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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR § 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR § 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR § 1.17(e), was filed in this application on January 28, 2026. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR § 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR § 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 12, 2026 has been entered.
Status of the Application
This office action is prepared in response to claim amendments and Remarks submitted by Applicant on January 12, 2026 relating to U.S. Patent Application No. 18/787,799, filed on July 29, 2024. Claims 1, 10 and 19 have been amended. Claims 1-20 are pending and have been examined. This action is non-final.
Response to Arguments
The Remarks submitted by Applicant on January 12, 2026 have been fully considered.
Applicant’s proposed amendments to Paragraphs 15-16, 48, 52 and 60 of the Specification to correct inadvertent clerical errors have been entered.
With regard to Section 101 rejection, Applicant has amended independent Claims 1, 10 and 19 and asserts that the features of the amended claims do not fall under any of the examples of Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a) because even if they involve an abstract idea they recite specific computing components configured in a particular way, involve more than a generic computer and improve system functionality. (Remarks, p. 9). Examiner respectfully disagrees. (See Section 101 rejection below). Applicant further asserts that even if the claims recite an abstract idea, under Step 2A, Prong 2 the use of the enterprise risk subsystem (comprising the ledger for storing records of fractional ownership of enterprise assets) with the legacy record keeping system (which is unable to store fractional share records), which is recited in the proposed amendments to independent Claims 1, 10, and 19, amounts to a practical application of the alleged abstract idea and should make the claims patent-eligible, (Remarks, pp. 9-11), and further, that under Step 2B consideration of the additional elements in combination amounts to significantly more. (Remarks, p. 11). Examiner respectfully disagrees. The additional elements of the proposed amended claims do not provide a technical improvement such as an improvement to computer functionality or to technology or a technical field. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or provide significantly more. (See Section 101 rejection below). The Section 101 rejection is maintained.
With regard to the prior art rejection, applicant asserts that the cited reference, Cass, does not recite each of the elements in the amended independent claims, particularly a legacy record keeping system configured to store whole share records and unable to store fractional share records and an enterprise risk subsystem integrated with the legacy record keeping system, the enterprise risk subsystem comprising a ledger for storing records of fractional ownership of enterprise assets. (Remarks, pp. 11-12). Examiner respectfully disagrees. Cass discloses record systems for recording ownership of whole shares and subsystems for recording fractional share ownership. (See Cass, Par. 11 and the Section 102 rejection below). The Section 102 rejection is maintained.
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 pursuant to 35 USC § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1 - Statutory Class
Claims 1-9 are directed to a device. Claims 10-18 are directed to a method. Claims 19-20 are directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium. Therefore, on its face, each of the claims is directed to a statutory class of invention.
Step 2A, Prong 1 – Abstract Idea
Claim 1 recites provide an interface to accept proposed exchanges for notional amounts that result in a fractional amount of at least one asset, and, optionally, a whole number of the at least one asset; convert the notional amounts into whole and fractional amounts; legacy record keeping to store whole share records; ledger for storing records of fractional ownership of enterprise assets; for each of the proposed exchanges accepted via the interface: generating the fractional amount and the optional whole number; for each of the at least one asset: execute a trade for the asset by ordering an excess amount of the asset responsive to the fractional amount; and determine and execute a second trade based on the excess amount less the fractional amount. Claim 1 recites the abstract idea of performing exchange transactions for notional amounts that result in a fractional amount of at least one asset, and, optionally, a whole number of the at least one asset which amount to commercial interactions falling under Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity enumerated in MPEP 2106.04(a). Claims 10 and 19 recite the same abstract idea.
Step 2A, Prong 2 – Practical Application
Claim 1 recites a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, storing computer executable instructions, an ordering subsystem, an interface, a conversion system, a trading subsystem, a legacy record keeping system and an enterprise risk subsystem. 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. They do not provide a technical improvement such as an improvement to the functioning of a computer or to technology because they only manipulate financial data. 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. Claims 10 and 19 recite the same additional elements and do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application.
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, 11 and 20 (the conversion system determines the excess amount), Claims 3 and 12 (the conversion system determines the excess amount based on a market rate, and wherein the instructions further cause the device to: determine a difference of between the excess amount determined by the conversion system and the excess amount resulting from the executed trade; and wherein the second trade is based on the difference), Claims 4 and 13 (the instructions cause the device to: in response to providing the proposed transaction to the conversion system, delay updating the interface until completion of the proposed exchange), Claims 5 and 14 (the second trade is executed on a same day as the trade), Claims 6 and 15 (the second trade is executed with a computerized trading system based on aggregating excess amounts less fractional amounts), Claims 7 and 16 (the second trade is executed in response to aggregated excess amounts less fractional amounts amounting to a whole amount), Claims 8 and 17 (the second trade results in the enterprise risk subsystem owing monies in place of the fractional amount of the at least one asset) and Claims 9 and 18 (the conversion system is a third party system) 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 1-20 are not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 as being anticipated by Cass et al., US 2025/0054060 A1, (“Cass”).
Claim 1:
Cass teaches:
A device for executing exchanges with fractional amounts, the device comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory storing computer executable instructions that when executed by the processor cause the device to: (See Cass, Fig. 3, Par. 99 (The elements of the system shown in the figure may each include a processor subsystem coupled to a memory subsystem as described herein.), Par. 100 (Communication interface 302 includes a conventional communication interface running suitable communication protocols. In the embodiment in which different components are used, each component has a similar communication interface with which the two components communicate with each other and the various users described herein.))
provide, via an ordering subsystem, an interface to accept proposed exchanges for notional amounts that result in a fractional amount of at least one asset, and, optionally, a whole number of the at least one asset; (See Cass, Par. 31 (Input device 166 such as a computer keyboard or mouse or both allows user input to the system 150. Output 168, such as a display or printer, allows
the system to provide information such as instructions, data or other information to the user of the system 150.))
provide a conversion system in communication with the ordering subsystem and with a trading subsystem, wherein the conversion system is configured to convert the notional amounts into whole and fractional amounts; (See Cass, Fig. 3, Par. 107 (When it executes the order, order manager 308 identifies any amount of rounding that was indicated in the order. Order manager 318 adds to the order object of the executed order, the price or prices and quantities at which the order was executed, and provides the order object to participant manager 310. If the order was fully executed, or if the order corresponds to the completion of an original order that had been partially filled and the original order included a fractional share amount, order manager 318 also provides the order object to recon outage establishment manager 334.), Par. 108 (If the order was rounded in such a manner to produce an excess of shares after the order was executed, order manager 318 provides the order object to recon outage remainder manager 322. If the order was rounded in such a manner to produce a deficit of shares after the order was executed, order manager 318 provides the order object to recon outage deficit manager 324.))
provide a legacy record keeping system configured to store whole share records and unable to store fractional share records; (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the
order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer.))
provide an enterprise risk subsystem integrated with the legacy record keeping system, the enterprise risk subsystem comprising a ledger for storing records of fractional ownership of enterprise assets; (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 99 (The system consists of a trust component and a record keeping component.), Par. 101 (System manager 304 receives from a system administrator the investment universe and plan additions, as well as the targets and thresholds each investment or for all securities. System manager 304 stores all such information into system storage 336 and indicates in system for each security that no recon outage is currently being maintained for the security.), Par. 108 (When it receives the order object, participant manager 310 stores into plan participant storage 340, the order object along with the date and time.))
for each of the proposed exchanges accepted via the interface: provide the proposed exchange to the conversion system, the conversion system generating the fractional amount and the optional whole number; (See Cass, Par. 55 (If fractional shares are included in the selected order 214, then a rounding rule may be used by the trust to round the number of shares specified in the order up or down to a whole number of shares 216. In one embodiment, a rounding rule may be any rule used in determining the manner in which orders with fractional shares are rounded to allow the trust to purchase or sell a whole number of shares corresponding to the order.), Par. 57 (An example of a rounding rule is as follows: the number of shares corresponding to orders including fractional shares may be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number of shares, varyingly, in a manner such that a first order including fractional shares is rounded to cause an excess amount of fractional shares to be held at the trust corresponding to the order, and the next order received including fractional shares may be rounded to cause a deficit in the amount of fractional shares available at the trust corresponding to such order, and the third order is again rounded to cause an excess amount of fractional shares to be held at the trust corresponding to the third order, and so on, and so forth, alternating between causing an excess and causing a deficit in the amount of fractional shares held at the trust corresponding to the security specified in such orders including fractional shares.))
for each of the at least one asset: execute a trade via the trading subsystem for the asset by ordering an excess amount of the asset responsive to the fractional amount; and (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer, for example, via a conventional stock exchange, although other trading methods may be used as described in more detail herein. Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Fig. 3, Par. 99 (A system for allowing the trading of quantities of securities containing fractional share amounts is shown.))
automatically determine and execute, with the enterprise risk subsystem, a second trade based on the excess amount less the fractional amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 99 (The system consists of a trust component and a record keeping component.), Par. 101 (System manager 304 receives from a system administrator the investment universe and plan additions, as well as the targets and thresholds each investment or for all securities. System manager 304 stores all such information into system storage 336 and indicates in system for each security that no recon outage is currently being maintained for the security.), Par. 108 (When it receives the order object, participant manager 310 stores into plan participant storage 340, the order object along with the date and time.))
Claim 2:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 1 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system determines the excess amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer, for example, via a conventional stock exchange, although other trading methods may be used as described in more detail herein. Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 3:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 2 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system determines the excess amount based on a market rate, and wherein the instructions further cause the device to: (See Cass, Par. 12 (Although some orders may be aggregated and traded at the end of the day, other orders are traded as received throughout the trading day, at the then current
market price.))
determine a difference of between the excess amount determined by the conversion system and the excess amount resulting from the executed trade; and (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the onmibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
wherein the second trade is based on the difference. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 4:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 3 above.
Cass further teaches:
in response to providing the proposed transaction to the conversion system, delay updating the interface until completion of the proposed exchange. (See Cass, Par. 12 (Although some orders may be aggregated and traded at the end of the day, other orders are traded as received throughout the trading day, at the then current market price.), Par. 37 (The investment universe and plan additions and
targets and thresholds may be received and updated at anytime as indicated by the dashed line in the Figure. Such information may be received and stored on a record keeping system, which includes a conventional server computer system with computer processors coupled to electronic storage as described herein.))
Claim 5:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 1 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade is executed on a same day as the trade. (See Cass, Par. 12 (Although some orders may be aggregated and traded at the end of the day, other orders are traded as received throughout the trading day, at the then current market price.))
Claim 6:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 1 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade is executed with a computerized trading system based on aggregating excess amounts less fractional amounts. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 7:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 1 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade is executed in response to aggregated excess amounts less fractional amounts amounting to a whole amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 8:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 1 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade results in the enterprise risk subsystem owing monies in place of the fractional amount of the at least one asset. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 107 (When it executes the order, order manager 308
identifies any amount of rounding that was indicated in the order.), Par. 108 (Participant manager 310 uses the order identifier to match the order to the participant or participants, and credits and/or debits the user's account in accordance with the order object.))
Claim 9:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 1 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system is a third party system. (See Cass, Par. 21 (Orders placed by plan participants may be market orders as described above, although other orders may also be used. Market orders may be the result of algorithmic trading, for example by a wealth management firm or other type of financial services firm or by the plan administrator.), Par. 23 (To execute orders, the broker-dealer may purchase or sell shares using a conventional stock market, or, for larger orders, the trust or broker dealer may deal directly with the operator of an ETF as an authorized participant or may deal with an authorized participant of an ETF to
purchase and redeem creation units in order to fulfill orders in ETFs.))
Claim 10:
Cass teaches:
A method for executing exchanges with fractional amounts, the method comprising: providing, via an ordering subsystem, an interface to accept proposed exchanges for notional amounts that result in a fractional amount of at least one asset, and, optionally, a whole number of the at least one asset; (See Cass, Par. 31 (Input device 166 such as a computer keyboard or mouse or both allows user input to the system 150. Output 168, such as a display or printer, allows the system to provide information such as instructions, data or other information to the user of the system 150.))
providing a conversion system in communication with the ordering subsystem and with a trading subsystem, wherein the conversion system is configured to convert the notional amounts into whole and fractional amounts; (See Cass, Fig. 3, Par. 107 (When it executes the order, order manager 308 identifies any amount of rounding that was indicated in the order. Order manager 318 adds to the order object of the executed order, the price or prices and quantities at which the order was executed, and provides the order object to participant manager 310. If the order was fully executed, or if the order corresponds to the completion of an original order that had been partially filled and the original order included a fractional share amount, order manager 318 also provides the order object to recon outage establishment manager 334.), Par. 108 (If the order was rounded in such a manner to produce an excess of shares after the order was executed, order manager 318 provides the order object to recon outage remainder manager 322. If the order was rounded in such a manner to produce a deficit of shares after the order was executed, order manager 318 provides the order object to recon outage deficit manager 324.))
provide a legacy record keeping system configured to store whole share records and unable to store fractional share records; (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the
order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer.))
provide an enterprise risk subsystem integrated with the legacy record keeping system, the enterprise risk subsystem comprising a ledger for storing records of fractional ownership of enterprise assets; (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 99 (The system consists of a trust component and a record keeping component.), Par. 101 (System manager 304 receives from a system administrator the investment universe and plan additions, as well as the targets and thresholds each investment or for all securities. System manager 304 stores all such information into system storage 336 and indicates in system for each security that no recon outage is currently being maintained for the security.), Par. 108 (When it receives the order object, participant manager 310 stores into plan participant storage 340, the order object along with the date and time.))
for each of the proposed exchanges accepted via the interface: providing the proposed exchange to the conversion system, the conversion system generating the fractional amount and the optional whole number; (See Cass, Par. 55 (If fractional shares are included in the selected order 214, then a rounding rule may be used by the trust to round the number of shares specified in the order up or down to a whole number of shares 216. In one embodiment, a rounding rule may be any rule used in determining the manner in which orders with fractional shares are rounded to allow the trust to purchase or sell a whole number of shares corresponding to the order.), Par. 57 (An example of a rounding rule is as follows: the number of shares corresponding to orders including fractional shares may be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number of shares, varyingly, in a manner such that a first order including fractional shares is rounded to cause an excess amount of fractional shares to be held at the trust corresponding to the order, and the next order received including fractional shares may be rounded to cause a deficit in the amount of fractional shares available at the trust corresponding to such order, and the third order is again rounded to cause an excess amount of fractional shares to be held at the trust corresponding to the third order, and so on, and so forth, alternating between causing an excess and causing a deficit in the amount of fractional shares held at the trust corresponding to the security specified in such orders including fractional shares.))
for each of the at least one asset: executing a trade via the trading subsystem for the asset by ordering an excess amount of the asset responsive to the fractional amount; and (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an omnibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer, for example, via a conventional stock exchange, although other trading methods may be used as described in more detail herein. Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
automatically determining and executing, with an enterprise risk subsystem, a second trade based on the excess amount less the fractional amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 99 (The system consists of a trust component and a record keeping component.), Par. 101 (System manager 304 receives from a system administrator the investment universe and plan additions, as well as the targets and thresholds each investment or for all securities. System manager 304 stores all such information into system storage 336 and indicates in system for each security that no recon outage is currently being maintained for the security.), Par. 108 (When it receives the order object, participant manager 310 stores into plan participant storage 340, the order object along with the date and time.))
Claim 11:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 10 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system determines the excess amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer, for example, via a conventional stock exchange, although other trading methods may be used as described in more detail herein. Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 12:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 11 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system determines the excess amount based on a market rate, and the method comprises: (See Cass, Par. 12 (Although some orders may be aggregated and traded at the end of the day, other orders are traded as received throughout the trading day, at the then current market price.))
determining a difference of between the excess amount determined by the conversion system and the excess amount resulting from the executed trade; and (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the onmibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
wherein the second trade is based on the difference. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 13:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 12 above.
Cass further teaches:
in response to providing the proposed transaction to the conversion system, delaying updating the interface until completion of the proposed transaction. (See Cass, Par. 12 (Although some orders may be aggregated and traded at the end of the day, other orders are traded as received throughout the trading day, at the then current market price.), Par. 37 (The investment universe and plan additions and targets and thresholds may be received and updated at anytime as indicated by the dashed line in the Figure. Such information may be received and stored on a record keeping system, which includes a conventional server computer system with computer processors coupled to electronic storage as described herein.))
Claim 14:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 10 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade is executed on a same day as the trade. (See Cass, Par. 12 (Although some orders may be aggregated and traded at the end of the day, other orders are traded as received throughout the trading day, at the then current market price.))
Claim 15:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 10 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade is executed with a computerized trading system based on aggregating excess amounts less fractional amounts. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 16:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 10 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade is executed in response to aggregated excess amounts less fractional amounts amounting to a whole amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
Claim 17:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 10 above.
Cass further teaches:
the second trade results in the enterprise risk subsystem owing monies in place of the fractional amount of the at least one asset. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 107 (When it executes the order, order manager 308
identifies any amount of rounding that was indicated in the order.), Par. 108 (Participant manager 310 uses the order identifier to match the order to the participant or participants, and credits and/or debits the user's account in accordance with the order object.))
Claim 18:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 10 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system is a third party system. (See Cass, Par. 21 (Orders placed by plan participants may be market orders as described above, although other orders may also be used. Market orders may be the result of algorithmic trading, for example by a wealth management firm or other type of financial services firm or by the plan administrator.), Par. 23 (To execute orders, the broker-dealer may purchase or sell shares using a conventional stock market, or, for larger orders, the trust or broker dealer may deal directly with the operator of an ETF as an authorized participant or may deal with an authorized participant of an ETF to
purchase and redeem creation units in order to fulfill orders in ETFs.))
Claim 19:
Cass teaches:
A non-transitory computer readable medium for executing exchanges with fractional amounts, the non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer executable instructions for: (See Cass, Claim 13 (A non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein for processing a plurality of orders.))
providing, via an ordering subsystem, an interface to accept proposed exchanges for notional amounts that result in a fractional amount of at least one asset, and, optionally, a whole number of the at least one asset; (See Cass, Par. 31 (Input device 166 such as a computer keyboard or mouse or both allows user input to the system 150. Output 168, such as a display or printer, allows
the system to provide information such as instructions, data or other information to the user of the system 150.))
for each of the proposed exchanges accepted via the interface: providing the proposed exchange to the conversion system, the conversion system generating the fractional amount and the optional whole number; (See Cass, Par. 55 (If fractional shares are included in the selected order 214, then a rounding rule may be used by the trust to round the number of shares specified in the order up or down to a whole number of shares 216. In one embodiment, a rounding rule may be any rule used in determining the manner in which orders with fractional shares are rounded to allow the trust to purchase or sell a whole number of shares corresponding to the order.), Par. 57 (An example of a rounding rule is as follows: the number of shares corresponding to orders including fractional shares may be rounded up or down to the nearest whole number of shares, varyingly, in a manner such that a first order including fractional shares is rounded to cause an excess amount of fractional shares to be held at the trust corresponding to the order, and the next order received including fractional shares may be rounded to cause a deficit in the amount of fractional shares available at the trust corresponding to such order, and the third order is again rounded to cause an excess amount of fractional shares to be held at the trust corresponding to the third order, and so on, and so forth, alternating between causing an excess and causing a deficit in the amount of fractional shares held at the trust corresponding to the security specified in such orders including fractional shares.))
providing a conversion system in communication with the ordering subsystem and with a trading subsystem, wherein the conversion system is configured to convert the notional amounts into whole and fractional amounts; (See Cass, Fig. 3, Par. 107 (When it executes the order, order manager 308 identifies any amount of rounding that was indicated in the order. Order manager 318 adds to the order object of the executed order, the price or prices and quantities at which the order was executed, and provides the order object to participant manager 310. If the order was fully executed, or if the order corresponds to the completion of an original order that had been partially filled and the original order included a fractional share amount, order manager 318 also provides the order object to recon outage establishment manager 334.), Par. 108 (If the order was rounded in such a manner to produce an excess of shares after the order was executed, order manager 318 provides the order object to recon outage remainder manager 322. If the order was rounded in such a manner to produce a deficit of shares after the order was executed, order manager 318 provides the order object to recon outage deficit manager 324.))
provide a legacy record keeping system configured to store whole share records and unable to store fractional share records; (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the
order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer.))
provide an enterprise risk subsystem integrated with the legacy record keeping system, the enterprise risk subsystem comprising a ledger for storing records of fractional ownership of enterprise assets; (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 99 (The system consists of a trust component and a record keeping component.), Par. 101 (System manager 304 receives from a system administrator the investment universe and plan additions, as well as the targets and thresholds each investment or for all securities. System manager 304 stores all such information into system storage 336 and indicates in system for each security that no recon outage is currently being maintained for the security.), Par. 108 (When it receives the order object, participant manager 310 stores into plan participant storage 340, the order object along with the date and time.))
for each of the at least one asset: executing a trade via the trading subsystem for the asset by ordering an excess amount of the asset responsive to the fractional amount; and (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer, for example, via a conventional stock exchange, although other trading methods may be used as described in more detail herein. Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the onmibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
automatically determining and executing, with an enterprise risk subsystem, a second trade based on the excess amount less the fractional amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the omnibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.), Par. 99 (The system consists of a trust component and a record keeping component.), Par. 101 (System manager 304 receives from a system administrator the investment universe and plan additions, as well as the targets and thresholds each investment or for all securities. System manager 304 stores all such information into system storage 336 and indicates in system for each security that no recon outage is currently being maintained for the security.), Par. 108 (When it receives the order object, participant manager 310 stores into plan participant storage 340, the order object along with the date and time.))
Claim 20:
Cass teaches each and every element of Claim 19 above.
Cass further teaches:
the conversion system determines the excess amount. (See Cass, Par. 11 (At the trust, an order for an ETF or other security is selected for processing, and if the selected order includes fractional shares, a rounding rule is applied to round the order up or down to a whole number of shares, and the rounded order, or the original order, if no fractional shares were included in it, for a whole number of ETF shares is placed from an onmibus account of the trust for all plans at a broker dealer, for example, via a conventional stock exchange, although other trading methods may be used as described in more detail herein. Any excess fractional share from any rounding is purchased by a recon outage subaccount for that ETF in the onmibus account. Any deficit fractional share from rounding (for example, from a buy order rounded down or a sell order rounded up) is sold to the plan participant or participants (for an aggregated order) from the recon outage subaccount for the ETF being ordered at the price for the remaining ETF shares in the order.))
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