Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/948,639

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR AN ELECTRONIC TRANSFER DIRECTORY SERVICE FOR DISTILLATION OR DISTRIBUTION OF FILES

Non-Final OA §101
Filed
Nov 15, 2024
Examiner
RANKINS, WILLIAM E
Art Unit
3694
Tech Center
3600 — Transportation & Electronic Commerce
Assignee
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
58%
Grant Probability
Moderate
1-2
OA Rounds
3y 2m
To Grant
66%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 58% of resolved cases
58%
Career Allow Rate
450 granted / 779 resolved
+5.8% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 2m
Avg Prosecution
39 currently pending
Career history
818
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
35.6%
-4.4% vs TC avg
§103
25.2%
-14.8% vs TC avg
§102
8.0%
-32.0% vs TC avg
§112
26.2%
-13.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 779 resolved cases

Office Action

§101
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 . DETAILED ACTION Specification The specification has been preliminarily amended. Status of Claims Claims 1, 3-6, 9, 11, and 12 are preliminarily amended. Claims 13-20 are new by preliminary amendment. Claims 1-20 are pending. 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. Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s): 1. A non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions that when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for verifying entities and provide an electronic transfer between entities, the operations comprising: retrieving a first reference number and a first transmit number associated with a first entity repository, wherein the first entity repository is owned by a first entity; generating a first internal profile associated with the first entity, wherein the first internal profile includes the first reference number and the first transmit number associated with the first entity repository; generating a first access token, wherein the first access token includes a first identification; generating a first external profile associated with the first entity, wherein the first external profile for the first entity includes the first access token; storing the first internal profile and the first external profile in a first directory of profiles, wherein the first directory of profiles includes a plurality of internal profiles and a plurality of external profiles both associated with a plurality of entities; retrieving a second identification of a second access token, wherein the second access token is associated with a second external profile from the plurality of external profiles; identifying a second entity associated with the second external profile using the second identification; identifying a second internal profile from the plurality of internal profiles associated with the second entity; using a second reference number and a second transmit number associated with the second internal profile, identifying a current status and a history of a second entity repository associated with the second internal profile, distributing the current status and the history associated with the second entity repository to the first entity; and upon receiving a positive status indication and a positive history indication, generating data associated with an electronic transfer from the first entity repository to the second entity repository and providing the data associated with the electronic transfer to the second entity to initiate the electronic transfer from the first entity repository to the second entity repository. The underlined elements of the claim represent certain methods of organizing human activity, fundamental economic practices of mitigating risk because the claims are directed to verifying entities before initiating funds transfers between the entities. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the claims are appended by the words "apply it", or the like. The additional elements being a non-transitory computer readable medium containing instructions executed by a processor and the term electronic which are generically recited. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because for the reasons stated above. The dependent claims merely narrow the abstract idea and as a whole and in combination, the claims represent the abstract idea with the words “apply it”, or the like. For example, claim 2 recites creating a second directory that includes external profiles which is merely using a computer in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks. Claim 10 is similar. Claim 3 recites determining a frequency of electronic transfers…which is insignificant extrasolution activity similar to data gathering in OIP Technologies. Claims 4-6 further narrows the abstract idea by reciting how the positive history indication is calculated. Claims 7-9 are merely further descriptive of the abstract idea. Claims 11-20 are similarly rejected. Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM E RANKINS whose telephone number is (571)270-3465. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-530 M-F. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bennett Sigmond can be reached on 303-297-4411. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /WILLIAM E RANKINS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3694
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Nov 15, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 17, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §101
Feb 10, 2026
Interview Requested
Feb 25, 2026
Applicant Interview (Telephonic)
Feb 25, 2026
Examiner Interview Summary

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12597083
FUTURES MARGIN MODELING SYSTEM HAVING SEASONALITY DETECTION
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 07, 2026
Patent 12572978
REAL-TIME CARD TIER UPGRADES FOR CARD NOT PRESENT TRANSACTIONS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12561662
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRANSFORMING ACCOUNT CONTROLS OVER TIME
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 24, 2026
Patent 12555120
Method to Manage Pending Transactions, and a System Thereof
2y 5m to grant Granted Feb 17, 2026
Patent 12530674
SYSTEM AND METHOD ENABLING MOBILE NEAR-FIELD COMMUNICATION TO UPDATE DISPLAY ON A PAYMENT CARD
2y 5m to grant Granted Jan 20, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

AI Strategy Recommendation

Get an AI-powered prosecution strategy using examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Powered by AI — typically takes 5-10 seconds

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
58%
Grant Probability
66%
With Interview (+8.7%)
3y 2m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 779 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month