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 .
Response to Amendment
The amendment filed 26 August 2026 has been entered. Applicants have amended claims 1, 9, 12, and 20. Accordingly, claims 1-20 remain pending.
Applicants’ amendment overcomes the 35 USC 112(b) rejection of 08 June 2026. Therefore, the 08 June 2026 is withdrawn.
Response to Arguments
35 USC 112(b) Rejection:
Applicants’ arguments filed 26 August 2026, with respect to 35 USC 112(b) rejection of 08 June 2026 have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the 35 USC 112(b) rejection of 08 June 2026 has been withdrawn.
35 USC 103 Rejection
Applicant's arguments filed 26 August 2026 pertaining to the amended limitation of “wherein the cell registry includes a cell identifier for a target cell of the plurality of target cells and information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials” have been fully considered but they are not persuasive because said limitations are taught by the prior art of record.
Paragraph 98 of Abraham discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping [registry] based on the resource provider identifier. The resource provider identifier is used to identify a transport/target computer. Paragraph 66 of Abraham also discloses utilizing portion of an account number (identifier) that corresponds to a bank identification number (BIN) (security credential) which can be used to access a database that has the corresponding authorizing computer (name of the authorizing computer can be an identifier) stored in association with the BIN (security credential).
Likewise, Patterson discloses in paragraphs 70 and 84 of a data structure/database/registry includes tokens that are associated with primary account number/account credential or other account identifier, wherein a token refers to an identifier associated with a user/target cell computer. Paragraph 215 also discloses a database such as a card registry that stores profile data, wherein profile data includes data associated with account identifiers and/or account information. Profile data may include status, product plan(s), account type (e.g., debit, credit, loan, BNPL, etc.), issuer discretionary data (IDD), any combination thereof, and/or the like. Participating PANS on file may include account identifiers as well as other related information, such as BIN, PID, AFS, multiple account access (MAA) indicator (e.g., an indicator that the PAN is eligible for dynamic processing)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to modify Abraham’s mapping and further include Patterson’s token association with the PAN such that the system can process and conduct a transaction (e.g., a payment transaction) without directly using the account identifier/credentials (paragraph 84 of Patterson).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
Claim(s) 1-2, 8-10, and 16-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham et al US 20220263755 (hereinafter Abraham) in view of Patterson et al WO 2024158915 (hereinafter Patterson).
As to claim 1, Abraham teaches a device for authorization request routing in a cell-based authorization request processing system (paragraph 5 discloses systems for intelligent routing of authorization requests to an appropriate transport computer using automatic rules and real-time network measurements. The transport computer may be selected from a set(cell) of transport computers which have a relationship with a particular resource provider), the device comprising:
one or more memories (paragraph 199 reveals the system includes system memory); and
one or more processors, communicatively coupled to the one or more memories, configured (paragraph 199 reveals the system includes a processor that communicates and controls the execution of instructions from system memory) to:
obtain an authorization request including a medium credential (paragraph 97 discloses the gateway server obtains an authorization request. The authorization request includes credentials such as various types of identifying information which may be used for authorization, such as a username, password, PAN, or any of the other examples of identifying information, among other forms of identifying information);
identify an account credential [and] the medium credential, the medium credential being one of a set of medium credentials associated with the account credential (paragraph 98 discloses extracting resource provider identifier/primary credential from the authorization request, recall from paragraph 97 that the authorization request includes credential information such as username, password, PAN. Paragraph 57 reveals the credential may be form of payment credentials from consumer from a set of personal account number or PAN, as well as other credentials or identifying information, such as a home address, zip code, credit card CVV2 value, credit card expiration date, and full legal name);
retrieve health information associated with a plurality of cells indicated in a cell registry (paragraph 99 discloses the gateway server retrieves status/health information from the determined set(cell) of transport computers (e.g., transport computer A and transport computer B.) Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier. Paragraphs 99-105 disclose how the health/status information is obtained and the type of status information), wherein the cell registry includes a cell identifier for a target cell of the plurality of cells (paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping [registry] based on the resource provider identifier. The resource provider identifier is used to identify a transport/target computer) and information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials (paragraph 66 also discloses utilizing portion of an account number (identifier) that corresponds to a bank identification number (BIN) (security credential) which can be used to access a database that has the corresponding authorizing computer (name of the authorizing computer can be an identifier) stored in association with the BIN (security credential));
select the target cell, the target cell for processing the authorization request, the target cell being one of the plurality of cells and being selected based on the account credential, the cell registry, and the health information (paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request. The gateway server may select the particular transport computer for processing the request based on the determined measures of network availability and/or expected volume of the transport computers (from the transport cell registry). The gateway server may use additional factors in making a routing determination, such as predefined rules, success/decline rates, and throughput metrics (these are health information). Such factors may be combined to arrive at a score, or “health score,” for a transport computer. The gateway server may select the transport computer for processing the request based on the score (e.g., by selecting the transport computer with the highest or lowest score, depending on the scoring system used). Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential). Paragraph 107 further discloses gateway server may retrieve such predefined rules from the routing database and some or all of the rules may be stored in association with different resource providers. Based on, e.g., a resource provider identifier (account credential), the gateway server may retrieve a rule set); and
route the authorization request to the target cell (paragraph 113 discloses the gateway server transmits the authorization request to the selected particular transport computer).
Abraham does not teach, but Patterson teaches identify an account credential associated with the medium credential (paragraph 114 discloses first account identifier is associated/include a lead credential. The lead credential may identify an account holder or default payment account. Paragraph 113 reveals the authorization request includes an account identifier or first account identifier). Patterson further teaches wherein the cell registry includes …information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials (paragraphs 70 and 84 disclose a data structure/database/registry includes tokens that are associated with primary account number/account credential or other account identifier, wherein a token refers to an identifier associated to a user/target cell computer. Paragraph 215 also discloses a database such as a card registry that stores profile data, wherein profile data includes data associated with account identifiers and/or account information. Profile data may include status, product plan(s), account type (e.g., debit, credit, loan, BNPL, etc.), issuer discretionary data (IDD), any combination thereof, and/or the like. Participating PANS on file may include account identifiers as well as other related information, such as BIN, PID, AFS, multiple account access (MAA) indicator (e.g., an indicator that the PAN is eligible for dynamic processing)).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials with Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials to provide improved systems and method for multi-account access based on a single credential (paragraph 5 of Patterson) and further include Patterson’s teachings of a token association with the PAN such that the system can process and conduct a transaction (e.g., a payment transaction) without directly using the account identifier/credentials (paragraph 84 of Patterson).
As to claim 2, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches wherein the health information includes an indication that a particular cell, of the plurality of cells and that is associated with the account credential, is capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the particular cell is selected as the target cell based on the indication (Abraham: paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request. The gateway server may select the particular transport computer for processing the request based on the determined measures of network availability and/or expected volume of the transport computers (from plurality of transport computers/cells). The gateway server may use additional factors in making a routing determination, such as predefined rules, success/decline rates, and throughput metrics (these are health information). Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential). Paragraph 107 further discloses gateway server may retrieve such predefined rules from the routing database and some or all of the rules may be stored in association with different resource providers. Based on, e.g., a resource provider identifier (account credential), the gateway server may retrieve a rule set. Paragraph 104 further discloses the measure of availability of the transport computers based on heartbeat messages. Heartbeat messages can be short messages and can be sent at a predetermined rate to one or more computers on a network. The heartbeat messages indicate to their recipient that the computer sending the heartbeat messages is available for communication. In some embodiments, the gateway server may receive heartbeat messages periodically from the transport computers. The gateway server may compare the number of heartbeat messages received to an expected number of heartbeat messages in order to determine the availability of the transport computer. Further, the gateway server may determine a ratio of the number of heartbeat messages received to the expected number of heartbeat messages and compare the ratio to a predetermined threshold. This ratio may be compared to that of other transport computers in determining the transport computer to which to transmit the authorization request).
As to claim 8, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to (Abraham: paragraph 199 reveals the system includes a processor that communicates and control the execution of instructions from system memory): obtain an output including a response to the authorization request (Abraham: paragraph 66 discloses the processing network can forward the authorization message received from the transport computer to the authorizing computer for authorization. The processing network can then receive authorization response messages from the authorizing computer); and provide the output including the response to the authorization request (Abraham: paragraph 66 discloses the processing network can then receive authorization response messages from the authorizing computer and further transmit the authorization response messages to the transport computer).
As to claim 9, Abraham teaches a method for request routing in a cell-based authorization request processing system (paragraph 5 discloses methods and systems for intelligent routing of authorization requests to an appropriate transport computer using automatic rules and real-time network measurements. The transport computer may be selected from a set(cell) of transport computers which have a relationship with a particular resource provider), comprising:
obtaining, by a device, a request including a secondary credential (paragraph 97 discloses the gateway server obtains an authorization request. The authorization request includes credentials such as various types of identifying information which may be used for authorization, such as a username, password, PAN, or any of the other examples of identifying information recited above, among other forms of identifying information);
identifying, by the device, a primary credential [and] the secondary credential, the secondary credential being one of a set of secondary credentials associated with the primary credential (paragraph 98 discloses the gateway server extracts resource provider identifier/primary credential from the authorization request, recall from paragraph 97 that the authorization request includes credential information such as username, password, PAN. Paragraph 57 reveals the credential may be form of payment credentials from consumer from a set of personal account number or PAN, as well as other credentials or identifying information, such as a home address, zip code, credit card CVV2 value, credit card expiration date, and full legal name);
retrieving, by the device, health information associated with a plurality of cells indicated in a cell registry (paragraph 99 discloses the gateway server retrieves status/health information from the determined set(cell) of transport computers (e.g., transport computer A and transport computer B.) Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier. Paragraphs 99-105 disclose how the health/status information is obtained and the type of status information), wherein the cell registry includes a cell identifier for a target cell of the plurality of cells (paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping [registry] based on the resource provider identifier. The resource provider identifier is used to identify a transport/target computer) and information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials (paragraph 66 also discloses utilizing portion of an account number (identifier) that corresponds to a bank identification number (BIN) (security credential) which can be used to access a database that has the corresponding authorizing computer (name of the authorizing computer can be an identifier) stored in association with the BIN (security credential));
selecting, by the device, the target cell, the target cell for processing the request, the target cell being one of the plurality of cells and being selected based on the primary credential, the cell registry, and the health information (paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request. The gateway server may select the particular transport computer for processing the request based on the determined measures of network availability and/or expected volume of the transport computers (from the transport cell registry). The gateway server may use additional factors in making a routing determination, such as predefined rules, success/decline rates, and throughput metrics (these are health information). Such factors may be combined to arrive at a score, or “health score,” for a transport computer. The gateway server may select the transport computer for processing the request based on the score (e.g., by selecting the transport computer with the highest or lowest score, depending on the scoring system used). Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential). Paragraph 107 further discloses gateway server may retrieve such predefined rules from the routing database and some or all of the rules may be stored in association with different resource providers. Based on, e.g., a resource provider identifier (account credential), the gateway server may retrieve a rule set); and
providing, by the device, the request to the target cell (paragraph 113 discloses the gateway server transmits the authorization request to the selected particular transport computer).
Abraham does not teach, but Patterson teaches identifying a primary credential associated with the secondary credential (paragraph 114 discloses first account identifier is associated/include a lead credential. The lead credential may identify an account holder or default payment account. Paragraph 113 reveals the authorization request includes an account identifier or primary account identifier). Patterson further teaches wherein the cell registry includes …information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials (paragraphs 70 and 84 disclose a data structure/database/registry includes tokens that are associated with primary account number/account credential or other account identifier, wherein a token refers to an identifier associated to a user/target cell computer. Paragraph 215 also discloses a database such as a card registry that stores profile data, wherein profile data includes data associated with account identifiers and/or account information. Profile data may include status, product plan(s), account type (e.g., debit, credit, loan, BNPL, etc.), issuer discretionary data (IDD), any combination thereof, and/or the like. Participating PANS on file may include account identifiers as well as other related information, such as BIN, PID, AFS, multiple account access (MAA) indicator (e.g., an indicator that the PAN is eligible for dynamic processing)).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials with Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials to provide improved systems and method for multi-account access based on a single credential (paragraph 5 of Patterson) and further include Patterson’s teachings of a token association with the PAN such that the system can process and conduct a transaction (e.g., a payment transaction) without directly using the account identifier/credentials (paragraph 84 of Patterson).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials with Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified primary account credential with the secondary credentials to provide improved systems and method for multi-account access based on a single credential (paragraph 5 of Patterson).
As to claim 10, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches wherein the health information includes an indication that a particular cell, of the plurality of cells and that is associated with the primary credential, is capable of performing request processing, wherein the particular cell is selected as the target cell based on the indication (Abraham: paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request. The gateway server may select the particular transport computer for processing the request based on the determined measures of network availability and/or expected volume of the transport computers (from plurality of transport computers/cells). The gateway server may use additional factors in making a routing determination, such as predefined rules, success/decline rates, and throughput metrics (these are health information). Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential). Paragraph 107 further discloses gateway server may retrieve such predefined rules from the routing database and some or all of the rules may be stored in association with different resource providers. Based on, e.g., a resource provider identifier (account credential), the gateway server may retrieve a rule set. Paragraph 104 further discloses the measure of availability of the transport computers based on heartbeat messages. Heartbeat messages can be short messages and can be sent at a predetermined rate to one or more computers on a network. The heartbeat messages indicate to their recipient that the computer sending the heartbeat messages is available for communication. In some embodiments, the gateway server may receive heartbeat messages periodically from the transport computers. The gateway server may compare the number of heartbeat messages received to an expected number of heartbeat messages in order to determine the availability of the transport computer. Further, the gateway server may determine a ratio of the number of heartbeat messages received to the expected number of heartbeat messages and compare the ratio to a predetermined threshold. This ratio may be compared to that of other transport computers in determining the transport computer to which to transmit the authorization request).
As to claim 16, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches obtaining an output including a response to the authorization request (Abraham: paragraph 66 discloses the processing network can forward the authorization message received from the transport computer to the authorizing computer for authorization. The processing network can then receive authorization response messages from the authorizing computer); and providing the output including the response to the authorization request (Abraham: paragraph 66 discloses the processing network can then receive authorization response messages from the authorizing computer and further transmit the authorization response messages to the transport computer).
As to claim 17, Abraham teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising: one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a device (paragraph 199 reveals the system includes system memory; claim 10 discloses a non-transitory computer-readable medium coupled to the processor, the non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising code executable by the processor to perform a method), cause the device to (paragraph 199 and claim 10):
obtain an authorization request including a medium credential (paragraph 97 discloses the gateway server obtains an authorization request. The authorization request includes credential such as various types of identifying information which may be used for authorization, such as a username, password, PAN, or any of the other examples of identifying information recited above, among other forms of identifying information);
identify an account credential [and] the medium credential, the medium credential being one of a set of medium credentials associated with the account credential (paragraph 98 discloses extracting resource provider identifier/primary credential from the authorization request, recall from paragraph 97 that the authorization request includes credential information such as username, password, PAN. Paragraph 57 reveals the credential may be form of payment credentials from consumer from a set of personal account number or PAN, as well as other credentials or identifying information, such as a home address, zip code, credit card CVV2 value, credit card expiration date, and full legal name);
obtain health information associated with a plurality of cells indicated in a cell registry (paragraph 99 discloses the gateway server retrieves status/health information from the determined set(cell) of transport computers (e.g., transport computer A and transport computer B.) Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier. Paragraphs 99-105 disclose how the health/status information is obtained and the type of status information), wherein the cell registry includes a cell identifier for a target cell of the plurality of cells (paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping [registry] based on the resource provider identifier. The resource provider identifier is used to identify a transport/target computer) and information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials (paragraph 66 also discloses utilizing portion of an account number (identifier) that corresponds to a bank identification number (BIN) (security credential) which can be used to access a database that has the corresponding authorizing computer (name of the authorizing computer can be an identifier) stored in association with the BIN (security credential));
identify the target cell, the target cell for processing the authorization request, the target cell being one of the plurality of cells and being selected based on the account credential, the cell registry, and the health information (paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request. The gateway server may select the particular transport computer for processing the request based on the determined measures of network availability and/or expected volume of the transport computers (from the transport cell registry). The gateway server may use additional factors in making a routing determination, such as predefined rules, success/decline rates, and throughput metrics (these are health information). Such factors may be combined to arrive at a score, or “health score,” for a transport computer. The gateway server may select the transport computer for processing the request based on the score (e.g., by selecting the transport computer with the highest or lowest score, depending on the scoring system used). Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential). Paragraph 107 further discloses gateway server may retrieve such predefined rules from the routing database and some or all of the rules may be stored in association with different resource providers. Based on, e.g., a resource provider identifier (account credential), the gateway server may retrieve a rule set); and
route the authorization request to the target cell (paragraph 113 discloses the gateway server transmits the authorization request to the selected particular transport computer).
Abraham does not teach, but Patterson teaches identify an account credential associated with the medium credential (paragraph 114 discloses first account identifier is associated/included a lead credential. The lead credential may identify an account holder or default payment account. Paragraph 113 reveals the authorization request includes an account identifier or first account identifier). Patterson further teaches wherein the cell registry includes …information that associates the target cell with one or more account credentials (paragraphs 70 and 84 disclose a data structure/database/registry includes tokens that are associated with primary account number/account credential or other account identifier, wherein a token refers to an identifier associated to a user/target cell computer. Paragraph 215 also discloses a database such as a card registry that stores profile data, wherein profile data includes data associated with account identifiers and/or account information. Profile data may include status, product plan(s), account type (e.g., debit, credit, loan, BNPL, etc.), issuer discretionary data (IDD), any combination thereof, and/or the like. Participating PANS on file may include account identifiers as well as other related information, such as BIN, PID, AFS, multiple account access (MAA) indicator (e.g., an indicator that the PAN is eligible for dynamic processing)).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials with Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials to provide improved systems and method for multi-account access based on a single credential (paragraph 5 of Patterson) and further include Patterson’s teachings of a token association with the PAN such that the system can process and conduct a transaction (e.g., a payment transaction) without directly using the account identifier/credentials (paragraph 84 of Patterson).
As to claim 18, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches wherein the health information includes an indication that a particular cell, of the plurality of cells and that is associated with the account credential, is capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the particular cell is selected as the target cell based on the indication (Abraham: paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request. The gateway server may select the particular transport computer for processing the request based on the determined measures of network availability and/or expected volume of the transport computers (from plurality of transport computers/cells). The gateway server may use additional factors in making a routing determination, such as predefined rules, success/decline rates, and throughput metrics (these are health information). Paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers that may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential). Paragraph 107 further discloses gateway server may retrieve such predefined rules from the routing database and some or all of the rules may be stored in association with different resource providers. Based on, e.g., a resource provider identifier (account credential), the gateway server may retrieve a rule set. Paragraph 104 further discloses the measure of availability of the transport computers based on heartbeat messages. Heartbeat messages can be short messages and can be sent at a predetermined rate to one or more computers on a network. The heartbeat messages indicate to their recipient that the computer sending the heartbeat messages is available for communication. In some embodiments, the gateway server may receive heartbeat messages periodically from the transport computers. The gateway server may compare the number of heartbeat messages received to an expected number of heartbeat messages in order to determine the availability of the transport computer. Further, the gateway server may determine a ratio of the number of heartbeat messages received to the expected number of heartbeat messages and compare the ratio to a predetermined threshold. This ratio may be compared to that of other transport computers in determining the transport computer to which to transmit the authorization request).
Claim(s) 3, 11, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham et al US 20220263755 (hereinafter Abraham), in view of Patterson et al WO 2024158915 (hereinafter Patterson), and in further view of Govil et al US 20210021599 (hereinafter Govil).
As to claim 3, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 1 above and further teaches a first cell that is associated with the account credential and a second cell that is associated with the account credential (Abraham: paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential)).
The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but Govil teaches wherein the health information includes a first indication that a first cell, of the plurality of cells, is not capable of performing authorization request processing (paragraphs 29-30 and 42 disclose based on performance/health information, a failover system may determine rerouting of an authentication request is needed when the processing node/first cell (paragraph 29 reveals there are plurality of processing nodes/cells) is unable to process the authorization request within a service level agreement associated with the authorization request and/or underlying transaction), and includes a second indication that a second cell, of the plurality of cells, is capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the second cell is selected as the target cell based on the first indication and the second indication (paragraph 30 reveals the authorization request is rerouted to a failover system that have different processing node/cell within the distributed system. Paragraph 44 reveals the failover system that has the second processing node/cell is determined based on performance data for the set of candidate failover systems).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with Govil’s teachings of health indication that a cell is capable or not capable of processing an authorization request to offer improved system availability that improve the quality, efficiency, and speed of transaction processing system by dynamically rerouting authorization services, particularly in cloud-based environment (paragraph 5 of Govil).
As to claim 11, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 9 above and further teaches a first cell that is associated with the primary credential and a second cell that is associated with the primary credential (Abraham: paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account/primary credential)).
The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but Govil teaches wherein the health information includes a first indication that a first cell, of the plurality of cells, is not capable of performing authorization request processing (paragraphs 29-30 and 42 disclose based on performance/health information, a failover system may determine rerouting of an authentication request is needed when the processing node/first cell (paragraph 29 reveals there are plurality of processing nodes/cells) is unable to process the authorization request within a service level agreement associated with the authorization request and/or underlying transaction), and includes a second indication that a second cell, of the plurality of cells, is capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the second cell is selected as the target cell based on the first indication and the second indication (paragraph 30 reveals the authorization request is rerouted to a failover system that have different processing node/cell within the distributed system. Paragraph 44 reveals the failover system that has the second processing node/cell is determined based on performance data for the set of candidate failover systems).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with Govil’s teachings of health indication that a cell is capable or not capable of processing an authorization request to offer improved system availability that improve the quality, efficiency, and speed of transaction processing system by dynamically rerouting authorization services, particularly in cloud-based environment (paragraph 5 of Govil).
As to claim 19, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 17 above and further teaches a first cell that is associated with the account credential and a second cell that is associated with the account credential (Abraham: paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential)).
The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but Govil teaches wherein the health information includes a first indication that a first cell, of the plurality of cells, is not capable of performing authorization request processing (paragraphs 29-30 and 42 disclose based on performance/health information, a failover system may determine rerouting of an authentication request is needed when the processing node/first cell (paragraph 29 reveals there are plurality of processing nodes/cells) is unable to process the authorization request within a service level agreement associated with the authorization request and/or underlying transaction), and includes a second indication that a second cell, of the plurality of cells, is capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the second cell is selected as the target cell based on the first indication and the second indication (paragraph 30 reveals the authorization request is rerouted to a failover system that have different processing node/cell within the distributed system. Paragraph 44 reveals the failover system that has the second processing node/cell is determined based on performance data for the set of candidate failover systems).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings of extracting the account credentials in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with Govil’s teachings of health indication that a cell is capable or not capable of processing an authorization request to offer improved system availability that improve the quality, efficiency, and speed of transaction processing system by dynamically rerouting authorization services, particularly in cloud-based environment (paragraph 5 of Govil).
Claim(s) 4-6, and 12-14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham et al US 20220263755 (hereinafter Abraham), in view of Patterson et al WO 2024158915 (hereinafter Patterson), and in further view of McLaughlin et al US 20190026737 (hereinafter McLaughlin).
As to claim 4, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 1 above and further teaches wherein the authorization request is a first authorization request (Abraham: paragraph 97 discloses a first authorization request in the gateway server obtains an authorization request), the medium credential is a first medium credential (Abraham: paragraph 97 discloses a first medium credential in the authorization request includes credential such as various types of identifying information which may be used for authorization, such as a username, password, PAN, or any of the other examples of identifying information, among other forms of identifying information), the target cell is a first target cell (Abraham: paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose a first target cell in the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request), and one or more processors (Abraham: paragraph 199 reveals the system includes a processor that communicates and control the execution of instructions from system memory); and the authorization request includes credentials (Abraham: paragraph 97 discloses credential in the authorization request includes credential such as various types of identifying information which may be used for authorization, such as a username, password, PAN, or any of the other examples of identifying information, among other forms of identifying information).
The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but McLaughlin teaches one or more processors are further configured to (paragraph 185 discloses the system has a central processor that control the execution of instructions from system memory): obtain a second authorization request including a second medium credential (paragraph 75 discloses receiving a second authorization request. Paragraphs 49 and 52 reveal the authorization requests include personal account number/PAN or other credential/identifying information. Paragraph 103 also reveals the authorization request message include credentials) ; identify the account credential as being associated with the second medium credential (paragraph 49 discloses the concept of receiving the identifying information/credential and comparing with an expected message data/credential); select a second target cell for processing the second authorization request, the second target cell being one of the plurality of cells and being selected based on the account credential, the cell registry, and the health information (paragraph 74 discloses determining that the acquirer processor is unavailable (health information) indicates to the merchant processor that it should route subsequent authorization requests through the second communication channel in order to complete the authorization process. Paragraph 56 discloses when it is determined that the acquirer processor is unavailable, the second communication channel can be selected. Paragraph 80 discloses authorization response messages may include a status or status code which indicates the status of the authorization (health information of the cell/device in the registry. Paragraph 49 discloses the concept of receiving the identifying information/credential and comparing with an expected message data/credential). Paragraph 86 further reveals the transaction review module analyze the transaction to identify); and route the second authorization request to the second target cell (paragraph 87 discloses the routing module route the authorization requests to the appropriate destination; paragraph 56 discloses when it is determined that the acquirer processor is unavailable, the second communication channel can be selected).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings routing authorization request in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with McLaughlin’s teachings of routing a second authorization request to a selected second target cell to provide a system and method that handle authorization requests even during network issues and failures (paragraph 3 of McLaughlin).
As to claim 5, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson and McLaughlin teaches wherein the one or more processors are further configured to (McLaughlin: paragraph 185 discloses the system has a central processor that control the execution of instructions from system memory) retrieve updated health information including an indication that the first target cell is no longer capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the second target cell is selected based on the updated health information (McLaughlin: paragraph 74 discloses determining that the acquirer processor is unavailable (health information) indicates to the merchant processor that it should route subsequent authorization requests through the second communication channel in order to complete the authorization process. Paragraph 56 discloses when it is determined that the acquirer processor is unavailable, the second communication channel can be selected. Paragraph 80 discloses authorization response messages may include a status or status code which indicates the status of the authorization (health information. Paragraphs 149-150 disclose updating a flag or other value stored in memory to indicate that the acquirer processor is unavailable). Motivation is similar to the motivation presented in claim 4.
As to claim 6, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson and McLaughlin teaches wherein the first target cell and the second target cell are included in a pool of cells, of the plurality of cells (Abraham: paragraph 100 discloses transport computers 405A and 405B (thus first cell and a second cell), that are associated with the account credential (Abraham: paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential)), and the second target cell is selected based on a load balancing associated with the pool of cells (Abraham: paragraphs 100-101 disclose the gateway server determines the measures of network availability of the transport computers using one or more of error codes, response times, ratios of connection successes to failures, or ratios of recorded missed heartbeats to expected heartbeats and analysis of the receipt rate of a first set of authorization requests. This is a form of load balancing because the method involves distributing incoming requests to the available transport computer to ensure high availability, efficient utilization of resources, and optimal performance. McLaughlin: paragraph 72 discloses heartbeat messages are used to determine the availability of acquirer processor. The heartbeat messages indicate to their recipient that the computer sending the heartbeat messages is available for communication. The merchant processor may receive heartbeat messages periodically from the acquirer processor. The merchant processor may compare the number of heartbeat messages received to an expected number of heartbeat messages in order to determine the availability of the acquirer processor. Further, the merchant processor may determine a ratio of the number of heartbeat messages received to the expected number of heartbeat messages and compare the ratio to a predetermined threshold. Again, this is a form of load balancing because the method involves distributing incoming request to the available transport computer to ensure high availability, efficient utilization of resources, and optimal performance). Motivation is similar to the motivation presented in claim 4.
As to claim 12, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 9 above and further teaches wherein the request is a first request (Abraham: paragraph 97 discloses a first authorization request in the gateway server obtains an authorization request), the target cell is a first target cell (Abraham: paragraphs 98 and 106 disclose a first target cell in the gateway server selects a particular transport computer for processing the request); and the authorization request includes credentials (Abraham: paragraph 97 discloses credential in the authorization request includes credential such as various types of identifying information which may be used for authorization, such as a username, password, PAN, or any of the other examples of identifying information, among other forms of identifying information).
The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but McLaughlin teaches obtaining, by the device, a second authorization request including a second secondary credential (paragraph 75 discloses receiving a second authorization request. Paragraphs 49 and 52 reveal the authorization requests include personal account number/PAN or other credential/identifying information. Paragraph 103 also reveals the authorization request message include credentials); identifying, by the device, the primary credential as being associated with the second secondary credential (paragraph 49 discloses the concept of receiving the identifying information/credential and comparing with an expected message data/credential); selecting, by the device, a second target cell for processing the second authorization request, the second target cell being one of the plurality of cells and being selected based on the primary credential, the cell registry, and the health information (paragraph 74 discloses determining that the acquirer processor is unavailable (health information) indicates to the merchant processor that it should route subsequent authorization requests through the second communication channel in order to complete the authorization process. Paragraph 56 discloses when it is determined that the acquirer processor is unavailable, the second communication channel can be selected. Paragraph 80 discloses authorization response messages may include a status or status code which indicates the status of the authorization (health information of the cell/device in the registry. Paragraph 49 discloses the concept of receiving the identifying information/credential and comparing with an expected message data/credential). Paragraph 86 further reveals the transaction review module analyze the transaction to identify); and routing, by the device, the second authorization request to the second target cell (paragraph 87 discloses the routing module route the authorization requests to the appropriate destination; paragraph 56 discloses when it is determined that the acquirer processor is unavailable, the second communication channel can be selected).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings routing authorization request in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with McLaughlin’s teachings of routing a second authorization request to a selected second target cell to provide a system and method that handle authorization requests even during network issues and failures (paragraph 3 of McLaughlin).
As to claim 13, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson and McLaughlin teaches further comprising retrieving updated health information including an indication that the first target cell is no longer capable of performing authorization request processing, wherein the second target cell is selected based on the updated health information (McLaughlin: paragraph 74 discloses determining that the acquirer processor is unavailable (health information) indicates to the merchant processor that it should route subsequent authorization requests through the second communication channel in order to complete the authorization process. Paragraph 56 discloses when it is determined that the acquirer processor is unavailable, the second communication channel can be selected. Paragraph 80 discloses authorization response messages may include a status or status code which indicates the status of the authorization (health information. Paragraphs 149-150 disclose updating a flag or other value stored in memory to indicate that the acquirer processor is unavailable). Motivation is similar to the motivation presented in claim 12.
As to claim 14, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson and McLaughlin teaches wherein the first target cell and the second target cell are included in a pool of cells, of the plurality of cells (Abraham: paragraph 100 discloses transport computers 405A and 405B (thus first cell and a second cell), that are associated with the account credential (Abraham: paragraph 98 discloses the appropriate set of transport computers may be identified by retrieving a stored mapping (registry) based on the resource provider identifier (account credential)), and the second target cell is selected based on a load balancing associated with the pool of cells (Abraham: paragraphs 100-101 disclose the gateway server determines the measures of network availability of the transport computers using one or more of error codes, response times, ratios of connection successes to failures, or ratios of recorded missed heartbeats to expected heartbeats and analysis of the receipt rate of a first set of authorization requests. This is a form of load balancing because the method involves distributing incoming request to the available transport computer to ensure high availability, efficient utilization of resources, and optimal performance. McLaughlin: paragraph 72 discloses heartbeat messages are used to determine the availability of acquirer processor. The heartbeat messages indicate to their recipient that the computer sending the heartbeat messages is available for communication. The merchant processor may receive heartbeat messages periodically from the acquirer processor. The merchant processor may compare the number of heartbeat messages received to an expected number of heartbeat messages in order to determine the availability of the acquirer processor. Further, the merchant processor may determine a ratio of the number of heartbeat messages received to the expected number of heartbeat messages and compare the ratio to a predetermined threshold. Again, this is a form of load balancing because the method involves distributing incoming request to the available transport computer to ensure high availability, efficient utilization of resources, and optimal performance). Motivation is similar to the motivation presented in claim 12.
Claim(s) 7 and 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham et al US 20220263755 (hereinafter Abraham), in view of Patterson et al WO 2024158915 (hereinafter Patterson), and in further view of Verstraeten et al US 20220103360 (hereinafter Verstraeten).
As to claim 7, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 1 above. The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but Verstraeten teaches wherein the one or more processors (paragraph 7 discloses processor that executes code executable), to identify the account credential, are configured to perform a binary search in a memory mapped array that maps medium credentials to account credentials (paragraph 71 discloses the concept of linking/identifying a plurality of user identifiers linked to one or more access credentials and account identifier pairs. The first account identifier and the second account identifier can correspond to accounts maintained by a single external entity computer (thus stored in memory). In other embodiments, the first account identifier and the second account identifier can correspond to accounts maintained by a first external entity computer and a second external entity computer).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings routing authorization request in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with Verstraeten’s mapping of medium credentials to account credentials to prevent fraudulent interactions between users and resource providers (paragraph 1 of Verstraeten).
As to claim 15, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 9 above. The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but Verstraeten teaches identifying the primary credential comprising performing a binary search in a memory mapped array that maps secondary credentials to primary credentials (paragraph 71 discloses the concept of linking/identifying a plurality of user identifiers linked to one or more access credentials/secondary credentials and account identifier/primary credential pairs. The first account identifier and the second account identifier can correspond to accounts maintained by a single external entity computer (thus stored in memory). In other embodiments, the first account identifier and the second account identifier can correspond to accounts maintained by a first external entity computer and a second external entity computer).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings routing authorization request in view of Patterson’s teachings of associating the identified account credential with the medium credentials with Verstraeten’s mapping of medium credentials to account credentials to prevent fraudulent interactions between users and resource providers (paragraph 1 of Verstraeten).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Abraham et al US 20220263755 (hereinafter Abraham), in view of Patterson et al WO 2024158915 (hereinafter Patterson), and in further view of Logue et al US 8539567 (hereinafter Logue).
As to claim 20, the combination of Abraham in view of Patterson teaches all the limitations recited in claim 1 above and further teaches wherein the cell registry is published to a storage object (Abraham: paragraphs 98 reveals mapping/registry that is published/stored [thus in a storage object]. Paragraph 66 further includes mappings of the account number and the BIN that is stored/published in a database/stored object. Patterson: paragraphs 70, 84, and 215 disclose also a mapping tokens with PAN published/stored in database/data structure). The motivation is similar to the motivation presented for claim 1.
The combination of Abraham in view of Patterson does not teach, but Logue teaches the device is subscribed to the storage object (column 34, lines 8-11 provides the concept teaching of a device is subscribed to an information bucket at the storage element).
It would have been obvious for one having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Abraham teachings stored cell registry in view of Patterson’s teachings of database structures with Logue’s teachings of a device subscribed to a storage object to provide a system which synchronize information and changes thereof among devices such that the contents can be shared across all the subscribed devices facilitating speedy communication and transactions (column 1, lines 14-20 of Logue).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Brisebois et al US 10417613 (hereinafter Brisebois).
Brisebois teaches cell registry is published to a storage object (column 59, lines 40-44 reveals the concept of registry stored in a data store) as recited in claim 20.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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.
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/F.F/ Examiner, Art Unit 2437
/BENJAMIN E LANIER/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2437
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