DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
This action is in reply to the application filed on 05/13/2024.
Claims 1-19 are currently pending and have been examined.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1, 10 and 15 recites the limitation "the Farm Credit System (FCS)" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-9, 11-14, and 16-19 are further rejected as they depend from their respective independent claims.
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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more.
In the instant case, claims 1, 10 and 15 are directed to methods.
Claim 1 recites “tracking a line of credit” which is a grouped under “Certain methods of organizing human activity — fundamental economic practices” in prong one of step 2A (MPEP 2106.04(a)). For the purposes of this analysis, representative claim 1 is addressed. Claim 1 recites”
A processor implemented method for agricultural credit tracking of a line of credit (LOC) grounded in the Farm Credit System (FCS), comprising:
setting up an electronic wallet interface in an agricultural credit tracking system for a user;
verifying the user of the electronic wallet interface;
associating the user with a line of credit (LOC) grounded in the Farm Credit System (FCS) through an Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) in the Farm Credit System (FCS);
permitting access to the line of credit (LOC) via the electronic wallet; and
allowing spending via the electronic wallet.
The additional elements of claim 1 such as “A processor” and “electronic” represent the use of a computer as a tool to perform an abstract idea and/or does no more than generally link the abstract idea to a particular field of use.
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration into a practical application, the additional elements amount to no more than [mere instructions to apply the abstract idea of using generic computer components. The claim elements when considered separately and in an ordered combination, do not add significantly more than implementing the abstract idea of tracking a line of credit,
Hence, claims 1, 10 and 15 are not patent eligible.
Dependent claims 2-9, 11-14, and 16-19 recite additional details which only further narrow the abstract idea and do not add any additional features, alone or in combination, that would provide a practical application or provide significantly more.
The claims as a whole do not amount to significantly more than the abstract idea itself. This is because the claims do not affect an improvement to another technology or technical field, the claims do not amount to an improvement to the functioning of a computer system itself, and the claims do not move beyond a general link of the use of an abstract idea to a particular technological environment.
Accordingly, there are no meaningful limitations in the claims that transform the judicial exception into a patent eligible application such that the claims amount to significantly more than the judicial exception itself.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 10, 15, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Bloy et al. (US 2020/0118205 A1).
Regrading claims 1, 10 and 15
A processor implemented method for agricultural credit tracking of a line of credit (LOC) grounded in the Farm Credit System (FCS), comprising: setting up an electronic wallet interface in an agricultural credit tracking system for a user; (See at least Bloy [0060] Once complete, the application can be transmitted, via the client application and its communication module, to a credit sales application or API provided by the financial system or institution at 310. In some instances, the application may be entered into a web-based form or application, such that 310 comprises transmitting the inputs associated with the credit application. Once submitted, the financial system can perform a credit adjudication and creation process to determine whether the application is approved, as well as other account details.
verifying the user of the electronic wallet interface; (See at least Bloy [0055] and [0066]: [0055] Once open, the customer can log into the financial institution 230 and its systems using the secure financial application 215 and the customer-specific login credentials received with or in association with the credit approval (as shown by 7). The credentials can be sent, via the secure financial application 215, to an authentication engine 240 of the financial institution 230, which can perform identity authentication and verification on the customer, the user device 205, and the new credit account associated with the credentials. Once a successful login is achieved, the secure financial application 215 can begin an onboarding process to be initiated (as shown by 8). During the process, a three-way handshake and verification process between the secure financial application 215, mobile wallet 220, and payment network 260 is performed to verify and acknowledge the customer logged into the secure financial application 215, the credit account associated with the customer, that a payment token is to be generated for the mobile wallet 220 by the payment network 260, and the general token approval process between the card network 260 and the mobile wallet 220. [0066] In response to the request, at 340, the secure financial application can initiate, via the communications module, a three-party handshake for provisioning the digital version of the credit card into the commercial wallet in an interaction between the secure financial application, a mobile wallet application, and a payment network token service. The three-way handshake can provide authentication between the systems, identify the request for the payment token at the payment network token service, and prepare the mobile wallet application for provisioning.
associating the user with a line of credit (LOC) grounded in the Farm Credit System (FCS) through an Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) in the Farm Credit System (FCS); (See at least Bloy [0061] and [0066]: [0061] At 315, in response to the submission of the completed application, a second signal including an indication of approval of the credit application can be received, via the communications module, at the client application. The indication may be received within seconds, and may be presented via a screen or pop-up indicating that a new account has been approved and created. In some instances, a set of account information, such as an account identifier, may be provided. [0066] In response to the request, at 340, the secure financial application can initiate, via the communications module, a three-party handshake for provisioning the digital version of the credit card into the commercial wallet in an interaction between the secure financial application, a mobile wallet application, and a payment network token service. The three-way handshake can provide authentication between the systems, identify the request for the payment token at the payment network token service, and prepare the mobile wallet application for provisioning.
permitting access to the line of credit (LOC) via the electronic wallet; and (See at least Bloy [0066] In response to a successful three-party handshake, the client device can receive, at the commercial wallet application executing on the client device, a digital version of the credit card associated with the credit account from the payment network token service at 345. The digital version of the credit card can then be stored in the mobile wallet, and can be used to perform future transactions.
allowing spending via the electronic wallet. (See at least Bloy [0067] As an example, at 350, a request to transact a data exchange, such as a purchase, may be received at the client device. The request can be processed and transacted using a particular stored digital version of the credit card via the commercial wallet and the mobile wallet application executing at the client device.
Regrading claim 19
The processor implemented method as recited in claim 1, further comprising: allowing spending via the electronic wallet with funds from the line of credit (LOC). (See at least Bloy [0067] As an example, at 350, a request to transact a data exchange, such as a purchase, may be received at the client device. The request can be processed and transacted using a particular stored digital version of the credit card via the commercial wallet and the mobile wallet application executing at the client device.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 2, 3, and 16 - 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bloy et al. (US 2020/0118205 A1) in view of Jacobe et al. (US 2022/0215293 A1)
Regrading claims 2 and 16
Bloy does not specifically teach: wherein verifying the user, comprises: using business data provided by the user to return borrower information from the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA); matching the user provided data to that returned from the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA); and determining a confidence score from the matching.
However Jacobe teaches:
wherein verifying the user, comprises: using business data provided by the user to return borrower information from the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA); (See at least Jacobe [0045] FIG. 3 is a call-flow diagram of an example method 300 to identify incorrect account numbers. Method 300 involves user device 140, server 120 and machine learning model 132. Method 300 starts at transmission 310, where user device 140 transmits a transaction to server 120. The transaction may have been initiated by user device 140 as part of an online purchase or other money transfer. If user device 140 is a mobile device, the transaction may also have been initiated by user device 140 during an in-person or physical purchase or money transfer.
matching the user provided data to that returned from the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA); and (See at least Jacobe [0046] At transmission 320, server 120 sends an account number extracted from the transaction to machine learning model 132. The data sent in transmission 320 serves as input to machine learning model 132. The account number may be sent along with a routing number, paired together as an account combination. In some embodiments, the account number is part of an automated clearing house (ACH) account number comprising a routing number and the account number.
determining a confidence score from the matching. (See at least Jacobe [0048] At transmission 340, machine learning model 132 sends the confidence score to server 120. In this example, server 120 compares the confidence score to a threshold at box 350. Then, if the confidence score exceeds the threshold, server 120 processes the transaction at box 360.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the method to identify incorrect account numbers as taught by Jacobe in order to more accurately and more efficiently identify incorrect account numbers. Jacobe [0018])
Regrading claims 3 and 17
Bloy does not specifically teach: further comprising: verifying the user manually below a predetermined confidence score.
However Jacobe teaches at least at [0034]. If that training data is used to retrain machine learning model 132, machine learning model 132 will then be able to more accurately calculate confidence scores for numbers following the pattern of the given account number. Examination of the verification may be performed by an optical character recognition (OCR) process, or by a dedicated human agent for examining such verifications.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the method to identify incorrect account numbers as taught by Jacobe in order to more accurately and more efficiently identify incorrect account numbers. Jacobe [0018])
Regrading claim 18
further comprising: associating the user with the line of credit (LOC) grounded in the Farm Credit System (FCS) through the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) in the Farm Credit System (FCS). (See at least Bloy [0061] and [0066]: [0061] At 315, in response to the submission of the completed application, a second signal including an indication of approval of the credit application can be received, via the communications module, at the client application. The indication may be received within seconds, and may be presented via a screen or pop-up indicating that a new account has been approved and created. In some instances, a set of account information, such as an account identifier, may be provided. [0066] In response to the request, at 340, the secure financial application can initiate, via the communications module, a three-party handshake for provisioning the digital version of the credit card into the commercial wallet in an interaction between the secure financial application, a mobile wallet application, and a payment network token service. The three-way handshake can provide authentication between the systems, identify the request for the payment token at the payment network token service, and prepare the mobile wallet application for provisioning.
Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bloy et al. (US 2020/0118205 A1) in view of Binn et al (US 2023/0177493 A1)
Regrading claim 4
Bloy does not specifically teach: associating the user with a demand deposit account, the demand deposit account accessible via the electronic wallet.
However Binn teaches at least at: [0045] As with typical electronic wallets of prior art, electronic wallet 114 allows the user to link it with his or her checking and/or savings accounts, credit cards, debit cards, et cetera. Such accounts may be housed at banking platform 8, for example. Accordingly, electronic wallet 114 allows the user to load money from checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards and cash around the world to at any time, using Automatic Clearing House (ACH) transfers, domestic or international wire transfers, foreign currency transfers (FX), direct deposits, or other means known within the art, either extant or yet to be developed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the method for an electronic wallet with enhanced cryptocurrency handling and security for debit cards transactions as taught by Binn in order to providing an electronic wallet characterized by enhanced cryptocurrency handling and security for debit card transactions. (Binn (abstract))
Regrading claim 5
Bloy does not specifically teach: allowing spending from the electronic wallet interface via at least one of a wire, a transfer, an ACH, a debit card, or check.
However Binn teaches at least at: [0045] As with typical electronic wallets of prior art, electronic wallet 114 allows the user to link it with his or her checking and/or savings accounts, credit cards, debit cards, et cetera. Such accounts may be housed at banking platform 8, for example. Accordingly, electronic wallet 114 allows the user to load money from checking and savings accounts, credit and debit cards and cash around the world to at any time, using Automatic Clearing House (ACH) transfers, domestic or international wire transfers, foreign currency transfers (FX), direct deposits, or other means known within the art, either extant or yet to be developed.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the method for an electronic wallet with enhanced cryptocurrency handling and security for debit cards transactions as taught by Binn in order to providing an electronic wallet characterized by enhanced cryptocurrency handling and security for debit card transactions. (Binn (abstract))
Claims 6-9, and 11-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bloy et al. (US 2020/0118205 A1) in view of Liberty (US 2014/00060448 A1)
Regrading claims 6 and 11
Bloy does not specifically teach: communicating between the electronic wallet interface and the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) to determine a balance associated with the line of credit (LOC) available via the electronic wallet.
However Liberty teaches at least at: [0150] In one embodiment, the monetary transaction system 210 is implemented to withdraw funds from a bank or credit union account using a mobile wallet. The communication module 215 of the monetary transaction system 210 receives a communication from a subscriber 205 over a communication channel 111 (step 1610). The subscriber communication indicates that subscriber 205 desires to withdraw a specified amount of funds from a bank or credit union account. The transaction processor validates the status of the bank or credit union account (step 1620), determines if the balance of the bank or credit union account is sufficient to accommodate the requested withdrawal for the specified amount of funds (step 1630) and performs a limit check and/or a velocity check on the bank or credit union account (step 1640).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the monetary transaction system as taught by Liberty in order to allow a subscriber to withdraw cash stored on their mobile wallet from an agent branch or a non-agent branch. (Liberty [0151])
Regrading claims 7 and 12
Bloy does not specifically teach: communicating between the electronic wallet interface and the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) at predetermined intervals.
However Liberty teaches at least at: [0118] The mobile wallet platform processes the request, updates the agent branch's and subscriber's eMoney balances, logs the transaction, and sends transaction details to a specified bank at pre-determined intervals.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the monetary transaction system as taught by Liberty in order to allow a subscriber to withdraw cash stored on their mobile wallet from an agent branch or a non-agent branch. (Liberty [0151])
Regrading claims 8 and 13
Bloy does not specifically teach: wherein communicating comprises: querying the Agricultural Credit Association (ACA) regarding the balance of the line of credit outside of the electronic wallet.
However Liberty teaches at least at: [0150] The transaction processor validates the status of the bank or credit union account (step 1620), determines if the balance of the bank or credit union account is sufficient to accommodate the requested withdrawal for the specified amount of funds (step 1630) and performs a limit check and/or a velocity check on the bank or credit union account (step 1640).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the monetary transaction system as taught by Liberty in order to allow a subscriber to withdraw cash stored on their mobile wallet from an agent branch or a non-agent branch. (Liberty [0151])
Regrading claims 9 and 14
Bloy does not specifically teach: wherein communicating comprises: querying transaction data from the electronic wallet.
However Liberty teaches at least at: [0150] In one embodiment, the monetary transaction system 210 is implemented to withdraw funds from a bank or credit union account using a mobile wallet. The communication module 215 of the monetary transaction system 210 receives a communication from a subscriber 205 over a communication channel 111 (step 1610). The subscriber communication indicates that subscriber 205 desires to withdraw a specified amount of funds from a bank or credit union account.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify integrated credit application and provisioning system of Bloy in view of the monetary transaction system as taught by Liberty in order to allow a subscriber to withdraw cash stored on their mobile wallet from an agent branch or a non-agent branch. (Liberty [0151])
Prior Art of Record Not Currently Relied Upon
Sakkan et al (US 2023/0064592 A1) Teaches Method for assessing farmer credit worthiness and risk associated with farm.
Honey et al. (US 2019/0378137 A1) Teaches: method for facilitating a financial transaction.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GREGORY MARK JAMES whose telephone number is (571)272-5155. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30am - 5:00pm EST.
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/GREGORY M JAMES/Examiner, Art Unit 3692
/RYAN D DONLON/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3692 March 26, 2026