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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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on June 23, 2025, August 28, 2025, October 7, 2025, February 18, 2026, and May 26, 2026, is/are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) has/have been considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to abstract ideas without significantly more. There are two criteria for subject matter eligibility. The first is that the claimed invention must be to one of the four statutory categories, i.e., a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter. See MPEP 2106(I). Second, the claimed invention also must qualify as patent-eligible subject matter, i.e., the claim must not be directed to a judicial exception unless the claim as a whole includes additional limitations amounting to significantly more than the exception. See MPEP 2106(I). Here, claims 1-17 are directed towards a process and cl aims 18-20 are directed towards a machine. Therefore, the analysis proceeds to determine whether the claims recite abstract ideas.
Per Claim 1: Claim 1, as a whole, is directed towards the abstract idea of facilitating an inheritance transaction. In particular, the claim recites receiving an inheritance claim associated with a beneficiary, receiving a request, from the beneficiary, for a transfer of funds from a benefactor account associated with the benefactor, and facilitating a transfer of funds from the benefactor account in response to the request. In other words, the claim recites Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activities recognized as reciting abstract ideas. More specifically, the following underlined claim elements recite abstract ideas while the non-underlined claim elements recite additional elements according to MPEP 2106.04(a).
receiving, at a server, an encrypted private key that is encrypted using a private key encryption key, wherein the encrypted private key and the private key encryption key are associated with a benefactor;
receiving, at a server, an encrypted private key encryption key that is encrypted using a trusted contact encryption key, wherein the encrypted private key encryption key is an encrypted variant of the private key encryption key;
receiving, at a server, an inheritance claim associated with a beneficiary;
sending, from the server to the benefactor, a communication, wherein the communication includes an interactive element that is configured to trigger an alert to be sent to the server;
sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key from the server to a beneficiary device associated with the beneficiary automatically in response to a lack of receipt of the alert for a predetermined amount of time after the sending of the communication;
receiving, at the server and from the beneficiary device, a request for a transfer of funds from a benefactor account associated with the benefactor, wherein the request is signed using a private key, the private key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key by the beneficiary device using the private key encryption key, the private key encryption key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key encryption key by the beneficiary device using a trusted contact decryption key corresponding to the trusted contact encryption key; and
facilitating, by the server, the transfer of funds from the benefactor account in response to the request.
Because the claim recites abstract ideas, the analysis proceeds to determine whether the claim recites additional elements that recite a practical application of the abstract ideas. According to MPEP 2106.04(d), additional elements that recite an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using a computer, that recite insignificant extra-solution activities, or that generally link the use of the abstract ideas to a particular technological environment or field of use are not indicative of a practical application. Here, the claim recites the additional elements of receiving, at a server, an encrypted private key that is encrypted using a private key encryption key, receiving, at a server, an encrypted private key encryption key that is encrypted using a trusted contact encryption key, sending, from the server to the benefactor, a communication, wherein the communication includes an interactive element that is configured to trigger an alert to be sent to the server, and sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key from the server to a beneficiary device associated with the beneficiary automatically in response to a lack of receipt of the alert for a predetermined amount of time after the sending of the communication. However, these additional elements amount to instructions to apply the abstract ideas as they recite a computer that sends and receives data. See MPEP 2106.05(f) (“Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a fundamental economic practice or mathematical equation) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more.”). Therefore, the claim as a whole fails to recite a practical application of the abstract ideas.
The analysis then proceeds to determine whether the additional elements, when considered individually and in combination, recite significantly more than the abstract ideas. According to MPEP 2106.05, additional elements that recite an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using a computer, that recite insignificant extra-solution activities, that generally link the use of the abstract ideas to a particular technological environment or field of use, or that recite well-understood, routine, and conventional activities are not indicative of reciting significantly more than the abstract ideas. Claim elements previously considered to recite insignificant extra-solution activities are reevaluated at this step to determine whether they recite well-understood, routine, and conventional activities. Such findings must be supported by the evidentiary requirements set forth in the Berkheimer Memo. Here, as noted above, the claim recites the additional elements of receiving, at a server, an encrypted private key that is encrypted using a private key encryption key, receiving, at a server, an encrypted private key encryption key that is encrypted using a trusted contact encryption key, sending, from the server to the benefactor, a communication, wherein the communication includes an interactive element that is configured to trigger an alert to be sent to the server, and sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key from the server to a beneficiary device associated with the beneficiary automatically in response to a lack of receipt of the alert for a predetermined amount of time after the sending of the communication. However, these additional elements amount to instructions to apply the abstract ideas as they recite a computer that sends and receives data. See MPEP 2106.05(f) (“Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a fundamental economic practice or mathematical equation) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more.”). Therefore, the additional claim elements, when considered individually and in combination, fail to recite significantly more than the abstract ideas.
Accordingly, claim 1 is rejected as being directed towards patent ineligible subject matter.
Per Claim 6: Claim 6, as a whole, is directed towards the abstract idea of facilitating an inheritance transaction. In particular, the claim recites receiving, from a transferee, a request for a transfer of funds from a transferor account associated with the transferor and facilitating the transfer of funds from the transferor account in response to the request. In other words, the claim recites Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activities as reciting abstract ideas. More specifically, the following underlined claim elements recite abstract ideas while the non-underlined claim elements recite additional elements according to MPEP 2106.04(a).
receiving an encrypted private key that is encrypted using a private key encryption key, wherein the encrypted private key and the private key encryption key are associated with a transferor;
receiving an encrypted private key encryption key that is encrypted using a trusted contact encryption key, wherein the encrypted private key encryption key is an encrypted variant of the private key encryption key;
receiving an indication that a condition is satisfied;
sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key to a transferee device associated with the transferee;
receiving, from the transferee device, a request for a transfer of funds from a transferor account associated with the transferor, wherein the request is signed using a private key, the private key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key using the private key encryption key, the private key encryption key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key encryption key using a trusted contact decryption key corresponding to the trusted contact encryption key; and
facilitating the transfer of funds from the transferor account in response to the request.
Here, the claim recites the additional elements of receiving an encrypted private key that is encrypted using a private key encryption key, receiving an encrypted private key encryption key that is encrypted using a trusted contact encryption key, receiving an indication that a condition is satisfied, and sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key to a transferee device associated with the transferee. However, these additional elements amount to instructions to apply the abstract ideas as they recite a computer that sends and receives data. See MPEP 2106.05(f) (“Use of a computer or other machinery in its ordinary capacity for economic or other tasks (e.g., to receive, store, or transmit data) or simply adding a general purpose computer or computer components after the fact to an abstract idea (e.g., a fundamental economic practice or mathematical equation) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more.”). Therefore, the claim as a whole fails to recite a practical application of the abstract ideas or significantly more than the abstract ideas.
Accordingly, claim 6 is rejected as being directed towards patent ineligible subject matter.
Per Claim 18: Claim 18 recites abstract subject matter similar to that discussed above in connection with claim 6 and does so in the context of a system. Claim 18 recites the following additional elements:
a memory that stores instructions; and
a processor, wherein execution of the instructions by the processor causes the processor to:
However, these additional elements amount to an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using computers. Therefore, they also fail to recite a practical application of the abstract ideas or significantly more than the abstract ideas.
Accordingly, claim 18 is rejected as being directed towards patent ineligible subject matter.
Per Claims 2-5, 7-17, and 19-20: Claims 2-5, 7-17, and 19-20 have also been analyzed for subject matter eligibility. However, these claims also fail to recite patent eligible subject matter for the following reasons:
Claim 2 recites that the trusted contact encryption key is a public key and the trusted contact decryption key is a private key corresponding to the public key. However, this fails to recite patent eligible subject matter as it simply defines the keys rather than performing any functions using these keys. Therefore, it still amounts to an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using computers.
Claim 3 recites the abstract idea that the inheritance claim is received from a beneficiary, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 4 recites the abstract idea of recording a transfer of funds in a ledger, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 5 recites the abstract idea of transferring cryptocurrency from a benefactor to a beneficiary, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claims 7 and 19 recite the abstract idea that the condition is associated with an inheritance, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 8 recites the abstract idea that the condition is associated with a death of the transferor, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 9 recites that the indication is an inheritance claim, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 10 recites the abstract idea of receiving an inheritance claim from a transferee, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 11 recites the abstract idea that the condition is an event with multiple outcomes, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 12 recites that the trusted contact encryption key is a public key and the trusted contact decryption key is a private key. However, this fails to recite patent eligible subject matter as it simply defines the keys rather than performing any functions using these keys. Therefore, it still amounts to an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using computers.
Claims 13 and 20 recite sending, to the transferor, a communication, wherein the communication includes an interactive element that is configured to trigger an alert, wherein sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key to the transferee device is performed automatically in response to a lack of receipt of the alert for a predetermined amount of time after the sending of the communication. However, this additional element fails to recite a practical application or significantly more than the abstract idea as it recites sending data, which is an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using computers. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Claim 14 recites that the communication is sent by email, text message, phone call, or application, which amounts to an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using computers.
Claim 15 recites additional details of the interactive element. However, as the claim fails to perform any function other than send the interactive element, this additional element also fails recite a practical application or significantly more than the abstract idea as it recites sending data, which is an instruction to apply the abstract ideas using computers. See MPEP 2106.05(f).
Claim 16 recites the abstract idea of recording the transfer of funds in a ledger, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Claim 17 recites the abstract idea of transferring funds from a transferor account to a transferee account, which is a Certain Method of Organizing Human Activities.
Reasons for Allowability Over the Prior Art
The found prior art, either individually or in combination, fails to disclose the combination of claim limitations as a whole. Specifically, the prior art fails to disclose “receiving, at a server, an inheritance claim associated with a beneficiary; sending, from the server to the benefactor, a communication, wherein the communication includes an interactive element that is configured to trigger an alert to be sent to the server; sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key from the server to a beneficiary device associated with the beneficiary automatically in response to a lack of receipt of the alert for a predetermined amount of time after the sending of the communication; receiving, at the server and from the beneficiary device, a request for a transfer of funds from a benefactor account associated with the benefactor, wherein the request is signed using a private key, the private key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key by the beneficiary device using the private key encryption key, the private key encryption key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key encryption key by the beneficiary device using a trusted contact decryption key corresponding to the trusted contact encryption key” in combination with the other claim limitations as recited in claim 1. Also, the prior art fails to disclose “receiving an indication that a condition is satisfied; sending the encrypted private key and the encrypted private key encryption key to a transferee device associated with the transferee; receiving, from the transferee device, a request for a transfer of funds from a transferor account associated with the transferor, wherein the request is signed using a private key, the private key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key using the private key encryption key, the private key encryption key having been decrypted from the encrypted private key encryption key using a trusted contact decryption key corresponding to the trusted contact encryption key” in combination with the other claim limitations as recited in claims 6 and 18.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2024/0428357 discloses a method of valuing an asset includes capturing an asset; submitting the captured asset to a media processing API; querying an asset database for similar items; and returning a value of the asset based on the query. As such, the asset can be valued by a single capture of the asset.
U.S. Patent No. 12,443,947 discloses private key management for digital assets. A method provides a hosted digital wallet that mirrors at least a portion of data of a user digital wallet. The hosted digital wallet includes first data indicative of a first portion of a private key. The hosted digital wallet is associated with a smart contract storing second data indicative of at least the remainder of the private key that is not the first portion of the private key stored in the hosted digital wallet. It is determined that the user digital wallet is not compliant with condition(s) specified via the smart contract, and the data indicative of the second portion of the private key is obtained from the smart contract, recovering the private key using the first data and second data.
U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2026/0031986 discloses efficient and secure key rotation for backup storage. An example method comprises generating, by a data platform implemented by a computing system, a first encrypted key and a second encrypted key, wherein the data platform stores one or more encrypted chunks encrypted using a first encryption key of the first encrypted key and a second encryption key from the second encrypted key, the first encrypted key and the second encrypted key encrypted with a first system key, replacing the first system key by determining a second system key, and encrypting, with the second system key, the first encryption key to generate a replacement first encrypted key and the second encryption key to generate a replacement second encrypted key.
U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2022/0321339 discloses that a system is provided for secure client-side cryptographic key retrieval using cryptographic key splitting and wrapping. In particular, the system may generate an encryption key that may be wrapped using a wrapping key. The wrapping key may in turn be split into a plurality of parts that may be stored in a distributed manner on a client computing system and a cryptographic database. Furthermore, the wrapping key may be generated using an encryption algorithm that allows the wrapping key to be reconstituted with fewer than all of the plurality of parts. In this way, the system provides a secure way to restrict access to sensitive data to authorized parties.
U.S. Patent Pub. No. 2011/0026714 discloses a sending device generates a first and a second KMM, wherein the first KMM includes a first KEK and a KMM encryption key, and the second KMM includes a set of symmetric encryption keys. The sending device further encrypts the set of symmetric encryption keys using the first KEK; encrypts the first KEK and the KMM encryption key using a first public key of a receiving device; and encrypts the second KMM using the KMM encryption key to generate an encrypted second KMM before sending the first KMM and the encrypted second KMM to the receiving device. The receiving device decrypts the first KEK and the KMM encryption key using a first private key that corresponds to the first public key; and decrypts the encrypted second KMM using the KMM encryption key to obtain the encrypted set of symmetric keys.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to NILESH B KHATRI whose telephone number is (571)270-7083. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM Monday-Friday, alternating Fridays off.
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, Neha Patel can be reached at (571) 270-1492. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/NILESH B KHATRI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3699
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