Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the pre-AIA first to invent provisions.
DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims
Claims 21, 22, 24 and 26-28 are canceled in response to a restriction requirement, without traverse. Claims 31-54 are elected.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 53 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 53 recites the limitation "the aggregated transaction" in line 2. There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim(s) 31-54 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s):
31. A computer-implemented method for processing an online purchase transaction by a server computer using a proxy identifier associated with a plurality of independent monetary accounts of a user, the method comprising:
receiving an online purchase transaction request that includes the proxy identifier;
retrieving, in response to the purchase transaction request, information identifying the plurality of independent monetary accounts, wherein the plurality of independent monetary accounts are associated with the proxy identifier;
selecting, based on one or more predefined rules associated with the proxy identifier, at least one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts to fund the requested online purchase transaction;
initiating, for each of the at least one of the independent monetary accounts, a payment for a respective portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction from that independent monetary account; and
completing the requested online purchase transaction responsive to successful authorization of the payment from the at least one of the independent monetary accounts.
The underlined portions of the claim are certain methods of organizing human activity, commercial interactions, sales activities because the claims recite performing a transaction.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the additional limitations of a computer implemented method is an example of adding the words "apply it", or the like, to the abstract idea. The claims are applied to online transactions which is merely a field of use.. The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because of the reasons cited above.
The dependent claims merely narrow the abstract idea or include additional elements for adding the words “apply it”, as cited above such as claims 33 and 40 for transmitting the authorization code or completion confirmation using a digital signature. Some of the claims recite the use of memory, the internet and a client device which are again, elements which merely add the words “apply it”, to the judicial exception.
Claim 32 narrows the purchase transaction by receiving, generating and transmitting authorization codes.
Claim 34 narrows the abstract idea by authenticating the proxy identifier.
Claim 35 narrows the initiation of the purchase transaction by transmitting and receiving separate authorization requests and determining an overall authorization result.
Claim 36 narrows the abstract idea of claim 35 by determining an authorization failure and reallocating an unauthorized portion of the transaction to another independent monetary account.
Claims 37 and 38 narrow the abstract idea of claim 36 of selecting the other independent monetary account.
Claim 39 narrows the abstract idea of claim 35 by storing transaction result and transaction data.
Claim 41 narrows the abstract idea of claim 35 by generating a consolidated authorization request.
Claim 42 narrows the abstract idea of claim 41 by completing the transaction based on a generated consolidated authorization response.
Claim 43 narrows the predefined rules of claim 41.
Claim 44 narrows the abstract idea mapping of claim 42 by storing associated proxy authorization code with respective authorization codes from independent funding accounts.
Claim 45 narrows the abstract idea of claim 41 by reciting that merchants receive payment from each independent funding accounts.
Claim 46 narrows the abstract idea of claim 31 by determining the allocation using predefined rules.
Claim 47 narrows the abstract idea of claim 46 by defining the allocation rules.
Claim 48 narrows the abstract idea of claim 31 by disassociating one of the independent account from the proxy identifier.
Claim 49 narrows the abstract idea of claim 48 by reciting that the disassociated independent account can no linger be used with the proxy account.
Claim 50 narrows the abstract idea of claim 48 by adding a new independent account to the proxy account.
Claim 51 narrows the abstract idea of claim 31 by aggregating transaction records of the proxy account.
Claim 52 narrows the abstract idea of claim 51 by updating an allocation rule.
Claim 53 narrows the abstract idea of claim 51 by transmitting a spending report.
Claim 54 narrows the abstract idea of claim 39 by transmitting a confirmation message.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
(a) A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 31, 32, 35-38 and 46-50 are rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Blagg (20040049452), and further in view of Bernabeo (20010054010).
31. A computer-implemented method for processing an online purchase transaction by a server computer using a proxy identifier associated with a plurality of independent monetary accounts of a user, the method comprising:
receiving an [online] purchase transaction request that includes the proxy identifier ([0045] In the exemplary scenario, account holder 160 provides presentation instrument 150 to merchant 140 to consummate a transaction. [0031] As used herein, a "presentation instrument" can be any instrument and/or information used by an account holder to effectuate a financial transaction. Thus, for example, a presentation instrument can be a credit card, a debit card, a smart card, an account number, a personal identification number, a key fob, automobile fob, other hardware device with built-in security authentication mechanisms, and/or any combination thereof. );
retrieving, in response to the purchase transaction request, information identifying the plurality of independent monetary accounts, wherein the plurality of independent monetary accounts are associated with the proxy identifier (0070, Following flow diagram 700, a transaction request is received (block 705). Each account associated with presentation instrument 150 is considered to determine which account would be the best fit to receive the transaction (block 710).);
selecting, based on one or more predefined rules associated with the proxy identifier, at least one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts to fund the requested online purchase transaction (0070, Based on the transaction goods, transaction amount, and/or other specifics of each account associated with presentation instrument 150, the appropriate account can be selected.);
initiating, for each of the at least one of the independent monetary accounts, a payment for a respective portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction from that independent monetary account (0072, Where the combined credit limit is sufficient to cover the transaction amount (block 725), the transaction request is divided into portions that satisfy the credit limits of each of the accounts involved in the aggregation, the portions of the transaction request are authorized in accordance with procedures related to the accounts to which the various portions will be applied); and
completing the requested online purchase transaction responsive to successful authorization of the payment from the at least one of the independent monetary accounts (0072, and the transaction request is approved (block 735).)
Blagg does not disclose online transactions however, Bernabeo discloses that online transactions are old and well known (0026).
One of ordinary skill would have been motivated to modify Blagg to perform online transactions to increase the utility of the cards and for user convenience.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein completing the requested online purchase transaction comprises:
receiving, for each of the at least one of the independent monetary accounts, an authorization code indicating approval of the respective portion of the amount of the requested online purchase transaction (0072, the transaction request is divided into portions that satisfy the credit limits of each of the accounts involved in the aggregation, the portions of the transaction request are authorized in accordance with procedures related to the accounts to which the various portions will be applied, and the transaction request is approved (block 735). 0073, Thus, the present invention provides yet another mechanism for coalescing the functionality of a variety of accounts, while allowing the underlying accounts to settle separately and/or authorize separately where such is desired.);
generating a proxy authorization code based on the one or more authorization codes received for each of the at least one of the independent monetary accounts; and
transmitting the proxy authorization code in lieu of the one or more authorization codes received for each of the at least one of the independent monetary accounts.
35. The method of claim 31, wherein initiating, for each of the at least one of the independent monetary accounts, a payment for a respective portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction from that independent monetary account, comprises:
transmitting a plurality of separate authorization requests to respective payment processing systems associated with the plurality of independent monetary accounts, each separate authorization request corresponding to a respective independent monetary account and requesting authorization of a corresponding respective portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction from a corresponding independent monetary account; and receiving a plurality of individual authorization responses respectively from the respective payment processing systems for each of the separate authorization requests; and determining an overall authorization result for the requested online purchase transaction based on the plurality of individual authorization responses (0072, the transaction request is divided into portions that satisfy the credit limits of each of the accounts involved in the aggregation, the portions of the transaction request are authorized in accordance with procedures related to the accounts to which the various portions will be applied, and the transaction request is approved (block 735). 0073, Thus, the present invention provides yet another mechanism for coalescing the functionality of a variety of accounts, while allowing the underlying accounts to settle separately and/or authorize separately where such is desired.).
36. The method of claim 35, further comprising:
detecting that one of the individual authorization responses indicates an authorization failure; and
in response to detecting the authorization failure, reallocating at least a reallocated portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction amongst the independent monetary accounts to reallocate an unauthorized portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction to at least one other independent monetary account and initiating at least one additional authorization request for the reallocated portion to a payment processing system associated with at least one of the plurality of independent monetary account.
Blagg does not specifically disclose receiving an authorization failure for one of the accounts, Blagg discloses satisfying a transaction with an aggregate of the accounts and that this aggregate may yield a denial (0072). As Blagg discloses using two or more accounts to complete a transaction when one of the accounts is insufficient, the Office asserts that Blagg suggests re-trying the transaction with another account if one of the accounts yields a denial.
37. The method of claim 36, wherein the reallocating of the at least a reallocated portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction comprises selecting the at least one independent monetary account based on a predetermined priority or ranking (0070, Thus, for example, where the type of goods conform to that purchasable using a particular account, and the transaction amount is less than the available credit limit of that account, then that account is a candidate to receive the transaction. In some cases, more than one account is a candidate. In such cases, rules 155 can be used to choose between the various candidate accounts. Based on the disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize other mechanisms, and/or information that can be use to determine an account capable of accepting the transaction request.).
38. The method of claim 36, wherein the reallocating of the at least a reallocated portion of an amount of the requested online purchase transaction comprises selecting the at least one independent monetary account based on one or more allocation rules that consider an available balance of one or more of the independent monetary accounts (0070, Thus, for example, where the type of goods conform to that purchasable using a particular account, and the transaction amount is less than the available credit limit of that account, then that account is a candidate to receive the transaction. In some cases, more than one account is a candidate. In such cases, rules 155 can be used to choose between the various candidate accounts. Based on the disclosure provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize other mechanisms, and/or information that can be use to determine an account capable of accepting the transaction request.).
46. The method of claim 31, wherein selecting, based on one or more predefined rules associated with the proxy identifier, at least one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts to fund the requested online purchase transaction comprises:
retrieving from a data store, one or more allocation rules; and
automatically determining an allocation for the requested online transaction amount based on applying the one or more allocation rules to the requested online transaction amount ([0064] Turning now to FIG. 6, a flow diagram 600 illustrates a method for processing transaction requests in accordance with some embodiments of the present invention. Following flow diagram 600, a transaction request is received (block 605). From the transaction request, the merchant is identified (block 610), the goods that are the subject of the transaction request are identified (block 615), the transaction amount, and the account holder is identified (block 620). Further, rules 155 related to presentation instrument 150 are accessed to determine which account to apply the transaction amount (block 625)).
47. The method of claim 46, wherein the one or more allocation rules specify how to allocate the transaction amount among the plurality of independent monetary accounts based on one or more transaction parameters, the transaction parameters including at least an available balance of at least one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts ([0071] The remaining portions of flow diagram 700 illustrate an example where the credit line of the various accounts is used to determine which account(s) to apply the transaction. It is determined if at least one of the accounts associated with presentation instrument 150 has a credit line sufficiently large to receive the transaction request (block 715). Where an account is found that can satisfy the transaction request (block 715), that account is selected, authorized in accordance with procedures related to that account, and the transaction request is approved (block 735). [0072] Alternatively, where no single account associated with presentation instrument 150 can satisfy the transaction request (block 715), an aggregate of the accounts is considered (block 720). Thus, the credit line of two or more accounts associated with presentation instrument are combined, and the combined credit limit is compared to the transaction amount. Where the combined credit limit is sufficient to cover the transaction amount (block 725), the transaction request is divided into portions that satisfy the credit limits of each of the accounts involved in the aggregation).
48. The method of claim 31, further comprising:
receiving, via the Internet from a client device, an instruction to disassociate one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts from the proxy identifier; and
in response to the instruction to disassociate one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts from the proxy identifier, disassociating the proxy identifier and a reference identifier corresponding to the one independent monetary account to detach the one independent monetary account without having to engage in closure of the one independent monetary account (0082, element 950, delete account).
49. The method of claim 48, wherein disassociating the proxy identifier and the reference identifier corresponding to the one independent monetary account comprises updating a mapping stored in a data storage such that subsequent online purchase transaction requests associated with the proxy identifier do not involve the detached independent monetary account (0082, element 950, delete account).
50. The method of claim 48, further comprising:
receiving, via the Internet from a client device information identifying a new independent monetary account; and
associating the proxy identifier with the new independent monetary account such that the new independent monetary account becomes one of the plurality of independent monetary accounts available for allocation of subsequent online transaction requests (0082, 950, add account).
Claim 51 is rejected under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Blagg (20040049452), and further in view of Bernabeo (20010054010) as applied to claim 31 in view of Salveson (6886741).
Blagg does not disclose:
51. The method of claim 31, further comprising:
Aggregating transaction records for a plurality of online purchase transactions associated with the proxy identifier.
However, Salveson discloses:
Abstract, The universal card allows a consumer/cardholder to conduct various types of transactions using a single card that has a single, unique, arbitrary identification number. The transactions may include purchases and payments. All of the transactions for a given billing period (e.g. month) may be consolidated on a single billing statement.
The universal card of Salveson is similar to the presentation instrument of Blagg in that it represents the account data of multiple transaction cards.
Combining Blagg with the consolidated statement of Salveson would be obvious for customer convenience since it would eliminate the need to provide multiple account statements.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to WILLIAM E RANKINS whose telephone number is (571)270-3465. The examiner can normally be reached on 9-530 M-F.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bennett Sigmond can be reached on 303-297-4411. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/WILLIAM E RANKINS/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3694