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
Status of Claims
Claims 1-14 were pending. Claims 3 and 9 are canceled. Claim(s) 15 is/are new. Claims 1, 2, 4-8, and 10-15 are pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicants’ arguments regarding the 101 rejection(s) have been considered and are not persuasive.
Applicant argues the claims represent a practical application as they improve data throughput and payment real-time performance by improving the timeliness of the bank-securities transfer.
The Office asserts that the claims do not recite a temporal aspect, i.e., the time taken to request the transfer and receive the transfer available for use is not recited.
Applicant argues the claims improve security and reliability of the transaction through a smart contract and the blockchain.
The Office asserts that the smart contract and blockchain may implement security and accuracy but the use of the smart contract and blockchain occur after the fund transfer and therefore do not improve the computer systems ability to execute funds transfers from security accounts.
Applicant argues the querying, calculating and taking steps improve the binding efficiency of the securities account, improving the reliability and functionality of the payment system.
The Office asserts the applicant does not explain how the steps comprise an improvement. The Office asserts that the steps comprise risk mitigation, an abstract idea, narrowing the base abstract idea.
Applicant argues claim 15 defines a specific technical data-extraction and feature-processing mechanism for evaluating securities account credibility and imposes specific limitations on how raw transaction records are extracted and mathematically transformed.
The Office asserts that claim 15 defines a mathematical formula for determining credibility. The mathematical formula is a further abstract idea which merely narrows the base abstract idea of the claims.
Applicants’ arguments regarding the 103 rejection(s) have been considered and are persuasive. The rejections are withdrawn.
Applicants’ arguments regarding the 112 rejection(s) have been considered and are persuasive. The rejections are withdrawn.
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, 2, 4-8 and 10-15 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 blockchain-based payment control method performed by a payment system, the payment system comprising at least one of a terminal or a server, the method comprising:
determining a securities account available for payment based on a binding request for a securities account initiated by a requester;
transmitting the securities account available for payment to the requester to receive securities account selection information fed back by the requester for the securities account available for payment, to obtain a to-be-bound securities account;
establishing a payment link with the to-be-bound securities account, the payment link being used to invoke the securities account to use fund in the securities account;
verifying a payment request for a securities account initiated by the requester, wherein the payment request comprises a payment amount and a payee;
in response to the payment request passing the verification, performing fund deduction on the securities account based on the payment amount through the payment link, deducting a quota corresponding to the payment amount from a payment quota corresponding to the requester, and instructing an auxiliary payment platform to transfer the payment amount to the payee;
transferring finds corresponding to the payment quota to the auxiliary payment platform to generate a transaction result; and
verifying the transaction result through a smart contract and uploading data generated during the payment to a blockchain in response to the transaction result passing the verification;
wherein said determining the securities account available for payment based on the binding request for the securities account initiated by the requester comprises:
querying a securities account state of a securities account corresponding to the requester;
calculating credibility of a securities account with the securities account state being a normal state, based on historical transaction information of the securities account with the securities account state being the normal state; and
taking a securities account with credibility satisfying a predetermined condition as the securities account available for payment.
The underlined elements represent certain methods of organizing human activity, fundamental economic principles of transferring funds from securities to bank accounts. Claims 7 and 13 are similar.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the clai, including a smart contract, blockchain, auxiliary payment platform, electronic device, including processors, programs, a terminal, server and storage devices.
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the claims merely.
Claims 2, 4-6, 8, 10-12, 14 and 15 merely narrow the abstract idea with additional administrative limitations.
Claims 2 and 8 merely changes the value of the funds transfer.
Claims 4, 9 and 10 recite verifications steps, further narrowing the abstract idea with another abstract idea of risk mitigation.
Claims 5 and 11 recite how the payment link is established, narrowing the computer implementation of claim 1.
Claims 6 and 12 recite steps for displaying a payment data record which is similar to collecting data, analyzing it and displaying it, a further abstract idea which narrows the base abstract idea or adding a tangential element to the abstract idea.
Claim 14 further narrows the computer implementation of claim 1.
Claim 15 narrows the credibility determination, (risk mitigation) with a mathematical formula, a further narrowing of the abstract idea with another abstract idea.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 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.
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/WILLIAM E RANKINS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3694
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