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 . This office action is in response to applicant's communication of March 23, 2026. The rejections are stated below. Claims 1-3, 6-11, and 14-19 are pending and have been examined.
Response to Amendment/Arguments
The claims are eligible under 35 U.S.C. 101 because they recite a specific improvement to interbank transaction processing systems. The claims solve the technical problem of delayed fiat currency clearing by using a permissioned blockchain as a real time messaging and settlement layer with MBC as a proxy for fiat. Claim 1 recites a permissioned ledger banking system comprising a transaction circuit, an account mapping circuit, and an MBC account database comprising a pooled MBC account of the financial institution. This is a specific system architecture, not a generic computer. Claim 1 further recites mining the amount of MBC without the traditional proof of work requirement within a wallet account on a permissioned blockchain system. This is a specific technological departure from conventional blockchain operations. Claim 1 recites crediting the amount of fiat currency to the fiat account of the customer to sync the fiat account with the pooled MBC account and decreasing the balance of the pooled MBC account by the amount of MBC to sync the pooled MBC account with the fiat account. These synchronization limitations link two distinct ledger systems to maintain consistency. Claim 1 recites burning the amount of MBC within the wallet account once the pooled MBC balance has been decreased, ensuring MBC supply directly corresponds to fiat activity with no independent value. Claim 9 recites the corresponding method steps performed by a first processing circuit and a second processing circuit, including determining whether a transaction is a credit or debit, mining MBC for credit transactions, and burning MBC for debit transactions. Claim 18 recites computer readable storage media causing at least one processing circuit to perform these same operations. The claimed invention integrates blockchain technology into the practical process of interbank fiat currency transfer. It solves the real world problem of multiday clearing delays by enabling near real time settlement. The claims satisfy the two step Alice framework and are eligible under 35 U.S.C. 101.
Claim Rejections – 35 USC §112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
Claims 1-3, 6-11, and 14-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 9, and 17 recite the steps of 'mining' the amount of MBC and 'burning' the amount of MBC within a wallet account on a permissioned blockchain system. The specification, however, provides no algorithmic description of how these operations are performed. Regarding mining, the specification at (0066) states only that mining occurs 'without the traditional proof-of-work requirement' and that mining 'generates' MBC. No flow chart, pseudo-code, mathematical equation, step-by-step logical description, or consensus protocol is provided. A person of ordinary skill would not recognize from this disclosure that the inventors possessed a specific method of generating MBC on a permissioned blockchain without proof-of-work. Regarding burning, the specification at (0075) states that MBC is 'burned (e.g., discarded).' No algorithm is provided for cryptographically destroying tokens, verifying destruction across the distributed ledger, or ensuring atomicity with the associated debit transaction. Because the specification fails to describe any algorithm for the claimed mining and burning operations, it does not reasonably convey to a person of ordinary skill that the inventors possessed the full scope of the claimed invention as of the filing date. Accordingly, claims 1, 9, and 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) for lack of written description.
Claims 2-3, 6-8, 10-11, 14-16 and 18-19 are rejected on the same grounds as each depends on claims 1, 9, and 17.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to KEVIN T POE whose telephone number is (571)272-9789. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 9:30am through 6pm EST.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ryan Donlon can be reached on 571-270-3602. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/K.T.P/Examiner, Art Unit 3692 /KEVIN T POE/
/RYAN D DONLON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3692 July 24, 2026
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