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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
Regarding the IDS submitted on 1/8/2026, all the documents in the parent application have been considered in view of the documents being in an IDS in the parent application that was compliant with 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98 at that time. However, only the items in the IDS filed on 1/8/2026 that comply with 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98 are initialed. As such, the items in the IDS filed 1/8/2026 that do not comply with 37 CFR 1.97 and/or 37 CFR 1.98 are crossed-out and un-initialed. More specifically, the crossed-out items in the IDS are un-initialed since these items do not comply with 37 CFR 1.97 and/or 37 CFR 1.98 (i.e. no submitted copies of the foreign and non-patent literature documents as required by 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2) or no statement identifying the earlier application to which the IDS is relied on for the copies of the cited documents as required by 37 CFR 1.98(d)).
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.
Claims 6 and 17 are 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.
Claims 6 and 17 recite “a client device associated with the cheque”. It is not clear what the applicant means by this. More specifically, does the applicant mean a client device that images the cheque, a client device that sends the cheque, etc.? Please clarify. It is noted that the specification recites “a client device associated with a payor of the cheque”. For examination purposes, the claim language will be interpreted as “a client device associated with a payor of the cheque”.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5, 7-16 and 18-20 are allowed.
Claims 6 and 17 would be allowable (based on the interpretation set forth above) if rewritten to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), 2nd paragraph, set forth in this Office action.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
With respect to claims 1, 12 and 20, prior art fails to teach or reasonably suggest, either singly or in combination, determine whether tracking has been enabled for the cheque; and selectively perform processing associated with tracking of the cheque clearing process based on whether tracking has been enabled for the cheque, in addition to the other limitations of the claims.
Claims not specifically addressed are/would be allowable due to their dependency.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Abbas (US 12541748) is the parent application that discloses the claimed invention.
Bahl et al. (US 2006/0080245) discloses a clearing module receiving a clearing request message. The clearing request message includes payment information associated with a purported check. The payment information includes a core digital image of the purported check. The clearing module determines whether the purported check is unaltered and clearable and, if unaltered and clearable initiates clearing of the purported check.
Igval et al. (US 2005/0121517) discloses systems and methods for providing a track and trace capabilities for checks in the mail stream and in the bank check clearing system. The check tracking system provides the user the ability to track the delivery status of the check through the mail system and the status of the check clearing activity through the banking system. Optionally, the user is provided the ability to enable notifications to be sent when the check reaches milestones such as delivery and payment or encounters problems such as a payment refusal due to insufficient funds.
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/SUEZU ELLIS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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