DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s correspondence filed on 12/24/25.
The Examiner notes that citations to United States Patent Application Publication paragraphs are formatted as [####], #### representing the paragraph number.
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Status of Claims
Claims 2-21 are currently pending.
Claims 2-21 are rejected as set forth below.
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 .
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 2-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 11182795. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the scope of the ‘795 claims anticipate the scope of the instant claims.
Claims 2-21 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of U.S. Patent No. 12469035. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the scope of the ‘035 claims anticipate the scope of the instant claims.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2-21 are allowable over the closest cited art. The closest prior art fails to teach or suggest, in the context of the ordered combination of the claim:
determining that a first account from a plurality of accounts is linked to a second account from the plurality of accounts based on determining that a first set of attributes corresponding to a first set of attribute types and associated with the first account is shared with the second account based on a similarity threshold; determining that the first account is linked to a third account from the plurality of accounts based on determining that a second set of attributes corresponding to a second set of attribute types and associated with the first account is shared with the third account based on the similarity threshold, wherein a device associated with the first account, having a processor and a memory, is configured to perform electronic transactions through the first account based on an authentication process performed for the first account;
identifying one or more attribute types that are included in both of the first set of attribute types and the second set of attribute types;
providing the one or more attribute types to a machine learning model that is trained using historic data associated with the plurality of accounts that were previously classified based on a plurality of classifications;
processing an electronic transaction conducted through the first account based on an output from the machine learning model;
Specifically, the closest prior art does not explicitly teach determining that a first account that is attempting to initiate an electronic payment transaction is related to a second account and a third account based on similarity thresholds, determining attribute types that are common between the similarity comparisons of the first account and the second account and the first account and the third account, inputting the common attribute types into a machine learning model, and processing the electronic payment transaction based on the output of the machine learning model.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
United States Patent Application Publication No. 20180033009 to Goldman discloses an invention for facilitating identification and prevention of potential fraudulent activity in a financial system, according to one embodiment. To identify, address, and/or reduce the potential fraudulent activity, a security system: receives system access data for a user account, generates one or more risk scores based on the system access data, and performs one or more risk reduction actions based on the likelihood of potential fraud that is represented by the one or more risk scores, according to one embodiment.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAY HUANG whose telephone number is (408)918-9799. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00a - 5:30p PT.
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/JAY HUANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3619
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