Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. 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
2. This communication is in response to the Application filed on 02.12.2025. Claims 1-20 are currently pending in this application. Claims 1-20 will be subject to further examination and evaluation in due course, and will be presented for examination, as detailed below.
Oath/Declaration
3. The Applicants’ oath/declaration has been reviewed by the Examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. As required by M.P.E.P. 609(C), the Applicant’s submission of the Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) dated 07.07.2025 is acknowledged by the Examiner. The cited references have been considered in the examination of the claims. As required by M.P.E.P 609 C (2), a copy of the PTOL-1449 initialed, signed and dated by the Examiner is attached to the instant Office action.
Priority / Filing Date
5. Applicant’s claim for priority of the PRO 61/279,322 filed on 10.19.2009 is acknowledged. The Examiner takes the PRO date of 10.19.2009 into consideration.
Double Patenting
6. The non-statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A non-statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to HYPERLINK "http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp" www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
7. Claims 1-20 are rejected on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12,271,886. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same invention.
The mapping of exemplary independent claim 1 of the immediate application to exemplary independent claim 1 of the patent follows:
Immediate Application
US Patent Number
12,271,886
Claim 1: A method performed by a payment processing server for executing a transaction between a terminal and a mobile device, comprising: receiving a terminal identifier from the mobile device, the terminal identifier indicating a request to initiate a transaction with a terminal associated with a terminal identifier; transmitting, in response to receiving the terminal identifier, a request for a payment transaction from the payment processing server to the terminal; receiving the payment transaction from the terminal including a transaction amount for the transaction; receiving a mobile device number from the mobile device associated with the payment trans identifying a service data point associated with the mobile device number; requesting customer account information for a customer account associated with the mobile device number from the service data point; receiving the customer account information from the service data point; identifying a terminal account associated with the terminal; and initiating, at the payment processing server, the payment transaction between the customer account and the terminal account for the transaction amount received from the terminal.
Claim 1: A computer-implemented method for conducting a transaction between a terminal and a mobile device, the method comprising: receiving, at a payment processing server, an identifier of the terminal device from the mobile device, the identifier indicating a request to initiate the transaction with the terminal; transmitting from the payment processing server, in response to receiving the identifier, a transaction information request to the terminal; receiving from the terminal, at the payment processing server and in response to the transaction information request, the transaction information including a transaction amount for the transaction; receiving from the mobile device, at the payment processing server, a customer phone number associated with the payment transaction; identifying, at the payment processing server, a service data point associated with the customer phone number; requesting, by the payment processing server, a customer account associated with the customer phone number from the service data point; receiving, at the payment processing server, the customer account from the service data point; identifying a terminal account associated with the terminal; and initiating, at the payment processing server, the transaction between the customer account and the terminal account for the transaction amount received from the terminal.
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The PTO-1449 forma has been reviewed and considered.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Garcia Ade whose telephone number is (571)272-5586. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday.
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, Florian Zeender can be reached on 517-272-6790. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/Garcia Ade/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
/GA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3627
GARCIA ADE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 3687
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