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 .
Claims 1-19 have been examined in this application. This communication is the first action on the merits.
Priority
Application 19/485,587 filed 11/18/2025 is a 371 of PCT/IB2024/054772 05/16/2024 and claims benefit of CANADA 3199966 05/19/2023.
Examiner Request
The Applicant is requested to indicate where in the specification there is support for amendments to claims should Applicant amend. The purpose of this is to reduce potential 35 U.S.C. § 112(a) or § 112 1st paragraph issues that can arise when claims are amended without support in the specification. The Examiner thanks the Applicant in advance.
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 1-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception (i.e., a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract idea) without significantly more. (MPEP 2106). The claims are directed to a method, system, and apparatus which is one of the statutory categories of invention (Step 1: YES). The recitation of the claimed invention is analyzed as follows, in which the abstract elements are boldfaced.
Claim 1 recites the limitations of:
A method comprising: a trading computing system receiving an order message from a market participant system via a computer network, the order message including: an indication of a financial instrument; an indication of a signal; and an instruction that references the signal;
the trading computing system monitoring the signal;
the trading computing system executing the instruction with reference to the signal to process an order for the financial instrument.
Claim 17 recites the limitations of:
A method comprising: a trading computing system offering a plurality of signals;
the trading computing system receiving an order message,
the order message identifying a selected signal of the plurality of signals,
the order message containing an instruction that references the selected signal; and
the trading computing system processing an order for a financial instrument represented by the order message by executing the instruction with reference to the selected signal.
The claim as a whole recites a method that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers collecting, analyzing, and transmitting data to facilitate the conditional processing an order for a financial instrument according to a predefined instruction. This is a fundamental economic practice of a financial transaction; a commercial interaction, such as for business relations; and managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, which are certain methods of organizing human activity.
Furthermore, the claims cover the use of a trading computing system for collecting, analyzing, and transmitting data to facilitate the conditional processing an order for a financial instrument according to a predefined instruction. As the steps could be performed by a human without a computer, the claim limitations fall within the mental processes grouping, and the claim recites an abstract idea.
Thus, the claims recite an abstract idea. (Step 2A, prong 1: YES).
Moreover, the judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. Other than reciting “a trading computing system”, “market participant system” and “a network”, to perform the steps of “monitoring”, “executing”, and “processing”, nothing in the claim elements preclude the steps from practically being a certain method of organizing human activity or mental process. The claim as a whole does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. The claim merely describes how to generally “apply” the concept of collecting, analyzing, and transmitting data to facilitate the conditional processing an order for a financial instrument according to a predefined instruction in a computer environment. The additional computer elements recited in the claim limitations are recited at a high-level of generality such that it amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception utilizing generic computer components.
For example, the specification discloses “[0021] With reference to FIG. 1, a system 100 includes a trading computing system 102, a plurality of market participant systems 104, a computer network 106, a market data server 108, and a signal-generating computing system 110. The trading computing system 102, market participant systems 104, market data server 108, and the signal-generating computing system 110 are connected to the computer network 106. [0022] The trading computing system 102 includes a special-purpose computer with a processor 130, network interface 132, and non-transitory machine-readable medium 134 to receive, match, and fill orders received from the market participant systems 104. Such orders may include new orders, modifications to existing orders, cancelations, etc. and may take the form of electronic order messages 112. The trading computing system 102 may facilitate the trading of a plurality of different financial instruments, such as stocks, funds, bonds, etc., under various symbols or identifiers.” “[0024] Each market participant system 104 may include a general-purpose or special-purpose computer with a processor and non-transitory machine-readable medium to receive input data and provide output data related to trades to be carried out at the trading computing system 102. Each market participant system 104 is capable of generating an order message 112 and transmitting the order message 112 to the trading computing system 102. [0025] The computer network 106 may include a local-area network (LAN), wide-area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), a mobile network, the Internet, or a combination of such. The computer network 106 may be wired or wireless or may have both wired and wireless components. [0026] A market data server 108 includes a special-purpose computer with a processor and non- transitory machine-readable medium to obtain trading and/or order data 114 from various trading computing systems, such as the system 102, and publish related market data 116 in human- or machine-intelligible formats. There may be any number of market data servers 108. The market data server 108 may be omitted in implementations that have another source of suitable data, such as trading data 124 provided by the trading computing system 102.” “[0028] The signal-generating computing system 110, or signal source, may include a general- purpose or special-purpose computer with a processor, network interface, and non-transitory machine-readable medium. The signal-generating computing system 110 may receive trading data 124 from the trading computing system 102 and/or market data 116 from a market data server 108 or other source. The medium stores signal generation instructions that are executable by the processor to generate a signal 118 based on the trading data and/or market data 116 or on other data.”
Although the specification characterizes certain computing systems as comprising “special-purpose computers”, the specification describes those computers as having conventional components, including processors, network interfaces, and computer-readable media, and is performing ordinary computer functions, such as receiving, storing, monitoring, transmitting, and processing data.
Thus, the specification supports that general purpose computers or computer components are utilized to implement the steps of the abstract idea.
Merely implementing the abstract idea on a generic computer is not a practical application of the abstract idea. The claim as a whole, in viewing the additional elements both individually and in combination, does not integrate the judicial exception into a practical application. Accordingly, these additional elements do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea. (Step 2A prong two: No)
The claim does not include additional elements, when considered both individually and as an ordered combination, that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional elements of using “a trading computing system”, “market participant system” and “a network”, to perform the steps of “monitoring”, “executing”, and “processing, amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using generic computer component. The claim merely describes how to generally “apply” the concept of collecting, analyzing, transmitting, and posting to an account ledger, various balance transfer data records in a computer environment. Thus, even when viewed as a whole, nothing in the claim adds significantly more (i.e. an inventive concept) to the abstract idea. Such additional elements are determined to not contain an inventive concept according to MPEP 2106.05(f). It should be noted that (1) the “recitation of claim limitations that attempt to cover any solution to an identified problem with no restriction on how the result is accomplished and no description of the mechanism for accomplishing the result, does not provide significantly more because this type of recitation is equivalent to the words “apply it”, and (2) “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, commercial interaction, or managing personal behavior or relationships or interactions between people, mental process, or mathematical calculation) does not integrate a judicial exception into a practical application or provide significantly more”. See MPEP 2106.05(g).
Additionally, Claim 2 recites the additional elements of “a signal-generating computing system via the computer network”.
Claim 6 recites the additional elements of “a matching engine”.
Claim 16 recites the additional elements of “A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method”
Claim 19 recites the additional elements of “A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method”
For similar reasons as explained above with regard to claim 1 and 17, under Step 2A, prong two, these additional elements are merely applying generic computer components to implement the abstract idea. Under Step 2B, when viewing the additional elements individually and in combination, the additional elements do not amount to an inventive concept amounting to significantly more than the judicial exception itself as the claimed computer-related technologies are mere tools for implementing the abstract idea as explained with regard to claim 1 and 17.
Dependent claims 2-16 and 18-19 merely limit the abstract idea and do not recite any further additional elements beyond the cited abstract idea and the elements addressed above, thus, they do not amount to significantly more. The dependent claims are abstract for the reasons presented above because there are no additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception when considered both individually and as an ordered combination. Thus, the dependent claims are directed to an abstract idea. (Step 2B: No)
Therefore, claims 1-19 are not patent-eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. § 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 5-8, 10, and 13-19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Haynold, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0289761.
As per claim 1,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
A method comprising: a trading computing system receiving an order message from a market participant system via a computer network, the order message including: an indication of a financial instrument; an indication of a signal; and an instruction that references the signal;
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-70) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order. [0070] The exchange computer system monitors incoming orders received thereby and attempts to identify, i.e., match or allocate, as described herein, one or more previously received, but not yet matched, orders, i.e., limit orders to buy or sell a given quantity at a given price, referred to as “resting” orders, stored in an order book database, wherein each identified order is contra to the incoming order and has a favorable price relative to the incoming order. An incoming order may be an “aggressor” order, i.e., a market order to sell a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting bid order price(s) or a market order to buy a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting ask order price(s). An incoming order may be a “market making” order, i.e., a market order to buy or sell at a price for which there are currently no resting orders. In particular, if the incoming order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, then the identified order(s) will be an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, at a price that is identical to or higher than the bid price. Similarly, if the incoming order is an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, the identified order(s) will be a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, at a price that is identical to or lower than the offer price.")
the trading computing system monitoring the signal;
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74) ("[0072] Stop orders also rest on, or are maintained in, an order book to monitor for a trade at the stop price, which triggers an attempted trade at the limit price. In some embodiments, a triggered limit price for a stop order may be treated as an incoming order. [0073] Upon identification (matching) of a contra order(s), a minimum of the quantities associated with the identified order and the incoming order is matched and that quantity of each of the identified and incoming orders become two halves of a matched trade that is sent to a clearing house. The exchange computer system considers each identified order in this manner until either all of the identified orders have been considered or all of the quantity associated with the incoming order has been matched, i.e., the order has been filled. If any quantity of the incoming order remains, an entry may be created in the order book database and information regarding the incoming order is recorded therein, i.e., a resting order is placed on the order book for the remaining quantity to await a subsequent incoming order counter thereto. [0074] It should be appreciated that in electronic trading systems implemented via an exchange computing system, a trade price (or match value) may differ from (i.e., be better for the submitter, e.g., lower than a submitted buy price or higher than a submitted sell price) the limit price that is submitted, e.g., a price included in an incoming message, or a triggered limit price from a stop order.")
the trading computing system executing the instruction with reference to the signal to process an order for the financial instrument.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74) ("[0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs. [0072] Stop orders also rest on, or are maintained in, an order book to monitor for a trade at the stop price, which triggers an attempted trade at the limit price. In some embodiments, a triggered limit price for a stop order may be treated as an incoming order. [0073] Upon identification (matching) of a contra order(s), a minimum of the quantities associated with the identified order and the incoming order is matched and that quantity of each of the identified and incoming orders become two halves of a matched trade that is sent to a clearing house. The exchange computer system considers each identified order in this manner until either all of the identified orders have been considered or all of the quantity associated with the incoming order has been matched, i.e., the order has been filled. If any quantity of the incoming order remains, an entry may be created in the order book database and information regarding the incoming order is recorded therein, i.e., a resting order is placed on the order book for the remaining quantity to await a subsequent incoming order counter thereto. [0074] It should be appreciated that in electronic trading systems implemented via an exchange computing system, a trade price (or match value) may differ from (i.e., be better for the submitter, e.g., lower than a submitted buy price or higher than a submitted sell price) the limit price that is submitted, e.g., a price included in an incoming message, or a triggered limit price from a stop order.")
As per claim 5,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
further comprising the trading computing system generating the signal.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 37-39) ("[0038] If the match engine identifies one or more suitable previously received but unsatisfied counter orders, they, and the incoming order, are matched to execute a trade therebetween to at least partially satisfy the quantities of one or both the incoming order or the identified orders. If there remains any residual unsatisfied quantity of the identified one or more orders, those orders are left on the order book with their remaining quantity to await a subsequent suitable counter order, i.e., to rest. If the match engine does not identify a suitable previously received but unsatisfied counter order, or the one or more identified suitable previously received but unsatisfied counter orders are for a lesser quantity than the incoming order, the incoming order is placed on the order book, referred to as “resting”, with original or remaining unsatisfied quantity, to await a subsequently received suitable order counter thereto. The match engine then generates match event data reflecting the result of this matching process. Other components of the electronic trading system, as will be described, then generate the respective order acknowledgment and market data messages and transmit those messages to the market participants.")
As per claim 6,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
further comprising the trading computing system generating the signal outside a matching engine of the trading computing system.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 118-120) ("[0118] A match engine module 106 may be included to match bid and offer prices and may be implemented with software that executes one or more algorithms for matching bids and offers. A trade database 108 may be included to store information identifying trades and descriptions of trades. In particular, trade database 108 may store information identifying the time that a trade took place and the contract price. [0119] An order book module 110 may be included to compute or otherwise determine current bid and offer prices, e.g., in a continuous auction market, or also operate as an order accumulation buffer for a batch auction market. [0120] A market data module 112 may be included to collect market data and prepare the data for transmission to users. For example, the market data module 112 may prepare the market data feeds described herein.")
As per claim 7,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
wherein the instruction is selected from a predetermined set of instructions offered by the trading computing system.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-72, 123-125) ("[0123] The message management module 116 may also be configured to detect characteristics of an order for a transaction to be undertaken in an electronic marketplace. For example, the message management module 116 may identify and extract order content such as a price, product, volume, and associated market participant for an order. The message management module 116 may also identify and extract data indicating an action to be executed by the exchange computer system 100 with respect to the extracted order. For example, the message management module 116 may determine the transaction type of the transaction requested in a given message. A message may include an instruction to perform a type of transaction. The transaction type may be, in one embodiment, a request/offer/order to either buy or sell a specified quantity or units of a financial instrument at a specified price or value. The message management module 116 may also identify and extract other order information and other actions associated with the extracted order. All extracted order characteristics, other information, and associated actions extracted from a message for an order may be collectively considered an order as described and referenced herein. [0124] Order or message characteristics may include, for example, the state of the system after a message is received, arrival time (e.g., the time a message arrives at the Market Segment Gateway (“MSG”) that is the point of ingress/entry and/or egress/departure for all transactions, i.e., the network traffic/packets containing the data therefore), message type (e.g., new, modify, cancel), and the number of matches generated by a message. Order or message characteristics may also include market participant side (e.g., buyer or seller) or time in force (e.g., a good until end of day order that is good for the full trading day, a good until canceled ordered that rests on the order book until matched, or a fill or kill order that is canceled if not filled immediately, or a fill and kill order (FOK) that is filled to the maximum amount possible based on the state of the order book at the time the FOK order is processed, and any remaining or unfilled/unsatisfied quantity is not stored on the books or allowed to rest). [0125] An order processing module 118 may be included to decompose delta-based, spread instrument, bulk and other types of composite orders for processing by the order book module 110 and/or the match engine module 106. The order processing module 118 may also be used to implement one or more procedures related to clearing an order. The order may be communicated from the message management module 116 to the order processing module 118. The order processing module 118 may be configured to interpret the communicated order, and manage the order characteristics, other information, and associated actions as they are processed through an order book module 110 and eventually transacted on an electronic market. For example, the order processing module 118 may store the order characteristics and other content and execute the associated actions. In an embodiment, the order processing module 118 may execute an associated action of placing the order into an order book for an electronic trading system managed by the order book module 110. In an embodiment, placing an order into an order book and/or into an electronic trading system may be considered a primary action for an order. The order processing module 118 may be configured in various arrangements, and may be configured as part of the order book module 110, part of the message management module 116, or as an independent functioning module.")
As per claim 8,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
wherein the instruction is configurable with regard to price, quantity, time, order attribute, eligibility, or a combination of such.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order. [0070] The exchange computer system monitors incoming orders received thereby and attempts to identify, i.e., match or allocate, as described herein, one or more previously received, but not yet matched, orders, i.e., limit orders to buy or sell a given quantity at a given price, referred to as “resting” orders, stored in an order book database, wherein each identified order is contra to the incoming order and has a favorable price relative to the incoming order. An incoming order may be an “aggressor” order, i.e., a market order to sell a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting bid order price(s) or a market order to buy a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting ask order price(s). An incoming order may be a “market making” order, i.e., a market order to buy or sell at a price for which there are currently no resting orders. In particular, if the incoming order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, then the identified order(s) will be an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, at a price that is identical to or higher than the bid price. Similarly, if the incoming order is an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, the identified order(s) will be a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, at a price that is identical to or lower than the offer price. [0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs.")
As per claim 10,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
wherein the order message includes a sequence of instructions that includes the instruction that references the signal.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-72, 77) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order. [0070] The exchange computer system monitors incoming orders received thereby and attempts to identify, i.e., match or allocate, as described herein, one or more previously received, but not yet matched, orders, i.e., limit orders to buy or sell a given quantity at a given price, referred to as “resting” orders, stored in an order book database, wherein each identified order is contra to the incoming order and has a favorable price relative to the incoming order. An incoming order may be an “aggressor” order, i.e., a market order to sell a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting bid order price(s) or a market order to buy a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting ask order price(s). An incoming order may be a “market making” order, i.e., a market order to buy or sell at a price for which there are currently no resting orders. In particular, if the incoming order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, then the identified order(s) will be an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, at a price that is identical to or higher than the bid price. Similarly, if the incoming order is an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, the identified order(s) will be a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, at a price that is identical to or lower than the offer price." "0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs. [0072] Stop orders also rest on, or are maintained in, an order book to monitor for a trade at the stop price, which triggers an attempted trade at the limit price. In some embodiments, a triggered limit price for a stop order may be treated as an incoming order.")
As per claim 13,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
wherein the signal comprises: a Boolean value; a numerical value; a price; a non-price numerical value; a percentage; or a ratio.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order. [0070] The exchange computer system monitors incoming orders received thereby and attempts to identify, i.e., match or allocate, as described herein, one or more previously received, but not yet matched, orders, i.e., limit orders to buy or sell a given quantity at a given price, referred to as “resting” orders, stored in an order book database, wherein each identified order is contra to the incoming order and has a favorable price relative to the incoming order. An incoming order may be an “aggressor” order, i.e., a market order to sell a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting bid order price(s) or a market order to buy a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting ask order price(s). An incoming order may be a “market making” order, i.e., a market order to buy or sell at a price for which there are currently no resting orders. In particular, if the incoming order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, then the identified order(s) will be an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, at a price that is identical to or higher than the bid price. Similarly, if the incoming order is an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, the identified order(s) will be a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, at a price that is identical to or lower than the offer price. [0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs.")
As per claim 14,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
wherein the instruction is operable to cause the trading computing system to process the order for the financial instrument by: creating the order; canceling the order; amending the order; moving the order to another market; or removing the order when the order becomes ineligible and subsequently reinserting the order.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 48-51, 71-72) ("[0048] Financial messages communicated from the electronic trading system, referred to as “outbound” messages, may include messages responsive to inbound messages, such as confirmation messages, or other messages such as market update messages, quote messages, and the like. A market update message may include non-price characteristics of the market such as market depth, which describes inside quantities available at the inside market, or the best ask price and best bid price, or outside quantities available at other levels. A quote message may include a price associated with a tradeable instrument, a price type associated with the tradeable instrument, and a timestamp associated with the price for the tradeable instrument. Outbound messages, or electronic data transaction result messages, may be disseminated via data feeds. A quote message may include an order, a modification to an order, or a cancellation of an order." "[0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs. [0072] Stop orders also rest on, or are maintained in, an order book to monitor for a trade at the stop price, which triggers an attempted trade at the limit price. In some embodiments, a triggered limit price for a stop order may be treated as an incoming order.")
As per claim 15,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
A trading computing system configured to perform the method of any of claim 1.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74, 115) ("[0115] An exemplary trading network environment for implementing trading systems and methods is shown in FIG. 1. An exchange computer system 100 receives messages that include orders and transmits market data related to orders and trades to users, such as via wide area network 162 and/or local area network 160 and computer devices 150, 152, 154, 156 and 158, as described herein, coupled with the exchange computer system 100.")
As per claim 16,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 1.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74, 136) ("[0136] The operations of computer devices and systems shown in FIG. 1 may be controlled by computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium. For example, the exemplary computer device 152 may store computer-executable instructions for receiving order information from a user, transmitting that order information to exchange computer system 100 in electronic messages, extracting the order information from the electronic messages, executing actions relating to the messages, and/or calculating values from characteristics of the extracted order to facilitate matching orders and executing trades. In another example, the exemplary computer device 154 may include computer-executable instructions for receiving market data from exchange computer system 100 and displaying that information to a user.")
As per claim 17,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
A method comprising: a trading computing system offering a plurality of signals;
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 52-53) ("[0053] It should be further appreciated that various types of market data feeds may be provided which reflect different markets or aspects thereof. Market participants may then, for example, subscribe to receive those feeds of interest to them. For example, data recipient computing systems may choose to receive one or more different feeds. As market impacting communications usually tend to be more important to market participants than non-impacting communications, this separation may reduce congestion and/or noise among those communications having or reflecting an impact on a market or portion thereof. Furthermore, a particular market data feed may only communicate information related to the top buy/sell prices for a particular product, referred to as “top of book” feed, e.g., only changes to the top 10 price levels are communicated. Such limitations may be implemented to reduce consumption of bandwidth and message generation resources. In this case, while a request message may be considered market-impacting if it affects a price level other than the top buy/sell prices, it will not result in a message being sent to the market participants.")
the trading computing system receiving an order message,
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-70) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order. [0070] The exchange computer system monitors incoming orders received thereby and attempts to identify, i.e., match or allocate, as described herein, one or more previously received, but not yet matched, orders, i.e., limit orders to buy or sell a given quantity at a given price, referred to as “resting” orders, stored in an order book database, wherein each identified order is contra to the incoming order and has a favorable price relative to the incoming order. An incoming order may be an “aggressor” order, i.e., a market order to sell a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting bid order price(s) or a market order to buy a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting ask order price(s). An incoming order may be a “market making” order, i.e., a market order to buy or sell at a price for which there are currently no resting orders. In particular, if the incoming order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, then the identified order(s) will be an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, at a price that is identical to or higher than the bid price. Similarly, if the incoming order is an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, the identified order(s) will be a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, at a price that is identical to or lower than the offer price.")
the order message identifying a selected signal of the plurality of signals,
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 52-53, 71) ("[0053] It should be further appreciated that various types of market data feeds may be provided which reflect different markets or aspects thereof. Market participants may then, for example, subscribe to receive those feeds of interest to them. For example, data recipient computing systems may choose to receive one or more different feeds. As market impacting communications usually tend to be more important to market participants than non-impacting communications, this separation may reduce congestion and/or noise among those communications having or reflecting an impact on a market or portion thereof. Furthermore, a particular market data feed may only communicate information related to the top buy/sell prices for a particular product, referred to as “top of book” feed, e.g., only changes to the top 10 price levels are communicated. Such limitations may be implemented to reduce consumption of bandwidth and message generation resources. In this case, while a request message may be considered market-impacting if it affects a price level other than the top buy/sell prices, it will not result in a message being sent to the market participants." "[0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs.")
the order message containing an instruction that references the selected signal; and
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-70) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order. [0070] The exchange computer system monitors incoming orders received thereby and attempts to identify, i.e., match or allocate, as described herein, one or more previously received, but not yet matched, orders, i.e., limit orders to buy or sell a given quantity at a given price, referred to as “resting” orders, stored in an order book database, wherein each identified order is contra to the incoming order and has a favorable price relative to the incoming order. An incoming order may be an “aggressor” order, i.e., a market order to sell a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting bid order price(s) or a market order to buy a given quantity at whatever may be the current resting ask order price(s). An incoming order may be a “market making” order, i.e., a market order to buy or sell at a price for which there are currently no resting orders. In particular, if the incoming order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, then the identified order(s) will be an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, at a price that is identical to or higher than the bid price. Similarly, if the incoming order is an ask, i.e., an offer to sell, the identified order(s) will be a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, at a price that is identical to or lower than the offer price.")
the trading computing system processing an order for a financial instrument represented by the order message by executing the instruction with reference to the selected signal.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74) ("[0071] An exchange computing system may receive conditional orders or messages for a data object, where the order may include two prices or values: a reference value and a stop value. A conditional order may be configured so that when a product represented by the data object trades at the reference price, the stop order is activated at the stop value. For example, if the exchange computing system’s order management module (described below) includes a stop order with a stop price of 5 and a limit price of 1 for a product, and a trade at 5 (i.e., the stop price of the stop order) occurs, then the exchange computing system attempts to trade at 1 (i.e., the limit price of the stop order). In other words, a stop order is a conditional order to trade (or execute) at the limit price that is triggered (or elected) when a trade at the stop price occurs. [0072] Stop orders also rest on, or are maintained in, an order book to monitor for a trade at the stop price, which triggers an attempted trade at the limit price. In some embodiments, a triggered limit price for a stop order may be treated as an incoming order. [0073] Upon identification (matching) of a contra order(s), a minimum of the quantities associated with the identified order and the incoming order is matched and that quantity of each of the identified and incoming orders become two halves of a matched trade that is sent to a clearing house. The exchange computer system considers each identified order in this manner until either all of the identified orders have been considered or all of the quantity associated with the incoming order has been matched, i.e., the order has been filled. If any quantity of the incoming order remains, an entry may be created in the order book database and information regarding the incoming order is recorded therein, i.e., a resting order is placed on the order book for the remaining quantity to await a subsequent incoming order counter thereto. [0074] It should be appreciated that in electronic trading systems implemented via an exchange computing system, a trade price (or match value) may differ from (i.e., be better for the submitter, e.g., lower than a submitted buy price or higher than a submitted sell price) the limit price that is submitted, e.g., a price included in an incoming message, or a triggered limit price from a stop order.")
As per claim 18,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
A trading computing system configured to perform the method of claim 17.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74, 115) ("[0115] An exemplary trading network environment for implementing trading systems and methods is shown in FIG. 1. An exchange computer system 100 receives messages that include orders and transmits market data related to orders and trades to users, such as via wide area network 162 and/or local area network 160 and computer devices 150, 152, 154, 156 and 158, as described herein, coupled with the exchange computer system 100.")
As per claim 19,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform the method of claim 17.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-74, 136) ("[0136] The operations of computer devices and systems shown in FIG. 1 may be controlled by computer-executable instructions stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium. For example, the exemplary computer device 152 may store computer-executable instructions for receiving order information from a user, transmitting that order information to exchange computer system 100 in electronic messages, extracting the order information from the electronic messages, executing actions relating to the messages, and/or calculating values from characteristics of the extracted order to facilitate matching orders and executing trades. In another example, the exemplary computer device 154 may include computer-executable instructions for receiving market data from exchange computer system 100 and displaying that information to a user.")
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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.
Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haynold, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0289761; in view of Kizhakhemadtil, U.S. Patent Publication Number 11315186.
As per claim 2,
Haynold does not explicitly teach, however, Kizhakhemadtil does teach:
further comprising: receiving the signal from a signal-generating computing system via the computer network.
(Kizhakhemadtil US11315186 at col. 7, lines 6-21) ("The trading execution platform 120 comprises one or more computing devices (such as server computing devices) that are coupled to the server computing device 106 in order to receive trade execution signals from the trading strategy subscription and execution module 110 and execute one or more trades of financial instruments based upon the trade execution signals for, e.g., a particular user or users of the system 100. For example, the trading strategy subscription and execution module 110 issues a trading signal (e.g., instructions to execute a trade) along with a trade price, trade quantity, and/or other data such as user identifier, account identifier, etc., to the trading execution platform 120. The trading execution platform 120 performs one or more transactions (e.g., buy transactions, sell transactions, asset transfer transactions, and the like) in order to carry out the trade identified in the trading signal. ")
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Haynold and Kizhakhemadtil, because it allows for improved methods for automatic execution of subscription-based financial instrument trading strategies in real-time. (Kizhakhemadtil at Abstract and col. 1).
As per claim 3,
Haynold does not explicitly teach, however, Kizhakhemadtil does teach:
wherein the signal-generating computing system is a computing system from which the order message is received.
(Kizhakhemadtil US11315186 at col. 13, lines 19-58) ("Once the relevant indicators have been retrieved from cache 112 and/or calculated, trading strategy subscription and execution module 110 deploys (step 212) the trading strategy for the user of client computing device 102 using the identified indicators and the calculated indicators. Turning to FIG. 3, the module 110 analyzes (step 302) market data using one or more identified indicators or calculated indicators in the trading strategy to determine that a trade condition exists. As can be appreciated, once the trading strategy is deployed the module 110 can continually monitor market data and/or other data (e.g., as stored in cache 112 and/or retrieved from other sources) against the indicators and other conditions in the deployed trading strategy for the user to determine whether a trade condition exists. In this way, the module 110 provides automated trade identification and initialization without requiring action by the user. When the trade condition exists (e.g., an indicator in the strategy is triggered), the trading strategy subscription and execution module 110 generates (step 304) a trading signal comprising one or more trade parameters from the trading strategy, for transmission to the trading execution platform 120. In some embodiments, the trading signal comprises programmatic instructions such as an API call that includes data used by the platform 120 to initiate a trade. For example, the user may have requested deployment of a trading strategy comprising a SMA one-minute crossover algorithm. In this example, the module 110 uses the previous 200 ticks, and calculates the 15- and 30-minute SMA for a given security or financial instrument. When the 15-minute SMA crosses above the 30-minute SMA, the module 110 generates a corresponding trading signal comprising a buy transaction and transmits (step 306) the trading signal to the trading execution platform 120. On the other hand, when the 15-minute SMA crosses below the 30-minute SMA, the module 110 generates a corresponding trading signal comprising a sell transaction and transmits the trading signal to the trading execution platform 120. In some embodiments, the trading signal comprises the user identifier, a funding amount (e.g., dollar value of shares to buy/sell), and/or a transaction amount (e.g., number of shares to buy/sell).")
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Haynold and Kizhakhemadtil, because it allows for improved methods for automatic execution of subscription-based financial instrument trading strategies in real-time. (Kizhakhemadtil at Abstract and col. 1).
As per claim 4,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
wherein the signal-generating computing system is independent of a computing system from which the order message is received.
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 128, 132-135, 178) ("[0128] One or more of the above-described modules of the exchange computer system 100 may be used to gather or obtain data to support the settlement price determination, as well as a subsequent margin requirement determination. For example, the order book module 110 and/or the market data module 112 may be used to receive, access, or otherwise obtain market data, such as bid-offer values of orders currently on the order books. The trade database 108 may be used to receive, access, or otherwise obtain trade data indicative of the prices and volumes of trades that were recently executed in a number of markets. In some cases, transaction data (and/or bid/ask data) may be gathered or obtained from open outcry pits and/or other sources and incorporated into the trade and market data from the electronic trading system(s). It should be appreciated that concurrent processing limits may be defined by or imposed separately or in combination on one or more of the trading system components." "[0132] An exemplary computer device 150 is shown directly connected to exchange computer system 100, such as via a T1 line, a common local area network (LAN) or other wired and/or wireless medium for connecting computer devices, such as the network 220 shown in FIG. 2 and described with respect thereto." "[0135] Users of the exchange computer system 100 may include one or more market makers 166 which may maintain a market by providing constant bid and offer prices for a derivative or security to the exchange computer system 100, such as via one of the exemplary computer devices depicted. The exchange computer system 100 may also exchange information with other match or trade engines, such as trade engine 170. One skilled in the art will appreciate that numerous additional computers and systems may be coupled to exchange computer system 100. Such computers and systems may include clearing, regulatory and fee systems." "[0178] The network device 301 may receive the messages generated from the market data module 112 or otherwise monitor the messages. In one example, the network device 301 via the routing module 306 routes the messages between the exchange device 300 and the terminal device 303. The network device 301 may be part of a network associated with and/or including the exchange device 300. The network device 301 is configured to receive, process, and forward network traffic from the exchange device 300 to the terminal device 303. The network device 301 may operate on one or more layers of the open systems interconnection (OSI) model such as the data layer (layer 2) and/or the network layer (layer 3).")
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haynold, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0289761; in view of Dalmia, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2017/0169339.
As per claim 9,
Haynold does not explicitly teach, however, Dalmia does teach:
further comprising: the trading computing system validating the instruction; wherein the trading computing system executing the instruction is conditional on the instruction being successfully validated.
(Dalmia US20170169339 at paras. 118-120) ("[0118] Parse-and-color 504: Parse a rule or portion of a rule and then color on screen one or more apparent errors (e.g., misspellings, syntax errors) to highlight the error(s) to a user 104. Some embodiments provide auto-completion and/or error coloring on a portal. In particular, some dynamically retrieve user defined vocabulary items in addition to pre-defined keywords and use regular expressions to parse and color the text and provide feedback of the kind previously supplied in non-cloud contexts by Intellisense® software (mark of Microsoft Corporation). Such software may show a list of all available keywords as well as vocabularies created by the user, and the list(s) may be populated dynamically. [0119] Parse-and-autocomplete 506: Parse a rule or portion of a rule, identify a partially entered name (e.g., “Cl” in a FIG. 10 example discussed herein), obtain a user selection from a list of matching suggestions, and complete the name automatically without requiring the user to finish typing the characters of the name. [0120] Validate-partial-rule 508: Send part of a rule 126, e.g., a partial condition 206 or an action 208, to a remote server 408 to be validated against a vocabulary 244, and receive results 250. Some embodiments validate input from a user in the context of the chosen data type to detect or prevent mistakes by the user early in the authoring of a rule, thereby increasing troubleshooting efficiency. Instead of a full-fledged parsing and interpreting of the rules on a save, some embodiments detect when the rules text boxes (conditions and actions) move out of focus, and then send 634 text box content across the data connection to a validation service. The service then uses stored vocabulary data types and interpreted parentheses and implicit data types (e.g., integer 1 vs. float 1.0) and evaluates the input expression as valid or not, and returns the result in a response. This validation result is then used to give the user a visual indicator of an error and error details found while interpreting the expression. This can be done with very low network and processing latencies in order to provide real-time feedback to the user 104.")
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Haynold and Dalmia, because it allows for improved methods of blending optimized execution in a production rule engine with production ordering selected by a user, thereby more accurately modeling the user's understanding of how productions relate to one another during execution. (Dalmia at Abstract and paras. 1-7).
Claim 11 and 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Haynold, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2023/0289761; in view of Yohai-Giochais, U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2011/0137787.
As per claim 11,
Haynold explicitly teaches:
further comprising: the trading computing system collecting a first fee from a source of the order message; and
(Haynold US20230289761 at paras. 69-71, 100, 211) ("[0069] Market participants, e.g., traders, use software to send orders or messages to the trading platform. The order identifies the product, the quantity of the product the trader wishes to trade, a price at which the trader wishes to trade the product, and a direction of the order (i.e., whether the order is a bid, i.e., an offer to buy, or an ask, i.e., an offer to sell). It will be appreciated that there may be other order types or messages that traders can send including requests to modify or cancel a previously submitted order." "[0100] As was described above, the financial instruments which are the subject of the orders to trade, may include one or more component financial instruments. While each financial instrument may have its own order book, i.e. market, in which it may be traded, in the case of a financial instrument having more than one component financial instrument, those component financial instruments may further have their own order books in which they may be traded. Accordingly, when an order for a financial instrument is received, it may be matched against a suitable counter order in its own order book or, possibly, against a combination of suitable counter orders in the order books the component financial instruments thereof, or which share a common component financial instrument. For example, an order for a spread contract comprising component financial instruments A and B may be matched against another suitable order for that spread contract. However, it may also be matched against suitable separate counter orders for the A and for the B component financial instruments found in the order books therefore. Similarly, if an order for the A contract is received and suitable match cannot be found in the A order book, it may be possible to match order for A against a combination of a suitable counter order for a spread contract comprising the A and B component financial instruments and a suitable counter order for the B component financial instrument. This is referred to as “implication” where a given order for a financial instrument may be matched via a combination of suitable counter orders for financial instruments which share common, or otherwise interdependent, component financial instruments. Implication increases the liquidity of the market by providing additional opportunities for orders to be traded. Increasing the number of transactions may further increase the number of transaction fees collected by the electronic trading system." "[0211] The network device 301 may also calculate the coincident value and the load message based on order messages. That is, rather than quote messages, or in addition to quote messages, the network device 301 determines a quantity of order messages during the representative time period. The network device 301 is configured to calculate the coincident value for the exchange device 300 and the terminal device 303 over the extended time period based on the quantity of order messages. The exchange device 300 may define peak pricing for trading, orders, or matching transactions for trades that are processed during the peak representative time periods. The coincident value is provided to the terminal device 303 to adjust the number of order messages that are sent during the peak period. The exchange device 300 may analyze historical data over the extended time period to set fees for orders or transactions according to the representative time periods. Each terminal device may be assigned fees based on usage during the representative time period. In one example, the additional fees may only be applied to one or more selected message type that is sent during the representative time periods. The selected message types may include order cancellations, which are likely to slow down the matching and transaction systems. The terminal device 303 may be configured to delay order messages in response to the load message or coincident value received from the network device 301.")
Haynold does not explicitly teach, however, Yohai-Giochais does teach:
the trading computing system paying a second fee to a source of the signal.
(Yohai-Giochais US20110137787 at paras. 11, 15, 70-71) ("[0011] Instead, the signal provider is paid by the operator of the present system, as a portion of the commission for execution of trades." "[0015] Additionally, the invention provides a method of doing business using a computer, and more particularly, using the Internet. In general, the method comprises: a) providing a system that i) maintains a database of parameters relating to trading in one or more financial markets by one or more account holders, ii) receives information from one or more signal providers relating to trading in one or more financial markets, iii) consults the database(s) to determine trades to be made for account holders based on the information received, and how much to trade, and iv) orders brokers for the account holders for which trades are to be made to execute those trades; and charging a fee for providing the system. In embodiments, the fee is charged to the account holder(s). In other embodiments, the fee is charged to the broker(s). In yet other embodiments, the fee is charged to both the account holder(s) and the broker(s). In some embodiments, revenue is shared with the signal provider(s)." "[0070] Further, signal providers may receive a portion of the fees provided by the brokers to those implementing the systems and methods of the present invention. Signal providers can receive payment for the information that they provide in any number of ways, such as, but not limited to, per trade recommended, per trade executed based on their advice, or on a flat-fee basis. Those practicing the methods of the invention are free to select the compensation method most suitable for each provider under each situation encountered. [0071] The manner by which compensation is delivered to the recipient (e.g., to those implementing the system of the invention, or to signal providers) is not critical, and any suitable manner is envisioned by the invention. For example, a broker may transfer funds to a bank account of those practicing the invention on a daily basis, weekly basis, or monthly basis. Likewise, the transfer may be by paper (e.g., a check or bank draft) or by simple electronic funds transfer. Likewise, compensation to the signal providers may be by any suitable means. Typically, funds transfers to signal providers is provided by the entity implementing the systems of the present invention; however, payments may come directly from brokers or may be paid by account holders.")
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Haynold and Yohai-Giochais, because it allows for improved methods that are convenient to use and provide individuals with the ability to execute trades with confidence that such trades are being executed based on user preferences and without the need for each individual to become highly educated in each market and to monitor each market so that trades are effected properly. (Yohai-Giochais at Abstract and paras. 1-15).
As per claim 12,
Haynold does not explicitly teach, however, Yohai-Giochais does teach:
further comprising: the trading computing system managing a subscription of the market participant system to access the signal.
(Yohai-Giochais US20110137787 at paras. 11, 15, 43, 46, 70-71) ("[0011] Instead, the signal provider is paid by the operator of the present system, as a portion of the commission for execution of trades." "[0015] Additionally, the invention provides a method of doing business using a computer, and more particularly, using the Internet. In general, the method comprises: a) providing a system that i) maintains a database of parameters relating to trading in one or more financial markets by one or more account holders, ii) receives information from one or more signal providers relating to trading in one or more financial markets, iii) consults the database(s) to determine trades to be made for account holders based on the information received, and how much to trade, and iv) orders brokers for the account holders for which trades are to be made to execute those trades; and charging a fee for providing the system. In embodiments, the fee is charged to the account holder(s). In other embodiments, the fee is charged to the broker(s). In yet other embodiments, the fee is charged to both the account holder(s) and the broker(s). In some embodiments, revenue is shared with the signal provider(s)." "[0043] It thus may be seen that the present invention can provide for a single source that subscribes to and receives data from multiple signal providers, such that multiple users may each have trades automatically made for them based on the data from one or more of the signal providers. A mechanism may be provided to allow a relatively large number of trades per user (e.g., at least 100 trades per month per user, at least 250 trades per month per user, at least 500 trades per month per user, at least 1000 trades per month per user, or at least 3000 trades per month per user, or more). The number of users of the system at any one time is not particularly limited, and can be large (e.g., at least 10 users, at least 100 users, or more). Likewise, a large number of signal providers can have access (e.g., at least 5 signal providers, at least 10 signal providers, at least 20 signal providers).")
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Haynold and Yohai-Giochais, because it allows for improved methods that are convenient to use and provide individuals with the ability to execute trades with confidence that such trades are being executed based on user preferences and without the need for each individual to become highly educated in each market and to monitor each market so that trades are effected properly. (Yohai-Giochais at Abstract and paras. 1-15).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure and is available for review on Form PTO-892 Notice of References Cited.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MERRITT J HASBROUCK whose telephone number is (571)272-3109. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9:00-5:00.
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, Christine Tran can be reached on 571-272-8103. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MERRITT J HASBROUCK/Examiner, Art Unit 3695
/CHRISTINE M Tran/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3695
