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 .
Election/Restrictions
Claims 11-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on June 16, 2026.
35 USC § 101
The claims are directed to enabling bidding for products, which is a sales method and, hence, a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities, which is an abstract idea. MPEP § 2106.04(a). However, the payment interface and the limitation “evaluating the received one or more real-time bids collectively to determine a final bid, wherein the one or more real-time bids automatically update with respect to each other” are additional elements that impose meaningful limits on the scope of the abstract idea so as to integrate it into a practical application. The claims are therefore directed to statutory subject matter.
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 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0311375 A1 (hereinafter “Priebatsch”) in view of U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0198011 A1 (hereinafter “Corner”).
With respect to claim 1, Priebatsch discloses
“A system comprising”: Priebatsch, abstract;
“a processor”; Priebatsch ¶ 0039-0041; and
“a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions that are executable by the processor to cause the system to perform operations comprising”: Priebatsch ¶ 0039-0041;
“receiving a bid request from a merchant server for displaying a payment interface on a product page hosted by the merchant server”; Priebatsch ¶ 0006 (merchant server sends bid requests to payment processors to perform transaction, which includes providing an interface for the transaction);
“identifying one or more payment processor servers configured to provide the payment interface to the merchant server”; Priebatsch ¶ 0006 (best payment processor identified based on factors including price);
“providing the bid request to the one or more payment processor servers”; Priebatsch ¶ 0006 (transaction is provided to chosen payment processor);
“receiving, from the one or more payment processor servers, one or more … bids responding to the bid request”; Priebatsch ¶ 0006 (bids are received from payment processors);
“sending the final bid to the merchant server, wherein the final bid includes a payment interface code package for displaying the payment interface on the product page”. Priebatsch ¶ 0006 (final bid is received by merchant server and necessary code is included).
Priebatsch does not explicitly disclose real-time bids. Corner discloses
“receiving, …, one or more real-time bids responding to the bid request”; Corner ¶ 0010 (real time bids are received and optimized, which includes updating them with respect to each other); and
“evaluating the received one or more real-time bids collectively to determine a final bid, wherein the one or more real-time bids automatically update with respect to each other”. Corner ¶ 0010 (real time bids are received and optimized, which includes updating them with respect to each other).
Both Priebatsch and Corner relate to purchasing products. Priebatsch, abstract; Corner, abstract. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the real time bidding optimization feature as taught by Corner in the method of Priebatsch with the motivation of providing offers more likely to be accepted to prospective purchasers. Corner ¶ 0019.
With respect to claim 2, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the bid request comprises at least one of a merchant profile corresponding to the merchant server, a user profile corresponding to a user visiting the product page, or a product profile corresponding to the product page”. Priebatsch ¶ 0021 (e.g., customer account database stores record that includes financial account data, which is a user profile).
With respect to claim 3, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the user profile is based on non-personal data”. Priebatsch ¶ 0021 (e.g., user profile can be based in part on transaction data).
With respect to claim 4, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the non-personal data corresponds to cohort data of a class of users similar to the user visiting the product page”. Priebatsch ¶ 0021 (e.g., data can be aggregate transaction data).
With respect to claim 5, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein determining the final bid is further based on merchant preferences for one or more additional features included in a real-time bid”. Priebatsch ¶ 0021 (e.g., merchant payment preferences).
With respect to claim 6, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the one or more additional features comprises a potential transaction analysis that is based on at least one of the merchant profile, the user profile, or the product profile”. Priebatsch ¶ 0021 (e.g., bid can be chosen based on merchant payment preferences).
With respect to claim 7, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the one or more additional features comprises a potential transaction risk corresponding to the product page that is based on at least one of the merchant profile, the user profile, or the product profile”. Priebatsch ¶¶ 0007, 0021 (e.g., bid can be chosen based on transaction risk).
With respect to claim 8, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the one or more additional features comprises a recommendation for modifying the product page that is based on at least one of the merchant profile, the user profile, or the product profile”. Priebatsch ¶¶ 0006, 0021 (product page is modified based on selection of payment processor, which is based in part on profile).
With respect to claim 9, Corner discloses
“wherein the one or more real-time bids each comprise a fee proposal associated with the payment interface, and determining the final bid is based on a proxy bidding scheme using the fee proposals from the one or more real-time bids”. Corner ¶ 0010 (real time bids are received and optimized, which includes determining the final bid based on a proxy bidding scheme).
With respect to claim 10, Priebatsch discloses
“wherein the payment interface code package includes code for presenting a customized payment interface to connect with the one or more payment processor servers that provided the final bid”. Priebatsch ¶ 0006 (payment interface is modified to enable payment through selected payment processor).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2019/0362414 A1 (hereinafter “Viegas”) discloses utilizing user profiles to modify payment interfaces. Viegas, abstract.
Fang, Ke, et al., "Receding Bid Optimization Method with Real-Time Feedback and Prediction for Sponsored Search Advertising on Taobao"2023 42nd Chinese Control Conference, pp. 3476-83, Sept. 18, 2023, 978-988-75815-4-3 (hereinafter ‘Fang”) discloses optimizing real time bids. Fang, abstract.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ETHAN D CIVAN whose telephone number is (571)270-3402. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Thursday 8-6:30.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Maria-Teresa Thein can be reached at (571) 272-6764. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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ETHAN D. CIVAN
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3688
/ETHAN D CIVAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3688
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