Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/899,484

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PRIVATE NETWORK ISSUANCE OF DIGITAL CURRENCY

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Sep 27, 2024
Examiner
WONG, ERIC TAK WAI
Art Unit
3693
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
Wells Fargo Bank N A
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
51%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
4y 1m
To Grant
64%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 51% of resolved cases
51%
Career Allow Rate
266 granted / 523 resolved
-1.1% vs TC avg
Moderate +13% lift
Without
With
+13.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
4y 1m
Avg Prosecution
50 currently pending
Career history
573
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
31.3%
-8.7% vs TC avg
§103
34.9%
-5.1% vs TC avg
§102
15.2%
-24.8% vs TC avg
§112
10.7%
-29.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 523 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/16/2024 was before the mailing date of a first Office action on the merits. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner. Claim Status The claims filed 9/27/2024 are examined herein. Claims 1-20 are pending and original. Claims 1, 8, and 15 are independent. Claim Objections Claim 2 is objected to because of the following informalities: The claim recites “digital wallet database of the processing circuit”, but no “processing circuit” is previously recited in the claim or base claim 1. However, the claim limitation is understood as referring to a digital wallet database of the user device. Appropriate correction is required. 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. Claims 1-3, 7-10, and 14-17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US 2012/0172026 A1) in view of Keith (US 2006/0224544 A1), further in view of Durvasula (US 2018/0075453 A1). Regarding independent claims 1, 8, and 15, Kwon discloses a method of configuring digital currency nodes utilizing a one-tier model, the method comprising: transmitting, by a user device via an application provider system, an installation request comprising authentication information (see para. 0035-0036); downloading, by the user device, a digital wallet application (see para. 0037); installing, by the user device, the digital wallet application based on one or more system requirements (see para. 0038-0039), wherein installing comprises: verifying the user device meets the one or more system requirements, wherein the one or more system requirements comprises at least a hardware requirement (see para. 0068-0070); With respect to claim 8, Kwon additionally discloses a system comprising: at least one processing circuit having at least one processor coupled to at least one memory (see para. 0028). With respect to claim 15, Kwon additionally discloses a non-transitory processor-readable medium comprising instructions (see para. 0017). Kwon does not explicitly disclose, but Keith teaches: hardening the user device comprising at least one of: scanning and removing an installed application or a stored file; testing one or more network connections; or updating an operating system of the user device (see para. 0028); in response to successfully hardening the user device, storing and configuring the application on the user device (see para. 0034); It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method, system, and product of Kwon to include the features taught by Keith in order to ensure new software installations operate correctly and do not conflict with existing hardware and software (see Keith, para. 0017). Kwon does not explicitly disclose, but Durvasula teaches: generating a public and private key pair associated with the digital wallet application, wherein the digital wallet application is configured to perform digital currency exchanges utilizing the public and private key pair (see para. 0045, 0050, wherein the public key is the wallet address); authenticating the digital wallet application with a financial computing system based on the public key of the public and private key pair (see para. 0045, 0050); and in response to installing the digital wallet application, establishing, by the user device via a private network, a private network connection associated with digital currency issuance (see para. 0031, e.g. virtual private network (VPN)). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method, system, and product of Kwon to include the features of Durvasula for benefits of blockchain such as publicly verifiable transaction history and transparency (see Durvasula para. 0040, 0061). Regarding claims 2, 9, and 16, Durvasula teaches automatically syncing, by the user device in real-time via the private network, data of the digital wallet application with a digital wallet database of the processing circuit (see para, 0034, 0053, wherein the wallet app communications continuously with wallet service and digital currency issuer system, wherein balances, transaction state, and wallet metadata are synchronized as transactions occur). Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, Durvasula teaches wherein establishing the private network connection is further in response to authenticating a login by the user device into the digital wallet application (see para. 0046). Regarding claims 7 and 14, Durvasula teaches wherein the user device is a node of a plurality of nodes on the private network, and wherein the private network connection is on a parent network of a plurality of user devices (see paras. 0010, 0033). Claims 4-6, 11-13, and 18-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kwon (US 2012/0172026 A1) in view of Keith (US 2006/0224544 A1), further in view of Durvasula (US 2018/0075453 A1), further in view of Sha (US 2017/0109190 A1). Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18, Kwon does not explicitly disclose, but Sha teaches wherein the application is a virtual appliance comprising a pre-configured virtual machine image (VMI), and wherein the digital wallet application comprises virtual machine monitor (VMM) code configured to execute the virtual appliance (see para. 0083-0085, wherein hypervisor is a VMM). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method of Kwon to include the features of Sha for enhanced security (see Sha, para. 0061) Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, Sha teaches wherein the private network is a virtual private network (VPN) without a publicly accessible endpoint or internet routable internet protocol (IP) address, and wherein the virtual appliance of the user device is assigned a private IP address (see para. 0076, i.e. computing device in the private cloud). Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20, Kwon discloses wherein the public and private key pair is used in signing and verifying digital currency exchanges utilizing the digital wallet application (see para. 0045, 0050), and wherein authenticating the digital wallet application further comprising cross-referencing a certificate system storing a plurality of public keys (see paras. 0010, 0033, wherein blockchain cross-references a certificate system by acting as a decentralized, immutable, and publicly verifiable registry for the cryptographic hashes and public keys). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Taylor (US 2021/0019163 A1) discloses methods for creating and managing virtual appliances. A command to create a virtual machine image for a hosted instance of an application image is received. The virtual machine image is created in response to receiving the command. The virtual machine image can include an operating system; a container orchestration service configured to host the instance of the application image; and a configuration service. The configuration service can be configured to at least install a management agent in response to a first boot of the virtual machine and configure the management agent to download and install the application image. Alwar (US 2013/0276068 A1) discloses a virtual appliance generation system which receives from a client via a communications link a selection identifier associated with a capability of a virtual appliance module, accesses an authorization value associated with the capability of the virtual appliance module in response to the receiving, and stores an identifier of the capability of the virtual appliance module within a virtual appliance descriptor. The authorization value is also stored within the virtual appliance descriptor. A digest based on the virtual appliance descriptor is generated and a virtual appliance container including a portion of the virtual appliance module, the virtual appliance descriptor, and the digest is generated. The virtual appliance generation system then provides the virtual appliance container to the client. Mayblum (US 2020/0410482 A1) discloses systems and methods for facilitating a transaction between a first entity and a second entity using a digital currency. In some aspects, a computing node participates in a private distributed ledger for a financial institution and stores one or more transaction blocks representing transactions in a digital currency. The digital currency is issued by the financial institution and is fixed with respect to a fiat currency. The computing node is configured to receive a transaction for transferring an amount of digital currency from a first entity to a second entity, generate a new transaction block representing the transaction, transmit the new transaction block to other computing nodes participating in the private distributed ledger, receive an indication of validity of the new transaction block, and insert the new transaction block into the private distributed ledger. Taylor (US 7,178,166 A1) discloses providing a user with assurance that a computer is secure based on a vulnerability assessment completed by a browser-compatible scanner operating on the computer. If the scanner finds a vulnerability, the scanner can inform the user that the machine is or may be compromised, or repair the vulnerability. For example, the scanner may be able to repair the vulnerability of the workstation. In the alternative, the scanner can provide the scan results to a network server. If the vulnerability assessment shows that the workstation is compromised, or if the possibility of remote compromise is high, the network server can decline to provide network services to the workstation. Warno (US 2013/0041987 A1) discloses a method for deploying a virtual network address translation (NAT) appliance includes receiving a request to generate a virtual machine environment. The method also includes generating the virtual machine environment from an environment template, the virtual machine environment comprising a first virtual machine. The method further includes configuring a hostname for a virtual NAT appliance instance, and configuring one or more private network settings for the virtual NAT appliance instance. The method also includes generating the virtual NAT appliance instance from the NAT appliance template, the NAT appliance instance comprising a public network interface and a private network interface. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ERIC whose telephone number is (571)270-3405. The examiner can normally be reached 9am-5pm M-F. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Michael W Anderson can be reached at 571-270-0508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /ERIC T WONG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3693 ERIC WONG Primary Examiner Art Unit 3693
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Prosecution Timeline

Sep 27, 2024
Application Filed
Dec 11, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
51%
Grant Probability
64%
With Interview (+13.3%)
4y 1m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 523 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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