection
A search of the prior art has not identified any references that taken as whole or in combination, anticipate or render obvious the claimed subject matter of Claims 1-18. Accordingly there is no art rejection provided for claims 1-18.
The closest prior art of record US 2023/0386650 A1, Stewart, discloses a computer system and method for generating non-fungible tokens (NFTs) representing a company asset based on evaluation of company assets (e.g., a hospital). Stored in a database are one or more digital assets (e.g., one or more of settlement rights and insurance claim payment obligations) representative of contractual obligations owed to the company (e.g., settlement rights), which are then analyze to determine one or more assets owed to the company. A valuation value is then determined for the determined one or more assets. NFTs are then generated based on the determined valuation value of the determined one or more assets. Additionally, the generated NFTs may be leveraged as collateral in an underwriting process. Further, analyzed in real-time, is a revenue cycle management of the company for generating a risk-weighted index value indicative of the revenue cycle management.
The closest prior art of record US 2011/0029456 A1, Coughlan et al., discloses a system and method for hedging or mitigating mortality exposure risk in a portfolio of mortality dependent instruments. A mortality risk or longevity risk of the portfolio is calculated or otherwise detem1ined. Then the sensitivity of the portfolio to mortality risk or longevity risk is calculated or otherwise determined, in other words, how much is cost or value of the portfolio affected by a change in mortality rate. To account for that mortality exposure, a selection is made of building block mortality derivatives that include age-based mortality derivatives. The selected plurality of building block mortality derivatives are used to create a hedge against the mortality risk or longevity risk of the portfolio.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GEORGE PROIOS whose telephone number is (571)272-4573. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8-5.
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/GEORGE N. PROIOS/Examiner, Art Unit 3694
/BENNETT M SIGMOND/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3694