DETAILED ACTION
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
This office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment filed April 30, 2026. Claims 1, 10, and 16 have been amended. Claim 12 has been cancelled. Claim 21 has been newly added. Claims 1-11, and 13-21 are pending.
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) 1-11, and 13-21 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over GRASSADONIA (US 20180005323) in view of Buchheit et al. (US 10706060, hereinafter referred to as “Buchheit”).
Regarding claim 1, Grassadonia teaches a method, comprising:
obtaining, by a device, transaction information identifying a transaction (abstract - a server that receives a plurality of financial transactions and stores information corresponding to those transactions in a database) and a third party ([0038] System of record server 105 can be hosted by a bank 116 or a third party that provides a service to a bank 116.) corresponding to the transaction ([0067] The GUI of FIG. 5 also includes an input field 517 and send button 515 at the bottom of the GUI. A user could, for instance, send money to a third party or record a note in the account using the input field 517 and send button 515. To send money, the user could insert an identifier of the third party); and
providing, by the device, a set of instructions to cause a user interface to display a first set of messages, corresponding to the third party, in accordance with a user interface configuration (figure 5; [0060] transactions involving predefined parties can appear on one side or the other. Some embodiments can allow the user to configure which transactions appear on which side of the GUI.).
However, Grassadonia does not explicitly teach wherein the first set of messages are displayed in accordance with a first ranking of the first set of messages relative to a second ranking of a second set of messages corresponding to another third party, the first set of messages and the second set of messages being organized by third party and the first ranking and the second ranking comprising comparative rankings between the first set of messages and the second set of messages as organized by third party.
In an analogous art, Buchheit teaches wherein the first set of messages are displayed in accordance with a first ranking of the first set of messages relative to a second ranking of a second set of messages corresponding to another third party, the first set of messages and the second set of messages being organized by third party and the first ranking and the second ranking comprising comparative rankings between the first set of messages and the second set of messages as organized by third party (abstract - Systems and methods for storing a plurality of conversations are provided. Each such conversation has a corresponding conversation identifier and one or more messages sharing a common set of characteristics that meet predefined criteria. Information is sent to a remote computer identifying the conversations and providing sufficient information to rank them in accordance with a date/time value of a most recently received message of each conversation thereby causing a first conversation to be ordered before a second conversation. Subsequently, a first message that is deemed to belong to the second conversation is obtained and added to the second conversation. Information is resent to a remote computer identifying the plurality of conversations and providing sufficient information to rank the plurality of conversations in accordance with a date/time value of a most recently received message of each respective conversation thereby causing the first conversation to be ordered after the second conversation. Figures 3B, 4B, 5B, 6B).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to display the messages in accordance with a first ranking of the first set of messages relative to a second ranking of a second set of messages corresponding to another third party in order to allow the transaction information to be displayed based on their ranking, thus presenting user with effective transaction-driven user interface.
Regarding claim 2, Grassadonia teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving access information that permits access to the first set of messages ([0046] username and password).
Regarding claim 3, Grassadonia teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the first ranking and the second ranking are determined based at least in part on one or more factors including timestamps, transaction values, locations, or message types ([0029] data fields that may be included the digital message may include a merchant identifier (merchant ID), a merchant category code (MCC), an amount for the transaction, a timestamp (e.g., data, time), and a card number).
Regarding claim 4, Grassadonia teaches the method of claim 1, further comprising: processing the first set of messages using a text processing technique, an audio processing technique, or an image processing technique to identify the transaction and the third party ([0089] he customized client can further provide a channel of communication between respective client devices of a sender 740 and a recipient 742 (e.g., a channel that enables transmission of one or more electronic messages including, e.g., text, audio, and/or video). For example, the customized client enables an instant exchange of electronic messages between the respective client devices. Other example messaging applications and/or messaging servers can include an email application and email server or a social networking messaging application and a social networking server.).
Regarding claim 5, Grassadonia teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the transaction information is received from a transaction backend device ([0046] backend services provided by the bank 116 and system of record server 105 are not visible to the user.).
Regarding claim 6, Grassadonia teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the set of instructions is provided to a user device via an application programming interface (API) ([0037] Server 104 can use API 114 to communicate with client device 115 over user-facing network 111).
Regarding claim 7, Grassadonia does not explicitly teach the method of claim 1, wherein the user interface configuration is determined based at least in part on a location of a user device. Zhang teaches wherein the user interface configuration is determined based at least in part on a location of a user device ([0134] [0134] the format can be adapted with improved methods for different environments). Before the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to configure the user interface based on a location of the user in order to display to user based on context, thus enabling user to adapt to different locations.
Regarding claim 8, Grassadonia does not teach the method of claim 1, wherein the user interface configuration is determined based at least in part on detecting that a user device is at a location associated with the third party. Zhang teaches wherein the user interface configuration is determined based at least in part on detecting that a user device is at a location associated with the third party ([0134] the format can be adapted with improved methods for different environments). Before the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to configure the user interface based on a location of the user in order to display to user based on context, thus enabling user to adapt to different locations.
Regarding claim 9, Grassadonia teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the user interface configuration is determined based at least in part on accessing a calendar event associated with the user of the device ([0064] date/time of transaction).
Claim 10 is similar to claim 1, therefore is rejected under the same rationale. Claim 10 differs in that it is a system comprising one or more processors; and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors. Grassadonia teaches a system comprising one or more processors; and one or more memories coupled to the one or more processors ([0028] The client device can include one or more client applications stored in memory and executed on one or more processors).
Regarding claim 11, Grassadonia teaches the system of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories further include instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to categorize the first set of messages into different types based at least in part on content relating to the first set of messages ([0048] While some embodiment can allow for manual creation of sub-accounts, embodiments can also include automated creation of sub-accounts. For instance, if a user has a predetermined number of transactions within a certain category, e.g., restaurants, clothing, or food, the server 104 can automatically generate of suggest sub-accounts fitting these predetermined categories. The balances of these sub-accounts can be automatically determined based on the past transactions. For instance, the balance can be set to cover the average expenditure on the category, such that the server 104 can automatically notify the user if they exceed the monthly budget. Alternative embodiments can set the budget to the maximum prior monthly spend on in the category. If the server suggests a sub-account and corresponding budget, then the server can automatically deposit funds into the account every month, based on the suggested balance or a manually entered budget that the user assigns.).
Regarding claim 13, Grassadonia does not teach the system of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories further include instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to dynamically update message rankings as new transaction information is received. Zhang teaches wherein the one or more memories further include instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to dynamically update message rankings as new transaction information is received ([0054] In some embodiments, entries in the company topic index can be ranked based on the importance of the entries in the index. For example, words or phrases such as "product quality", "market segments", "budgeting", "cost", "salary", "benefit", etc., may occur more frequently either in company documents or emails, or in table names or record names in various types of databases, and can be ranked higher than other terms.). Before the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to dynamically update message rankings as new transaction information is received in order to ensure that the ranking keeps up with user’s preferences thus making the ranking more efficient.
Regarding claim 14, Grassadonia the system of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories further include instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to aggregate the first set of messages from a plurality of electronic messaging accounts ([0047] data from sub-accounts).
Regarding claim 15, Grassadonia teaches the system of claim 10, wherein determining the user interface configuration includes analyzing the first set of messages based at least in part on the transaction information to determine a relevance of the first set of messages with respect to the transaction information ([0016] FIG. 10 illustrates another exemplary embodiment of a notification using analytics. Notification 1001 is also from “Bills” and states, “You just received your paycheck! Your balance is now $2,035.20. Want to send your rent check now?” In this example, server 104 can compute and determine that the user did not have enough funds to pay a bill, e.g., the rent, prior to receiving their paycheck, and can therefore proactively remind the user to pay the rent once they receive their paycheck. The user can also request a reminder to pay the rent later.).
Claim 16 is similar to claim 1, therefore is rejected under the same rationale. Claim 10 differs in that it is a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of claim 1. Grassadonia teaches said non-transitory computer-readable medium ([0028] The client device can include one or more client applications stored in memory and executed on one or more processors).
Regarding claim 17, Grassadonia does not teach the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: prioritize messages based at least in part on a detected urgency of the transaction. Zhang teaches prioritize messages based at least in part on a detected urgency of the transaction ([0021] Furthermore, the system can also highlight or present action items, such as terms that indicate some sort of calendar event or urgent task in the email, especially, if a calendar event has a conflicting event in the user's calendar.). Before the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to prioritize the messages based on urgency in order to ensure that the user is notified of what is most important to him or her, thus making the messages more efficient.
Regarding claim 18, Grassadonia teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: determine the user interface configuration based at least in part on user preferences or historical interaction patterns ([0075] Server 104 can make adjustments or provide notifications based on the predicted balance. For instance, a user can set up automatic bill pay such that the phone bill should be paid after the 10th of each month but before it is late, and server 104 is familiar enough with the user's transaction history to avoid automatically paying the bill until the user is paid sometime between the 10th and the 15th each month.).
Regarding claim 19, Grassadonia teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the user interface configuration comprises notification settings for causing display of the first set of messages ([0054] The system may also optionally provide an automatic notification to the user of the updates to their accounts.).
Regarding claim 20, Grassadonia teaches the non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the one or more instructions, when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the one or more processors to: prioritize messages during a specified timeframe associated with the transaction ([0051] The user can establish settings or rules that all payments on a certain day/time period are from a particular logical account).
Regarding claim 21, Grassadonia does not explicitly teach the system of claim 10, wherein the one or more memories further include instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more processors to: receive a user input to exclude one or more messages or message types from being processed or displayed in the user interface, and dynamically update the user interface configuration to omit the excluded messages or message types from display.
Buchheit teaches receive a user input to exclude one or more messages or message types from being processed or displayed in the user interface, and dynamically update the user interface configuration to omit the excluded messages or message types from display (col. 23, lines 27-49: Certain filter criteria may be examined and applied against the incoming message (stage 1308). In an embodiment, a user may set up filters that apply attributes to a received message when predetermined conditions are met. In another embodiment, the system may apply one or more predefined filters to received messages. If the current message matches filter criteria, then attributes may then be applied to the message according to the filter (stage 1310). In one embodiment, the system provides tools to enable a user to set up a filter such that certain messages are not placed in the “InBox”. In other words, the filter would cause the “InBox” attribute to be removed from the message. In another embodiment, the current message could be associated with a particular user-defined attribute, such as a label indicating an area of interest to the user to which one or more conversation may be associated. For example, an incoming message may be associated with a conversation having a label “food”, and then a “food” label would be associated with the current message. Generally, a message inherits the labels of the conversation to which it is associated. Since a plurality of filters may be applied to received messages, newly received messages as well as their associated conversations may be associated with more than one user-defined label.).
Before the effective filing date of the invention, one of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to exclude messages from being processed and omit the excluded message from display in order to prevent undesirable messages from being displayed, thus keeping the interface user friendly.
Response to Arguments
Double Patenting
The rejection is withdrawn in view of the amendment to the claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Applicant’s arguments, with respect to the rejection(s) of claim(s) 1-20 under 35 USC 103 under Grassadonia in view of Zhang have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of Buchheit.
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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALINA N BOUTAH whose telephone number is (571)272-3908. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00 AM - 3:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Umar Cheema can be reached at (571) 270-3037. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ALINA BOUTAH
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2458
/ALINA A BOUTAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458
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