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UNITED STAlES P A lENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

APPLICATION NO. FILING DATE

12/053,447 03/2112008

24739 7590 01110/2012

CENTRAL COAST PATENT AGENCY, INC 3 HANGAR WAY SUITE D WATSONVILLE, CA 95076

FIRST NAMED INVENTOR

Pankaj Gupta

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS

P.o. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 www.uspto.gov

ATTORNEY DOCKET NO. CONFIRMATION NO.

10000.00 4271

EXAMINER

NGUYEN, TIEN C

ART UNIT PAPER NUMBER

3694

NOTIFICATION DATE DELIVERY MODE

01110/2012 ELECTRONIC

Please find below and/or attached an Office communication concerning this application or proceeding.

The time period for reply, if any, is set in the attached communication.

Notice of the Office communication was sent electronically on above-indicated "Notification Date" to the following e-mail addressees):

[email protected] [email protected]

PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)

Application No. Applicant(s)

12/053,447 GUPTA, PANKAJ

Office Action Summary Examiner Art Unit

Tien Nguyen 3694

-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address -Period for Reply

A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE;J MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS, WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.

Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, maya reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133). Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).

Status

1)iZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 6/1/2011.

2a)0 This action is FINAL. 2b)iZI This action is non-final.

3)0 An election was made by the applicant in response to a restriction requirement set forth during the interview on

__ ; the restriction requirement and election have been incorporated into this action.

4)0 Since this application is in condition for allowance except for formal matters, prosecution as to the merits is

closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11,453 O.G. 213.

Disposition of Claims

5)iZI Claim(s) 1-4.7 and 29-33 is/are pending in the application.

5a) Of the above claim(s) __ is/are withdrawn from consideration.

6)0 Claim(s) __ is/are allowed.

7)iZI Claim(s) 1-4.7 and 29-33 is/are rejected.

8)0 Claim(s) __ is/are objected to.

9)0 Claim(s) __ are subject to restriction and/or election requirement.

Application Papers

10)0 The specification is objected to by the Examiner.

11)0 The drawing(s) filed on __ is/are: a)O accepted or b)O objected to by the Examiner.

Applicant may not request that any objection to the drawing(s) be held in abeyance. See 37 CFR 1.85(a).

Replacement drawing sheet(s) including the correction is required if the drawing(s) is objected to. See 37 CFR 1.121 (d).

12)0 The oath or declaration is objected to by the Examiner. Note the attached Office Action or form PTO-152.

Priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119

13)0 Acknowledgment is made of a claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a)-(d) or (f).

a)O All b)O Some * c)O None of:

1.0 Certified copies of the priority documents have been received.

2.0 Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. __ .

3.0 Copies of the certified copies of the priority documents have been received in this National Stage

application from the International Bureau (PCT Rule 17.2(a)).

* See the attached detailed Office action for a list of the certified copies not received.

Attachment{s)

1) iZI Notice of References Cited (PTO·892)

2) 0 Notice of Draftsperson's Patent Drawing Review (PTO·948)

4) 0 Interview Summary (PTO·413) Paper No(s)/Mail Date. __ .

5) 0 Notice of Informal Patent Application 3) 0 Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/S8/08) Paper No(s)/Mail Date __ .

U.s. Patent and Trademark Office

PTOL·326 (Rev. 03·11)

6) 0 Other: __ .

Office Action Summary Part of Paper No.lMail Date 20120103

Application/Control Number: 12/053,447

Art Unit: 3694

DETAILED ACTION

Status of the Claims

1. This action is in response to the amendment filed on 6/1/2011.

2. Claims 1-4 and 7 are currently amended.

3. Claims 5-6 and 8-28 are cancelled.

4. Claims 29-33 are newly added.

5. Therefore, claims 1-4, 7 and 29-33 are pending and examined below.

Page 2

6. A request for continued examination (RCE) under 37 CFR 1 .114, including the fee set

forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application AFTER FINAL rejection. Since this

application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37

CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the FINALITY of the previous Office Action has been

WITHDRAWN pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 6/1/2011 has been

entered.

Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112

7. The following is a quotation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112:

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.

8. Claims 1 and 29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph, as being

indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which

applicant regards as the invention.

Claim 1 recites the limitation "the database". There is insufficient antecedent basis for

this limitation in the claim.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 3

Claim 1 recites "data repository" and "the database". Is "data repository" referred to "the

database"? Is the claim recited both "data repository" and "the database"? Or the "data

repository" and "the database" are the same? Appropriate corrections are required.

Claim 1 recites "software executing at the server from a machine-readable, non-

transitory medium". Is the claim recited the machine-readable? Is the claim recited both the

server and the machine-readable? Or the server and the machine-readable are the same?

Appropriate corrections are required.

Claims 1 and 29 recite " ... for this ... ". Is the claim recited to payments to the lending

subscribers for the purchase of good or services? Appropriate corrections are required.


9. 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.

10. Claim 29 (any by any dependency claims 30-33) are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101

because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.

Based upon consideration of all of the relevant factors with respect to the claim as a whole,

claim 29 held to claim an abstract idea, and is therefore rejected as ineligible subject matter under

35 U.S.C.§ 101. The rationale for this finding is explained below:

In claim 29, there is no recitation of a machine or transformation (either express or inherent)

in any of the method steps:

(a) receiving requests over one or more Internet links at an Intemet-enabled

transaction service from individual one of merchant subscribers to the transaction service


Art Unit: 3694

to pay the Merchant subscribes for goods or services selected for purchase at the

merchant sites by individual ones of customer subscribers to the transaction service;

(b) securing agreement from one or more lender subscribers to the transaction

service to provide funding for the purchases as credit to the customer subscribers;

(c) paying the Merchant subscribers for the customer subscriber's purchases; and

(d) managing payments from the customer subscribers to the transaction service

and payments to the lending subscribers for this and other purchases by the customer

subscribers.

Page 4

Thus, these processes must positively recite the particular machine to which it is tied (e.g.,

by identifying the apparatus that accomplishes the method steps), or positively recite the subject

matter that is being transformed (e.g., by identifying the product or material that is changed to a

different state). Insignificant extra-solution activity will not transform an unpatentable principle into a

patentable process. This means reciting a specific machine or particular transformation of a

specific article in an insignificant step, such as data gathering or outputting is not sufficient to pass

the test. If neither of these requirements are met by the claim, the method is not a patent eligible

process under 35 U.S.C. 101 and is non-statutory subject matter.

Dependent claims 30-33 when analyzed as a whole are held to be ineligible subject matter

and are rejected under 35 U.S.C.§ 101 because the additional limitations are no more than a field of

use or merely involve insignificant extra-solution activity; e.g., data gathering.

Therefore, claims 29-33 identify neither the apparatus performing the recited steps nor any

transformation of underlying materials, and accordingly are directed to non-statutory subject matter.


11. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 1 03(a) which forms the basis for all

obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:


Art Unit: 3694

Page 5

(a) A patent may not be obtained through 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.

12. Claims 1 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over

Hinson et al. (2007/0244797), O'Brien et al. (2003/0135451), and Huber et al.

(2008/0015954) and further in view of Sherman et al. (2003/0229582).

As per claim 1, Hinson teaches a system and method comprising:

• an Internet-enabled server and coupled data repository (via a system 10 includes a

database 22, see at least paragraphs 10, 24 and Fig.1)

• software executing at the server from a machine-readable, non-transitory medium (see

at least paragraph 10);

• records in the database regarding a plurality of Intemet-connected merchant sites

as merchant subscribers to the transaction service (via the dealer files 14a-n and the

dealer web pages, see at least paragraphs 24, 28 and Fig.1);

• records in the database regarding a plurality of persons associated as customer

subscribers to the transaction service (via the customer files 18a-n, see at least

paragraphs 24 and Fig.1);

Hinson does not explicitly to teach the system and method wherein:

• wherein the transaction service receives requests over one or more Internet links

from individual one of the merchant subscribers to pay the Merchant subscribes for

goods or services selected for purchase at the merchant sites by individual ones of the


Art Unit: 3694

Page 6

customer subscribers, secures agreement from one or more of the lender subscribers to

provide funding for the purchases as credit to the customer subscribers.

O'Brien teaches these limitations wherein:

• wherein the transaction service receives requests over one or more Internet links

from individual one of the merchant subscribers to pay the Merchant subscribes for

goods or services selected for purchase at the merchant sites by individual ones of the

customer subscribers (see at least paragraph 84), secures agreement from one or more

of the lender subscribers to provide funding for the purchases as credit to the customer

subscribers (via a credit offer, see at least paragraphs 84-88).

It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was

made to modify the system and method of Hinson to include all the limitations above as taught

by O'Brien in order to provide the customer an online credit application programs while he/she

shops at a merchant's website.

The combination of Hinson and O'Brien does not explicitly to teach wherein:

• pays the Merchant subscribers for the customer subscriber's purchases, and manages

payments from the customer subscribers to the transaction service and payments to the

lending subscribers for this and other purchases by the customer subscribers.

Huber teaches these limitations wherein:

• pays the Merchant subscribers for the customer subscriber's purchases, and manages

payments from the customer subscribers to the transaction service and payments to the

lending subscribers for this and other purchases by the customer subscribers (see at

least paragraphs 50, 138 and 141).


Art Unit: 3694

Page 7


made to modify the system and method of the combination of Hinson and O'Brien to include all

the limitations above as taught by Huber in order to assist the customer quickly to pay the

merchant via a credit offer at the merchant site.

The combination of Hinson, O'Brien and Huber does not explicitly to teach wherein:

• records in the database regarding a plurality of financial institutions and/or

persons as lender subscribers to the transaction service.

Sherman teaches this limitation wherein:

• records in the database regarding a plurality of financial institutions and/or

persons as lender subscribers to the transaction service (see at least paragraphs 69 and

70).


made to modify the system and method of the combination of Hinson, O'Brien and Huber to

include all the limitations above as taught by Sherman in order to provide a database storage for

the lender subscribers.

As per claim 7, Hinson teaches the system and method further comprises a function for

enrollment of merchants and customers as subscribers (via a website function for enrollment of

merchants and customers, see at least paragraphs 28 and 29).

The combination of Hinson, O'Brien and Huber does not explicitly to teach wherein a

function for enrollment of lenders as subscribers.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 8

Sherman teaches this limitation wherein a function for enrollment of lenders as subscribers

(via an enrollment page, see at least paragraphs 69-70).


made to modify the system and method of the combination of Hinson, O'Brien and Huber to

include all the limitations above as taught by Sherman in order to provide a web page for the

lender to subscribe in the system to provide the credit offer to the customer.

13. Claims 2-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over Hinson

et al. (2007/0244797), O'Brien et al. (2003/0135451), Huber et al. (2008/0015954) and

Sherman et al. (2003/0229582), and further in view of Wokaty, JR. (2007/0033135).

As per claims 2, the combination of Hinson, O'Brien, Huber and Sherman does not

explicitly to teach the method and system wherein the requests from Merchant subscribers

comprise a transaction history for the customer subscriber from the individual merchant site as

a component in determining credit worthiness for the customer subscriber.

Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the requests from Merchant subscribers comprise

a transaction history for the customer subscriber from the individual merchant site as a

component in determining credit worthiness for the customer subscriber (wherein providing

credit eligibility service for a financial credit account solicits a transaction check-writing behavior

history to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph 1, abstract and

Fig.2).


made to modify the method and system of the combination of Hinson, O'Brien, Huber and

Sherman to include all the limitations above as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful

information to enable the credit provider to evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 9

As per claim 3, the combination of Hinson, O'Brien, Huber and Sherman teaches the

method and system wherein the transaction service solicits customer personal data from the

client merchant sites in determining credit worthiness for the person (via determining/comparing

the credit history and credit score of the customer data and the lender criteria, see in Huber at

least paragraph 138).

However, the combination of Hinson, O'Brien, Huber and Sherman does not explicitly to

teach wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history in determining credit

worthiness for the person.

Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction

history in determining credit worthiness for the person (wherein providing credit eligibility service

for a financial credit account solicits a transaction check-writing behavior history to determine

credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph 1, abstract and Fig.2).





As per claim 4, the combination of Hinson, O'Brien, Huber and Sherman does not

explicitly to teach the method and system wherein the transaction service maintains a profile for

each customer subscriber, including transaction history with the transaction service and credit

worthiness for the customer subscriber determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction service maintains a profile for


worthiness for the customer subscriber determined at different times on an ongoing basis


Art Unit: 3694

Page 10

(wherein the computing platform 110 maintain and update a customer database 140 for the

customer so that the credit worthiness for the customer can be determined based on a customer

database 140 data, see at least paragraphs 21, 27 and Fig.1), including transaction history with

the service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different times on an ongoing

basis (including check-writing behavior history and credit worthiness for the customer

determined at different times to re-evaluated a customer's credit account, see at least

paragraphs 27-39 and Fig.2).





14. Claim 29 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable over O'Brien et

al. (2003/0135451) and further in view of Huber et al. (2008/0015954).

As per claim 29, O'Brien teaches:

(a) receiving requests over one or more Internet links at an Intemet-enabled



merchant sites by individual ones of customer subscribers to the transaction service (see at least

paragraph 84).


service to provide funding for the purchases as credit to the customer subscribers (via a credit offer,

see at least paragraphs 84-88);

O'Brien does not explicitly to teach the method wherein:



Art Unit: 3694



subscribers.

Huber teaches these limitations wherein:

Page 11

(c) paying the Merchant subscribers for the customer subscriber's purchases (see at least

paragraphs 50, 138 and 141); and



subscribers (see at least paragraphs 50, 138 and 141).


made to modify the system and method of O'Brien to include all the limitations above as taught

by Huber in order to assist the customer quickly to pay the merchant via a credit offer at the

merchant site.

15. Claims 30-32 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable O'Brien et

al. (2003/0135451) and Huber et al. (2008/0015954) and further in view of Wokaty, JR.

(2007/0033135).

As per claim 30, the combination of O'Brien and Huber does not explicitly to teach the

method wherein the requests from Merchant subscribers comprise a transaction history for the

customer subscriber from the individual merchant site as a component in determining credit

worthiness for the customer subscriber.

Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the requests from Merchant subscribers comprise

a transaction history for the customer subscriber from the individual merchant site as a

component in determining credit worthiness for the customer subscriber (wherein providing


Art Unit: 3694

Page 12

credit eligibility service for a financial credit account solicits a transaction check-writing behavior

history to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph 1, abstract and

Fig.2).


made to modify the method of the combination of O'Brien and Huber to include all the limitations

above as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful information to enable the credit

provider to evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.

As per claim 31, the combination of O'Brien and Huber teaches the method wherein the

transaction service solicits customer personal data from the client merchant sites in determining

credit worthiness for the person (via determining/comparing the credit history and credit score of

the customer data and the lender criteria, see in Huber at least paragraph 138).

However, the combination of O'Brien and Huber does not explicitly to teach the method

wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history in determining credit worthiness for

the person.






made to modify the method and system of the combination of O'Brien and Huber to include all

the limitations above as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful information to enable

the credit provider to evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 13


method wherein the transaction service maintains a profile for each customer subscriber,

including transaction history with the transaction service and credit worthiness for the customer

subscriber determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction service maintains a profile for


worthiness for the customer subscriber determined at different times on an ongoing basis

(wherein the computing platform 110 maintain and update a customer database 140 for the

customer so that the credit worthiness for the customer can be determined based on a customer

database 140 data, see at least paragraphs 21, 27 and Fig.1), including transaction history with

the service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different times on an ongoing





made to modify the method of the combination of O'Brien and Huber to include all the limitations

above as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful information to enable the credit

provider to evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.

16. Claim 33 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable O'Brien et al.

(2003/0135451), Huber et al. (2008/0015954) and Hinson et al. (2007/0244797), and further

in view of Sherman et al. (2003/0229582).


method further comprises a function for enrollment of merchants and customers as subscribers.


Art Unit: 3694

Hinson teaches this limitation wherein a function for enrollment of merchants and

Page 14

customers as subscribers (via a website function for enrollment of merchants and customers,

see at least paragraphs 28 and 29).

The combination of O'Brien, Huber and Hinson does not explicitly to teach the method

wherein a function for enrollment of lenders as subscribers.

Sherman teaches this limitation wherein a function for enrollment of lenders as subscribers

(via an enrollment page, see at least paragraphs 69-70).


made to modify the method of the combination of O'Brien, Huber and Hinson to include all the

limitations above as taught by Sherman in order to provide a web page for the lender to

subscribe in the system to provide the credit offer to the customer.

Response to Arguments

17. Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 7 and 29-33 have been considered but

are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.

18. The previous rejection of claim 1 under 35 USC 101 is withdrawn in light of Applicant's

amendments.

Conclusion

19. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner

should be directed to TIEN C. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 270-5108. The

examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday (7:30am-4:00pm EST).

If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor,

Kambiz Abdi can be reached on 571-272-6702. The fax phone number for the organization where

this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 15

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/Tien Nguyen/ Examiner, Art Unit 3694

Application/Control No. Applicant(s)/Patent Under Reexamination

12/053,447 GUPTA, PANKAJ Notice of References Cited

Examiner Art Unit

Tien Nguyen 3694 Page 1 of 1

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS

* Document Number Date

Name Classification Country Code-Number-Kind Code MM-YYYY

* A US-2003/0229582 12-2003 Sherman et al. 705/38

* B US-2007 10244797 10-2007 Hinson et al. 705/37

* C US-2003/0135451 07-2003 O'Brien et al. 705/38

* D US-2006/0287929 12-2006 Bae et al. 705/026

* E US-2008/0015954 01-2008 Huber et al. 705/028

F US-

G US-

H US-

I US-

J US-

K US-

L US-

M US-

FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS


Country Code-Number-Kind Code MM-YYYY Country Name Classification

N

0

P

Q

R

S

T

NON-PATENT DOCUMENTS

* Include as applicable: Author, Title Date, Publisher, Edition or Volume, Pertinent Pages)

U

V

W

X

*A copy of this reference IS not being furnished with this Office action. (See MPEP § 707.05(a).) Dates in MM-YYYY format are publication dates. Classifications may be US or foreign.

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IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

InRe: Case: Serial No.: Filed:

Art Unit: 3694

Pankaj Gupta 10000.00 12/053,447 March 21,2008

Examiner: Nguyen, Tien C

Subject: Credit and Transaction Systems

Commissioner for Patents PO Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

Dear Sir:

Response B

- 2 -

In the Claims: All of the claims standing for examination are reproduced below with appropriate status

indication.

1. (Currently amended) A transaction service operating at an Internet enabled site,

compnsmg:

an Internet-enabled server and coupled data repository;

software executing at the server from a machine-readable, non-transitory medium;

records in the database regarding a plurality ofInternet-connected merchant sites

as merchant subscribers to the transaction service;

records in the database regarding a plurality of persons associated as customer

subscribers to the transaction service;

records in the database regarding a plurality of financial institutions and/or

persons as lender subscribers to the transaction service;

wherein the transaction service receives requests over one or more Internet links

from individual one of the merchant subscribers to pay the Merchant subscribes for goods

or services selected for purchase at the merchant sites by individual ones of the customer

subscribers, secures agreement from one or more of the lender subscribers to provide

funding for the purchases as credit to the customer subscribers, pays the Merchant

subscribers for the customer subscriber's purchases, and manages payments from the

customer subscribers to the transaction service and payments to the lending subscribers

for this and other purchases by the customer subscribers

an Internet link to a computer appliance operated by a person "'tho has selected,

through a separate Internet link to a Merchant site, one or more products or services to

purchase at the merchant site, and '.vho has selected, by an interactive link at the merchant

site, the transaction service to arrange payment;

sofi'vYare stored on and executed by a computer operating at the transaction

service site, separate from the merchant site; and

a plurality of lenders connected by separate Internet links to the transaction

service site;

- 3 -

",therein the transaction service, via the sofi'vVare, verifies the identity of the

person, determines credit "'lOrthiness for the person, shares the credit "'torthiness "'tith one

or more of the plurality oflenders over the separate Internet links, solicits the plurality of

lenders to provide credit to the person, selects one of the lenders to provide the credit,

arranges payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the person, and arranges

repayment terms behlfeen the person, the transaction service, and the selected lender.

2. (Currently amended) The transaction service of claim 1 wherein the transaction service

solicits requests from Merchant subscribers comprise a transaction history for the

customer subscriber from the individual merchant site as a component in determining

credit worthiness for the person customer subscriber.

3. (Currently amended) The transaction service of claim 2 wherein a plurality of

merchant sites are clients ofthe transaction service, and the transaction service solicits

transaction history from individual ones of a plurality of the client subscriber merchant

sites in determining credit worthiness for the person.

4. (Currently amended) The transaction service of claim 1 wherein person is a client of

the transaction service, and the transaction service maintains a profile for the person each

customer subscriber, including transaction history with the transaction service and credit

worthiness for the person customer subscriber determined at different times on an

ongoing basis.

5-6. (Cancelled)

7. (Currently amended) The transaction service of claim 1 wherein the transaction

service enrolls the person as a client of the service ifnot already a client further

comprises a function for enrollment of merchants, customers and lenders as subscribers.

- 4 -

8-28. (Cancelled)

29. (New) A method for managing transactions, comprising the steps:

(a) receiving requests over one or more Internet links at an Internet-enabled



merchant sites by individual ones of customer subscribers to the transaction service;


service to provide funding for the purchases as credit to the customer subscribers;




subscribers.

30. (New) The method of claim 29 wherein the requests from Merchant subscribers

comprise a transaction history for the customer subscriber from the individual merchant

site as a component in determining credit worthiness for the customer subscriber.

31. (New) The method of claim 30 the transaction service solicits transaction history

from a plurality of subscriber merchant sites in determining credit worthiness for the

person.

32. (New) The method of claim 29 the transaction service maintains a profile for each

customer subscriber, including transaction history with the transaction service and credit

worthiness for the customer subscriber determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

33. (New) The method of claim 29 wherein the transaction service further comprises a

function for enrollment of merchants, customers and lenders as subscribers.

- 5 -

REMARKS

This response is to the Office Action mailed on 01/06/2011.

From the action:

This action is a final action in response to communication filed on 15 October

2010. Claims 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25 and 28 are pending in the application. Claims 1-4,

7-11, 14-18,21-25, and 28 are rejected.

Applicant's response:

Acknowledged

From the action:


The following office action in response to amendments received on 10/15/2010.

Claims 1, 3-4, 7-11, 14-18,21-25 and 28 are amended. Claims 5-6, 12-13, 19-20 and 26-

27 are cancelled. Therefore, claims 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, and 28 are pending and

addressed below.


Acknowledged

From the action:


Claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11 and 14) are rejected under

35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.

I) Regarding claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11 and 14), "a

plurality of lenders connected by separate Internet links to the transaction service site"

recites to the humans. Claims 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the

claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter, as they claim the humans.

- 6 -

"No human as elements" recites in a claim (see MPEP § 2105). Therefore, Claims 1 and 8

are rejected as ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.

II) Regarding claim 1 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7) are claimed as "an

Internet link to a computer appliance operated by a person" for selects a transaction

service. Such "computer appliance" is intense use and is therefore unpatentable.


As to part I) the applicant has made appropriate amendments to claim 1 to remove

the ambiguity that "humans" may be positively recited in the claim.

As to part II): "Regarding claim 1 (and by dependence, claims 2-4,7) are claimed

as "an Internet link to a computer appliance operated by a person" for selects a

transaction service. Such "computer appliance" is intense use and is therefore

unpatentable. (sic)

The applicant responds that the rationale for this rejection is not at all clear. The

applicant is not aware of any law or rule pertaining to "intense use". Perhaps the

examiner means "intended use". But there is no recitation of intended use in the claims,

particularly the claims as amended, and if there were, this does not render a claim

unpatentable under 35 U.S.C. 101.

The applicant believes claim 1 as amended recites subject matter that is patentable

under 35 U.S.C. 101.

From the action:


Claims 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as

being unpatentable over Huber et al. (2008/0015954) and Mancini (7,606,764), and

further in view of O'Brien et al. (2003/0135451).

As per claims 1 and 8, Huber teaches:

- 7 -

an Internet link to a computing machine providing an interactive transaction

interface in a physical retail store, the transaction interface operated by an employee of

the retail store for managing sales transactions for products or services offered for sale by

the retail store, and selected for purchase by a customer in the retail store (via see at least

paragraph 50); and

software stored on and executed by a computer operating at the transaction

service site, separate from the merchant site (via software of the browser module stored

on and executed by a computer lending system 108, see at least paragraphs 119-121); and


service site (via a plurality of lender systems 108 of lenders connected by a Lender

Management System (LMS) Component 606, see at least paragraph 90, Fig.1 and

Fig.23);

wherein the transaction servIce, via the software, verifies the identity of the

person (via verifies/gathers data about the customer, see at least paragraph 138),

determines credit worthiness for the person (via determines/compares the credit history

and credit score of the customer data and the lender criteria, see at least paragraph 138),

shares the credit worthiness with one or more of the plurality of lenders over the separate

Internet links (via the customer data includes the credit worthiness history and the credit

score, see at least paragraph 138. Therefore, shares/submits the customer's application

with one or more lenders over the Lender Management System (LMS) Component 606 is

known as shares/submits the credit worthiness history and the credit score of the

customer with one or more of the plurality of lenders over the separate Lender

Management System (LMS) Component 606, see at least paragraph 92 and Fig.23),

solicits the plurality of lenders to provide credit to the person (via solicits/chooses the

plurality of lenders to provide credit to the customer, see at least paragraphs 50 and 138),

selects one of the lenders to provide the credit (via selects the best lender offer, see at

least paragraph 138), arranges payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the

person (see at least paragraphs 50 and 141).

- 8 -

Huber does not explicitly to teach wherein arranges repayment terms between the

person, the transaction service, and the selected lender.

Mancini teaches these limitations arranges repayment terms between the person,

the transaction service, and the selected lender (wherein the arranged repayment terms

has been displayed to the user and the user selects desired repayment option, see at least

column 10, lines 50-61, column 11, lines 30-67 and column 12, lines 1-45, and Fig.8 and

Fig.9).

It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the

invention was made to modify a system and method of Huber n to include all the

limitations above as taught by Mancini in order to provide the consumer a different

repayment options to lengthen or shorten the existing obligation which associates with

the consumer's account.

The combination of Larkin and Mancini does not explicitly to teach wherein an

Internet link to a computer appliance operated by a person who has selected, one or more

products or services to purchase at the merchant site.

O'Brien teaches this limitation wherein an Internet link to a computer appliance

operated by a person who has selected, one or more products or services to purchase at

the merchant site (see at least paragraph 84).


invention was made to modify the combination of Huber and Mancini to include all the

limitations above as taught by O'Brien in order to provide the customer a very quickly

and conveniently online credit application programs while he/she shops at a merchant's

website.

As per claims 7, 14, 21 and 28, Huber teaches wherein the transaction service

enrolls the person as a client of the service if not already a client (via enrolls/applies for

Paula as a client of the service, see at least paragraph 50).

As per claims 15 and 22, same as the rationale and prior art's rejections in claims

1 and 8.

- 9 -


In response the rejection and the examiner's reasoning, applicant has consulted

the as-filed disclosure and has amended claim 1 to recite:

1. (Currently amended) A transaction service, comprising:

an Internet-enabled server and coupled data repository;

software executing at the server from a machine-readable, non-transitory medium;

records in the database regarding a plurality of Internet-connected merchant sites

as merchant subscribers to the transaction service;

records in the database regarding a plurality of persons associated as customer

subscribers to the transaction service;

records in the database regarding a plurality of financial institutions and/or

persons as lender subscribers to the transaction service;

wherein the transaction service receives requests over one or more Internet links

from individual one of the merchant subscribers to pay the Merchant subscribes for goods

or services selected for purchase at the merchant sites by individual ones of the customer

subscribers, secures agreement from one or more of the lender subscribers to provide

funding for the purchases as credit to the customer subscribers, pays the Merchant

subscribers for the customer subscriber's purchases, and manages payments from the

customer subscribers to the transaction service and payments to the lending subscribers

for this and other purchases by the customer subscribers.

Claim 1 as amended is significantly more narrow than original claim 1, and

introduces limitations not taught in Huber, Mancini and O'Brien either singly or in

combination. Claim 1 now recites a transaction service that maintains subscriptions of

Merchant sites, customers of those sites and lenders. The transaction service receives

requests from the Merchant sites to obtain payment for goods or services selected by

customers for purchase, arranges credit for the purchases from lenders, pays the

- 10 -

Merchants and manages repayment by the customer to the lenders. This provides a one

stop service to which a person (customer) may belong, such that the customer may enjoy

one-click payment at participating merchant sites, and financing from various lenders for

multiple purchases at a plurality of Merchant sites may be integrated and consolidated. A

customer can thus make a single monthly payment and get favorable terms by the

competition of the plurality of lenders.

It is clear that this combination of limitations as recited in amended claim 1 is not

taught in the art as cited and applied or suggested. Claim 1 is thus patentable to the

applicant over the art cited and applied, and claims 2-4 and 7 still standing as amended

are patentable on their merits, or at least as depended from a patentable claim.

New claim 29 is a method claim fashioned with the clear limitations of amended

claim 1, and is therefore patentable by the same rationale as claim 1, as amended, is

patentable. New claims 30-33 are thus patentable on their merits, or at least as depended

from a patentable claim.

From the action:

Claims 2-4, 9-11,16-18, and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.I03(a) as being

unpatentable over Huber et al. (2008/0015954), Mancini (7,606,764) and O'Brien et

al. (2003/0135451, and further in view ofWokaty, JR. (2007/0033135).

As per claims 2, 9, 16 and 23, the combination of Huber, Mancini and O'Brien

do not explicitly to teach wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history in

determining credit worthiness for the person.

W okaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction servIce solicits a

transaction history in determining credit worthiness for the person (wherein providing

credit eligibility service for a financial credit account solicits a transaction check-writing

behavior history to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph 1,

abstract and Fig.2).

- 11 -


invention was made to modify the combination of Huber, Mancini and O'Brien to include

all the limitations above as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful information

to enable the credit provider to evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.

As per claims 3, 10, 17 and 24, Huber teaches wherein a plurality of merchant

sites are clients of the transaction service (via one or more dealers are clients of the

service, see at least paragraph 48 and 49), and the transaction service solicits customer

personal data from individual ones of the client merchant sites in determining credit

worthiness for the person (via determining/comparing the credit history and credit score

of the customer data and the lender criteria, see at least paragraph 138/).

However, the combination of Huber, Mancini and O'Brien does not explicitly to













does not explicitly to teach wherein the person is a client of the transaction service, and

the transaction service maintains a profile for the person, including transaction history

with the transaction service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different

times on an ongoing basis.

- 12 -

W okaty teaches this limitation wherein the person is a client of the servIce

(wherein the customer is a client of the credit service to request a credit limit, see at least

paragraph 2), and the service maintains a profile for the person (wherein the computing

platform 110 maintain and update a customer database 140 for the customer so that the

credit worthiness for the customer can be determined based on a customer database 140

data, see at least paragraphs 21, 27 and Fig.1), including transaction history with the

service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different times on an ongoing









Claims 5, 6 and 8-28 are cancelled. All claims depended from claims 1 and left

standing are patentable at least as depended.

From the action:


Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 7-11, 14-18,21-25, and 28 have

been considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.

The Applicant amended claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11

and 14) to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections. However, the claims are still directed

to nonstatutory subject matter. Therefore, the Examiner would like to retain the 35 U.S.C.

101 rejections for claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11 and 14).

Claims 15 and 22 (and by dependence, claims 16-18, 21, 23-25 and 28) are

amended and overcome the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections. Therefore, the Examiner would like

- 13 -

to withdraw the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections for claims 15 and 22 (and by dependence,

claims 16-18,21,23-25 and 28).


Applicant's former arguments are indeed moot, as are the last rejections.

Summary

As all of the claims left standing, as amended and argued above, have been shown

to be patentable over the art presented by the Examiner, applicant respectfully requests

reconsideration and the case be passed quickly to issue.

If any fees are due beyond fees paid with this amendment, authorization is made

to deduct those fees from deposit account 50-0534. If any time extension is needed

beyond any extension requested with this amendment, such extension is hereby

requested.

Central Coast Patent Agency, Inc. 3 Hangar Way, Suite D Watsonville, CA 95076 (831) 768-1755

Respectfully Submitted Pankaj Gupta

By /:Donald [ft.9J0!J4/ Donald R. Boys Reg. No. 35,074

PTO/SB/22 (10-08) Approved for use through 10/31/2008. OMB 0651-0031

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PETITION FOR EXTENSION OF TIME UNDER 37 CFR 1.136(a)

FY 2009

Docket Number (Optional)

10000.00 (Fees pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (H.R. 4818}.)

Application Number 12/053,447 Filed 03/21/2008

For Pankaj Gupta

Art Unit 3694 Examiner Tien C. Nguyen

This is a request under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a) to extend the period for filing a reply in the above identified application.

The requested extension and fee are as follows (check time period desired and enter the appropriate fee below):

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A check in the amount of the fee is enclosed.

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Electronic Patent Application Fee Transmittal

Application Number: 12053447

Filing Date: 21-Mar-2008

Title of Invention: Credit and transaction systems

First Named Inventor/Applicant Name: Pankaj Gupta

Filer: Donald Rex Boys/Sheri Beasley

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06/01/2011 REMAINING NUMBER PRESENT RATE ($)

ADDITIONAL RATE ($)

ADDITIONAL f-- AFTER PREVIOUSLY EXTRA FEE ($) FEE ($) Z AMENDMENT PAID FOR W

Total (37 CFR ~ 1.16(i)) • 1 0 Minus .. 28 = 0 X $26 = 0 OR X $ =

0 Independent Z • 2 Minus "'4 = 0 X $110 = 0 OR X $ = W

37 CFR 1.16 h))

~ D Application Size Fee (37 CFR 1.16(s)) « D FIRST PRESENTATION OF MULTIPLE DEPENDENT CLAIM (37 CFR 1.16(j)) OR

TOTAL TOTAL ADD'L 0 OR ADD'L FEE FEE

(Column 1) (Column 2) (Column 3)

CLAIMS HIGHEST REMAINING NUMBER PRESENT

RATE ($) ADDITIONAL

RATE ($) ADDITIONAL

AFTER PREVIOUSLY EXTRA FEE ($) FEE ($)

f--AMENDMENT PAID FOR

Z Total (37 CFR · Minus .. = X $ = OR X $ =

W 1.16Ii))

~ Independent · Minus ... X $ = OR X $ = 0 (37 CFR 1.16(h)) =

Z D Application Size Fee (37 CFR 1.16(s)) W ~ D FIRST PRESENTATION OF MULTIPLE DEPENDENT CLAIM (37 CFR 1.16(j)) « OR

TOTAL TOTAL ADD'L OR ADD'L FEE FEE

* If the entry in column 1 is less than the entry in column 2, write "0" in column 3. Legal Instrument Examiner: .. If the "Highest Number Previously Paid For" IN THIS SPACE is less than 20, enter "20". IERIC DAVISI ... If the "Highest Number Previously Paid For" IN THIS SPACE is less than 3, enter "3".

The "Highest Number Previously Paid For" (Total or Independent) is the highest number found in the appropriate box in column 1.

This collection of Information IS required by 37 CFR 1.16. The Information IS required to obtain or retain a benefit by the public which IS to file (and by the USPTO to process) an application. Confidentiality is governed by 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14. This collection is estimated to take 12 minutes to complete, including gathering, preparing, and submitting the completed application form to the USPTO. Time will vary depending upon the individual case. Any comments on the amount of time you require to complete this form and/or suggestions for reducing this burden, should be sent to the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. DO NOT SEND FEES OR COMPLETED FORMS TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND TO: Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.




12/053,447 0312112008

24739 7590 01106/2011



Pankaj Gupta




10000.00 4271

EXAMINER

NGUYEN, TIEN C


3694


01106/2011 ELECTRONIC




[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)




TIEN C. NGUYEN 3694

-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address -Period for Reply

A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE;2 MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS, WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION.

Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR t. t 36(a). In no event, however, maya reply be timely filed after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § t 33). Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR t .704(b).

Status

1)iZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 1011512010.

2a)iZI This action is FINAL. 2b)0 This action is non-final.


closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quayle, 1935 C.D. 11,453 O.G. 213.


4)iZI Claim(s) 1-4,7-11,14-18,21-25 and 28 is/are pending in the application.



6)iZI Claim(s) 1-4, 7-11, 14-18,21-25, and 28 is/are rejected.



Application Papers


10)0 The drawing(s) filed on __ is/are: a)O accepted or b)O objected to by the Examiner.



11)0 The oath or declaration is objected to by the Exam iner. Note the attached Office Action or form PTO-152.





2.0 Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. __ '




Attachment{s)

1) iZI Notice of References Cited (PTO·892)

2) 0 Notice of Draftsperson's Patent Drawing Review (PTO·948)

4) 0 Interview Summary (PTO·413) Paper No(s)/Mail Date. __ .

5) 0 Notice of Informal Patent Application 3) 0 Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/S8/08) Paper No(s)/Mail Date __ .


PTOL·326 (Rev. 08·06)

6) 0 Other: __ .



Art Unit: 3694

DETAILED ACTION


Page 2

1. The following office action in response to amendments received on 10/15/2010. Claims

1 , 3-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25 and 28 are amended. Claims 5-6, 12-13, 19-20 and 26-27 are

cancelled. Therefore, claims 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, and 28 are pending and addressed below.




3. Claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11 and 14) are rejected under

35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter.

I) Regarding claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4,7,9-11 and 14), "a plurality

of lenders connected by separate Internet links to the transaction service site" recites to the

humans. Claims 1 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is

directed to non-statutory subject matter, as they claim the humans. "No human as elements"

recites in a claim (see MPEP § 2105). Therefore, Claims 1 and 8 are rejected as ineligible

subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.

II) Regarding claim 1 (and by dependence, claims 2-4,7) are claimed as "an Internet link

to a computer appliance operated by a person" for selects a transaction service. Such

"computer appliance" is intense use and is therefore unpatentable.





Art Unit: 3694

(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.

5. Claims 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as

being unpatentable over Huber et al. (2008/0015954) and Mancini (7,606,764), and

further in view of O'Brien et al. (2003/0135451).

As per claims 1 and 8, Huber teaches:

an Internet link to a computing machine providing an interactive transaction

interface in a physical retail store, the transaction interface operated by an employee of

the retail store for managing sales transactions for products or services offered for sale

by the retail store, and selected for purchase by a customer in the retail store (via see at

least paragraph 50); and

software stored on and executed by a computer operating at the transaction

service site, separate from the merchant site (via software of the browser module stored

on and executed by a computer lending system 108, see at least paragraphs 119-121);

and


service site (via a plurality of lender systems 108 of lenders connected by a Lender

Management System (LMS) Component 606, see at least paragraph 90, Fig.1 and

Fig.23);

wherein the transaction service, via the software, verifies the identity of the

person (via verifies/gathers data about the customer, see at least paragraph 138),

Page 3


Art Unit: 3694

determines credit worthiness for the person (via determines/compares the credit history

and credit score of the customer data and the lender criteria, see at least paragraph

138), shares the credit worthiness with one or more of the plurality of lenders over the

separate Intemet links (via the customer data includes the credit worthiness history and

the credit score, see at least paragraph 138. Therefore, shares/submits the customer's

application with one or more lenders over the Lender Management System (LMS)

Component 606 is known as shares/submits the credit worthiness history and the credit

score of the customer with one or more of the plurality of lenders over the separate

Lender Management System (LMS) Component 606, see at least paragraph 92 and

Fig.23), solicits the plurality of lenders to provide credit to the person (via

solicits/chooses the plurality of lenders to provide credit to the customer, see at least

paragraphs 50 and 138), selects one of the lenders to provide the credit (via selects the

best lender offer, see at least paragraph 138), arranges payment to be made to the

merchant on behalf of the person (see at least paragraphs 50 and 141).

Huber does not explicitly to teach wherein arranges repayment terms between

the person, the transaction service, and the selected lender.

Mancini teaches these limitations arranges repayment terms between the

person, the transaction service, and the selected lender (wherein the arranged

repayment terms has been displayed to the user and the user selects desired repayment

option, see at least column 10, lines 50-61, column 11, lines 30-67 and column 12, lines

1-45, and Fig.8 and Fig.9).


invention was made to modify a system and method of Huber n to include all the


Page 4


Art Unit: 3694



The combination of Larkin and Mancini does not explicitly to teach wherein an

Internet link to a computer appliance operated by a person who has selected, one or

more products or services to purchase at the merchant site.

O'Brien teaches this limitation wherein an Internet link to a computer appliance

operated by a person who has selected, one or more products or services to purchase at

the merchant site (see at least paragraph 84).


invention was made to modify the combination of Huber and Mancini to include all the

limitations above as taught by O'Brien in order to provide the customer a very quickly

and conveniently online credit application programs while he/she shops at a merchant's

website.

As per claims 7, 14, 21 and 28, Huber teaches wherein the transaction service

enrolls the person as a client of the service if not already a client (via enrolls/applies for

Paula as a client of the service, see at least paragraph 50).

As per claims 15 and 22, same as the rationale and prior art's rejections in

claims 1 and 8.

6. Claims 2-4, 9-11,16-18, and 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.103(a) as

being unpatentable over Huber et al. (2008/0015954), Mancini (7,606,764) and

O'Brien et al. (2003/0135451, and further in view of Wokaty, JR. (2007/0033135).

Page 5


Art Unit: 3694


do not explicitly to teach wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history in


Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction service solicits a



behavior history to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph

1, abstract and Fig.2).



all the limitations above as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful information to

enable the credit provider to evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.

As per claims 3, 10, 17 and 24, Huber teaches wherein a plurality of merchant

sites are clients of the transaction service (via one or more dealers are clients of the

service, see at least paragraph 48 and 49), and the transaction service solicits customer


worthiness for the person (via determining/comparing the credit history and credit score

of the customer data and the lender criteria, see at least paragraph 138/).

However, the combination of Huber, Mancini and O'Brien does not explicitly to



Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction service solicits a


Page 6


Art Unit: 3694


behavior history to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph

1, abstract and Fig.2).






does not explicitly to teach wherein the person is a client of the transaction service, and

the transaction service maintains a profile for the person, including transaction history

with the transaction service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different


Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the person is a client of the service

(wherein the customer is a client of the credit service to request a credit limit, see at

least paragraph 2), and the service maintains a profile for the person (wherein the

computing platform 110 maintain and update a customer database 140 for the customer

so that the credit worthiness for the customer can be determined based on a customer

database 140 data, see at least paragraphs 21, 27 and Fig.1), including transaction

history with the service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different times

on an ongoing basis (including check-writing behavior history and credit worthiness for

the customer determined at different times to re-evaluated a customer's credit account,

see at least paragraphs 27-39 and Fig.2).



Page 7


Art Unit: 3694




Page 8

7. Applicant's arguments with respect to claims 1-4, 7-11, 14-18, 21-25, and 28 have been

considered but are moot in view of the new ground(s) of rejection.

The Applicant amended claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11 and 14)

to overcome the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections. However, the claims are still directed to non-

statutory subject matter. Therefore, the Examiner would like to retain the 35 U.S.C. 101

rejections for claims 1 and 8 (and by dependence, claims 2-4, 7, 9-11 and 14).

Claims 15 and 22 (and by dependence, claims 16-18, 21, 23-25 and 28) are amended

and overcome the 35 U.S.C. 101 rejections. Therefore, the Examiner would like to withdraw the

35 U.S.C. 101 rejections for claims 15 and 22 (and by dependence, claims 16-18, 21, 23-25 and

28).

Conclusion

8. Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this

Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant

is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).

A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE

MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO

MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after

the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period

will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any extension fee pursuant to 37

CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event,

however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the date of this

final action.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 9

Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner

should be directed to Examiner Tien Nguyen whose telephone number is (571) 270-5108. If

attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor,

James P. Trammel can be reached on 571-273-6712. The fax phone number for the

organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.


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 (toil-free).

/tn/

/Mary Cheung/

Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3694



Examiner Art Unit

TI EN C. NGUYEN 3694 Page 1 of 1

U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS


Country Code-Number-Kind Code MM-YYYY Name Classification

* A US-2008/0015954 01-2008 Huber et al. 705/028

* B US-2003/0 135451 07-2003 O'Brien et al. 705/38

* C US-7 ,606, 764 10-2009 Mancini, Phillip Dominick 705/39

* D US-2007/0033135 02-2007 Wokaty, Robert Dwane JR. 705/038

E US-

F US-

G US-

H US-

I US-

J US-

K US-

L US-

M US-




N

0

P

Q

R

S

T



U

V

W

X

*A copy of this reference IS not being furnished with this Office action. (See MPEP § 707.05(a).) Dates in MM-YYYY format are publication dates. Classifications may be US or foreign.



To: From:

[email protected],officeactions@C ENTRALCOASTPA TENT. COM, plambuth@centralcoastpatent.< [email protected]


Jan 06, 2011 05:59:00 AM

Dear PAIR Customer:






Document CTFR 892

Mailroom Date 01/06/2011 01/06/2011








IN THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

InRe: Case: Serial No.: Filed:

Art Unit: 3694

Pankaj Gupta 10000.00 12/053,447 March 21,2008

Examiner: Nguyen, Tien C

Subject: Credit and transaction systems

Commissioner for Patents PO Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

Dear Sir:

Response A

- 2 -

In the Claims

All of the claims standing for examination are reproduced below with appropriate status

indication.

1. (Currently amended) l\n Internet coupled A transaction service operating at an

Internet-enabled site, comprising:

a an Internet link to a computer appliance coupled to a merchant site, the

computer appliance operated by a person who has selected, through a separate Internet

link to a Merchant site, one or more products or services to purchase at the merchant site,

and who has selected, through by an interactive link at the merchant site, the transaction

service to arrange payment; and

sofhvare mcccuting from a computer readable medium accessible to the service

software stored on and executed by a computer operating at the transaction service site,

separate from the merchant site; and


service site;

wherein the transaction service, via the software.> verifies the identity of the

person, determines credit worthiness for the person, and the "'Iorthiness being sufficient,

shares the credit worthiness with one or more of the plurality of lenders over the separate

Internet links, solicits the plurality of lenders to provide credit to the person, selects one

of the lenders to provide the credit, arranges payment to be made to the merchant on

behalf of the person, and arranges repayment terms "'lith the person between the person,

the transaction service, and the selected lender for the payment to the merchant.

2. (Original) The service of claim 1 wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction

history from the merchant site as a component in determining credit worthiness for the

person.

- 3 -

3. (Currently amended) The service of claim 2 wherein a plurality of merchant sites are

clients of the transaction service, and the transaction service solicits transaction history

from individual ones of the client merchant sites in determining credit worthiness for the

person.

4. (Currently amended) The service of claim 1 wherein the person is a client of the

transaction service, and the transaction service maintains a profile for the person,

including transaction history with the transaction service and credit worthiness for the

person determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

5-6. (Cancelled)

7. (Currently amended) The service of claim [[6]] 1 wherein the transaction service

arranges repayment terms for credit provided by the lender, pays the merchant, enrolls

the person as a client of the service ifnot already a client, and manages repayment of the

debt.

8. (Currently amended) l\n Internet coupled A transaction service operating at an

Internet-enabled site, comprising:

a an Internet link to a merchant server coupled to a computing machine providing

an interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store, the transaction interface

operated by an employee of the retail store for managing sales transactions for products

or services offered for sale by the retail store, and selected for purchase by a customer in

the retail store; and

sofi'Nare executing from a computer readable medium accessible to the service

software stored on and executed by a computer operating at the transaction service site;

and


service site;

- 4 -

wherein details of the purchase and identification information for the customer are

entered by the employee at the interactive interface, and the transaction service, via the

software .. verifies the identity of the customer, determines a credit worthiness for the

customer, and the credit 'tvorthiness being sufficient, shares the credit worthiness with one

or more of the plurality of lenders over the separate Internet links, solicits the plurality of

lenders to provide credit to the customer, selects one of the lenders to provide the credit,

arranges payment to be made to the merchant retail store on behalf of the customer, and

arranges repayment terms with the customer for the payment to the merchant between the

customer, the transaction service and the selected lender.

9. (Currently amended) The service of claim 8 wherein the transaction service solicits a

transaction history from the retail store as a component in determining a credit worthiness

for the customer.

10. (Currently amended) The service of claim 9 wherein a plurality of merchant sites

retail stores are clients of the service, and the service solicits transaction history from

individual ones of the client merchant sites retail stores in determining a credit worthiness

for the person customer.

11. (Currently amended) The service of claim 8 wherein the customer is a client of the

service, and the service maintains a profile for the customer, including transaction history

with the service and credit worthiness for the customer person determined at different


12-13. (Cancelled)

14. (Currently amended) The service of claim [[13]] ~ wherein the transaction service


- 5 -

the customer as a client of the service if not already a client, and manages repayment of

the debt.

15. (Currently amended) A method for managing transactions, comprising:

(a) at an Internet connected ~ transaction service operating at an Internet

connected site linked to an appliance operated by a person also linked to an Internet::

connected merchant site, the person having selected via a browser executing in the

appliance, one or more products or services offered for sale at the Internet merchant site,

and having selected through a link at the merchant site the transaction service to arrange

payment, determining credit worthiness for the person by software stored on and

executing on a computer operating at the transaction site;

(b) upon the credit 'tvorthiness being sufficient, arranging payment to be made to

the merchant on behalfofthe person sharing the credit worthiness with individual ones of

a plurality of lenders over Internet links between the lenders and the transaction site; and

( c) arranging repayment terms with the person for the payment made to the

merchant soliciting the plurality of lenders to offer credit to the person;

Cd) selecting one of the lenders to provide the credit;

C e) arranging payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the person; and

Cf) arranging repayment terms between the person, the transaction service and the

selected lender.

16. (Currently amended) The method of claim 15 wherein the transaction service solicits

a transaction history from the merchant site as a component in determining credit


17. (Currently amended) The method of claim 16 wherein a plurality of merchant sites

are clients of the transaction service, and the transaction service solicits transaction

history from individual ones of the client merchant sites in determining credit worthiness

for the person.

- 6 -

18. (Currently amended) The method of claim 14 wherein the person is a client of the

transaction service, and the transaction service maintains a profile for the person,

including transaction history with the transaction service and credit worthiness for the

person determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

19-20. (Cancelled)

21. (Currently amended) The method of claim [[20]] 12 wherein the transaction service


the person as a client of the transaction service if not already a client, and manages

repayment of the debt.

22. (Currently amended) A method for managing transactions comprising:

(a) at an Internet connected ~ transaction service operating at an Internet-enabled

site linked to a merchant server coupled to computing machine providing an interactive

transaction interface in a physical retail store "'thich is an outlet for the merchant, the

transaction interface operated by an employee of the retail store for managing sales

transactions for products or services offered for sale by the retail store, and selected for

purchase by a customer in the retail store, determining credit worthiness for the customer

by software stored on and executing on a computer at the transaction service site;

(b) upon the credit "'torthiness being sufficient, arranging payment to be made to

the merchant on behalf of the person sharing the credit worthiness with individual ones of

a plurality of lenders over Internet links between the lenders and the transaction site; and

( c) arranging repayment terms "'tith the person for the payment made to the

merchant soliciting the plurality of lenders to offer credit to the person;

Cd) selecting one of the lenders to provide the credit;

C e) arranging payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the person; and

- 7 -

Cf) arranging repayment terms between the person, the transaction service and the

selected lender.

23. (Currently amended) The method of claim 22 wherein the transaction service solicits

a transaction history from the merchant site retail store as a component in determining

credit worthiness for the customer.

24. (Currently amended) The service of claim 23 wherein a plurality of merchants retail

stores are clients of the transaction service, and the transaction service solicits transaction

history from individual ones of the client merchants retail stores in determining a credit

worthiness for the customer.

25. (Currently amended) The method of claim 22 wherein the customer is a client of the

service, and the service maintains a profile for the customer, including transaction history

with the transaction service and credit worthiness for the customer determined at different


26-27. (Cancelled)

28. (Currently amended) The method of claim [[27]] 22 wherein the transaction service


the customer as a client of the service if not already a client, and manages repayment of

the debt.

- 8 -

REMARKS

This response is to the Office Action mailed on 05117/2010.

From the action:

This is a Non-Final Action in response to communications filed on 3/21/2008.

Claims 1-28 are pending in the application. Claims 1-28 are rejected. The drawings filed

on 3/21/2008 are accepted by the Examiner.


Acknowledged

From the action:

This action is in response to the application filed on 3/21/2008. Claims 1-28 are

pending and are examined.


Acknowledged

From the action:

Claims 1-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention

is directed to non-statutory subject matter.

Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 101 as a nonstatutory and descriptive

material per se, 33 F.3d at 1360, 31 USPQ2d at 1759 (MPEP 2106.01). The system

contains software structures not claimed as embodied in computer-readable media and

therefore are descriptive material per se and are not statutory because they are not capable

of causing function change in a computer. See In re Warmerdam, 33 F.3d at 1361, 31

USPQ2d at 1760.

- 9 -

Claims 1-14 are directed toward a link for connected to a merchant site. Such link

can be a computer program, per se, which is not a statutory category and is therefore

unpatentable. Such link claimed as computer listings per se, i.e. the descriptions or

expressions of the programs, are not physical "things". Appropriate correction is required.

Claims 1-14 are claimed as "the computer appliance operated by a person" for

selects a transaction service. Such "computer appliance" is intense use and is therefore

unpatentable. Appropriate correction is required.

Claims 1-14 are claimed as "software executing from a computer-readable

medium" to access to the service. Such "software executing from a computer-readable

medium" need to be changed to "software stored on a computer and executed by a

computer". Appropriate correction is required.

Claims 15-28 recite method directed to purely mental steps. In order for a method

to be considered a "process" under §101, a claimed process must either: (1) be tied to a

particular machine or (2) transform underlying subject matter (such as an article or

materials) to a different state or thing (also referred to as the "machine-or-transformation

test"). Diamond v. Diehr, 450 U.S. 175, 184 (1981); Parkerv. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 588

n.9 (1978); Go ttschalkv. Benson, 409 U.S. 63, 70 (1972); Cochrane v. Deener, 94 U.S.

780,787-788 (1876). If neither of these requirements is met by the claim, the method is

not a patent eligible process under § 101 and is non -statutory subj ect matter. Thus, to

qualify as a statutory process, the claim should positively recite the machine which it is

tied, for example, by identifying the machine that accomplishes the method steps, or

positively recite the subject matter that is being transformed, for example, by identifying

the material that is being changed to a different state.

Claims 15-28 recite to mainly method steps of "arranging payments" and

"arranging repayment terms" for the payment made to the merchant. These method steps

fail to the first prong since they are not explicitly tied to perform using a particular

machine or apparatus. Similarly, these method steps fail to the second prong because they

do not result in a transformation of subject matter into another state or thing. Thus, claims

15-28 are nonstatutory.

- 10 -


The applicant notes that claims 8 and 22 are independent claims, and assumes that the

comments made by the examiner regarding claim 1 also apply to claim 8, and that the

comments made regarding claim 15 also apply to claim 22. The applicant accordingly

has amended claims 1, 8, 15 and 22 following the guidelines kindly provided by the

examiner; and respectfully requests that the rejections under 35 U.S.C.101 be withdrawn.

From the action:

Claims 1, 5, 6, 8, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.

103(a) as being unpatentable over Larkin et al. (2002/0069158) and further in view

of Mancini (7,606,764).

As per claims 1,8,15 and 22, Larkin teaches:

a link to a computer appliance coupled to a merchant site, the computer appliance

operated by a person who has selected one or more products or services to purchase at the

merchant site, and who has selected, through the merchant site, the transaction service to

arrange payment (a merchant web page connected and linked to a customer computer 28

so that the customer selects one or more goods and service to purchase and the multiple

purpose payment transaction service program, see at least paragraph 15); and

software executing from a computer-readable medium accessible to the service;

wherein the transaction service, via the software verifies the identity of the person

(wherein the multipurpose program provider verifies the customer by account identifier,

see at least Fig.2, element 73), determines credit worthiness for the person (wherein

accesses the credit worthiness of the customer to determine if the customer meets credit

worthiness requirements of the credit provider, see at least abstract and paragraphs 16,21

and 22), and the worthiness being sufficient (wherein the customer meets credit

worthiness requirements of the credit provider and the customer has been approved for

the credit, see at least abstract and paragraphs 16, 21 and 22), arranges payment to be

- 11 -

made to the merchant on behalf of the person, and arranges repayment terms with the

person for the payment to the merchant (wherein provides payment to the merchant

through payment processor 52, see at least paragraph 22).

Larkin does not explicitly to teach wherein a link to a merchant server coupled to

an interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store and arranges payment and

arranges repayment terms with the person for the payment to the merchant.

Mancini teaches these limitation wherein a link to a merchant server coupled to an

interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store (wherein a link to an online

retailer's web page coupled to a point-of-sale terminal, see at least column 1, lines 8-12

and column 7, lines 8-22) and arranges payment and arranges repayment terms with the

person for the payment to the merchant (wherein the arranged repayment terms has been

displayed to the user and the user selects desired repayment option, see at least column

10, lines 50-61, column 11, lines 30-67 and column 12, lines 1-45, and Fig.8 and Fig.9).


invention was made to modify a system and method of Larkin to include all the




As per claims 5, 12, 19 and 26, Larkin teaches wherein the service is associated

with a plurality of potential lenders (wherein the service is associated with a plurality of

potential lenders such as Visa, Mastercard, Amx, and Multi Purpose to provide service to

the customer, see at least Fig.2), and individual ones of the potential lenders are solicited

to provide credit to the person once credit worthiness is determined (and Multi Purpose

are solicited to provide credit to the customer once credit worthiness is determined, see at

least paragraph 16).

As per claims 6, 13,20, and 27, Larkin teaches wherein the credit worthiness

determined by the service is shared with the potential lenders (wherein the credit

- 12 -

worthiness determined by the service is shared with the potential I Multi Purpose lenders

when the customer is directed to a web page of lender entity offering the multipurpose

program, see at least paragraph 16), individual ones of the lenders offer credit (wherein

multipurpose program provider offers credit to the customer, see at least paragraph 16

and Fig.3 ), the service selects one of the lenders, and completes a transaction for the

purchase of the products or services between the person and the merchant (see at least

paragraphs 15, 16, 19-22 and Fig.3).

Claims 7, 14, 21 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being

unpatentable over Larkin et al. (2002/0069158) and Mancini (7,606,764) and further

in view of Salter (2004/0044616).

As per claims 7, 14, 21 and 28, Larkin teaches wherein enrolls the person as a

client of the service if not already a client and pays the merchant (see at least paragraphs

17 and 22).

Larkin does not explicitly to teach wherein the service arranges repayment terms

for credit provided by the lender and manages repayment of the debt.

Mancini teaches these limitations wherein the service arranges repayment terms

for credit provided by the lender (wherein the arranged repayment terms has been

displayed to the user and the user selects desired repayment option, see at least column

10, lines 50-61, column 11, lines 30-67 and column 12, lines 1-45, and Fig.8 and Fig.9).


invention was made to modify a system and method of Larkin to include all the




Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach wherein manages repayment of the

debt.

- 13 -

Salter teaches this limitation wherein manages repayment of the debt (wherein

arranging for repayments by arranging to make an automatic payments on the loans from

a paycheck of an employee, claim 5 and 6).


invention was made to modify a system and method of Larkin and Mancini to include all

the limitations above as taught by Salter in order to assist the customer in offsetting an

existing debt based on hislher financial preferences.

Claims 2-4, 9-11, 16-18, 23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being

unpatentable over Larkin et al. (2002/0069158) and Mancini (7,606,764), and

further in view ofWokaty, JR. (2007/0033135).

As per claims 2, 9, 16 and 23, Larkin teaches wherein the transaction service

solicits a customer personal data from the merchant site as a component in determining

credit worthiness for the person (wherein the transaction service solicits a customer

personal data from the entity offering the multipurpose program site to determine credit

worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraph 16). However, Larkin and Mancini do

not explicitly to teach wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history in









the limitations above as taught by W okaty in order to provide the useful information to


- 14 -

As per claims 3, 10, 17 and 24, Larkin teaches wherein a plurality of merchant

sites are clients of the service (wherein the multipurpose program provider may be a

different entity clients of the service to provide the customer several transaction services,

see at least paragraphs 19 and 22, Fig.2 and Fig.3), and the service solicits customer


worthiness for the person (wherein the service solicits customer personal data from the

multipurpose program provider of the entity client to determine credit worthiness for the

customer, see at least paragraphs 19 and 22, Fig.2 and Fig.3).

However, Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach wherein the transaction

service solicits a transaction history in determining credit worthiness for the person.

W okaty teaches this limitation wherein the transaction service solicits a









As per claims 4, 11, 18 and 25, Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach

wherein the person is a client of the service, and the service maintains a profile for the

person, including transaction history with the service and credit worthiness for the person

determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

W okaty teaches this limitation wherein the person is a client of the servIce

(wherein the customer is a client of the credit service to request a credit limit, see at least

paragraph 2), and the service maintains a profile for the person (wherein the computing

platform 110 maintain and update a customer database 140 for the customer so that the

credit worthiness for the customer can be determined based on a customer database 140

- 15 -

data, see at least paragraphs 21, 27 and Fig.l), including transaction history with the

service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different times on an ongoing









In response to careful consideration of the rejections applied by the examiner and

the teaching of the references, the applicant has realized that the reference Larkin, of

record, closely parallels the recitation of original claim 1. The rejection of claims 5 and 6

are, however, not correct, as the examiner has misconstrued the teaching of Larkin to

read on the plurality of lenders. The examiner applies the credit choices selectable as

links on the merchant site in Larkin as the plurality of lenders in applicant's claim 5.

Applicant draws the examiner's attention to applicant's Fig. 1 in the as-filed papers, which

clearly shows that the plurality of lenders recited are in fact connected by Internet links to

the transaction service (element 103 in Fig. 1), and not selectable by the customer at the

merchant site. It is clearly the financial institution's computing center 32 in Fig. 1 of

Larkin that is equated to applicant's transaction service element 103 in applicant's Fig. 1.

The customer in Larkin elects this means of making payment by selecting "multi

purpose" in Larkin, just as the customer selected "NOCA" in applicant's description.

Once the customer in Larkin has selected "multi-purpose" however, the selections

of the other credit cards are not available as lenders through the multi -purpose transaction

system, so these cannot be the plurality of lenders recited by applicant.

The purpose of applicant's invention as recited in claim 1 as amended is to

provide opportunity to small lenders or individuals who are by design normally excluded

- 16 -

by choices made by a customer at a merchant site or in a retail store, where the selections

are limited to large credit providers like Visa and Mastercard.

The examiner will see that the applicant has amended claim 1 significantly to

narrow and further limit the claim to the plurality of potential lenders connected to the

transaction service by separate Internet links, and to the functionality of determining a

credit worthiness for the customer, sharing that with the potential lenders, and then

selecting a lender from those who respond to offer credit to the customer.

Applicant believes the amended recitation of claim 1 is clearly patentable over the

references taken either singly or in combination. Claims 2-4 and 7 are therefore

patentable at least as depended from a patentable claim.

The amendments made to claim 1 have been applied as well to independent

claims 8, 15 and 22, which are patentable by the same rationale as argued for claim 1

above. Claims 9-11, 14, 16-18, 21, 23-25, and 28 are therefore patentable at least as

depended from a patentable claim.

- 17 -

Summary

As all of the claims, as amended and argued above, have been shown to be

patentable over the art presented by the Examiner, applicant respectfully requests

reconsideration and the case be passed quickly to issue.

If any fees are due beyond fees paid with this amendment, authorization is made

to deduct those fees from deposit account 50-0534. If any time extension is needed

beyond any extension requested with this amendment, such extension is hereby

requested.

Central Coast Patent Agency, Inc. 3 Hangar Way, Suite D Watsonville, CA 95076 (831) 768-1755

Respectfully Submitted Pankaj Gupta

By /:Donald 9l. 9J0!J4/ Donald R. Boys Reg. No. 35,074


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FY 2009


10000.00 (Fees pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (H.R. 4818}.)

Application Number 12/053,447 Filed 03/21/2008

For Pankaj Gupta

Art Unit 3694 Examiner Tien C. Nguyen

This is a request under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a) to extend the period for filing a reply in the above identified application.


[2]

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[a The Director is hereby authorized to charge any fees which may be required, or credit any overpayment, to Deposit Accou nt N umber --=5:....:0_-0.:...;5.:...;3=--4=----_____ -----'


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CLAIMS HIGHEST

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(Column 1) (Column 2) (Column 3)

CLAIMS HIGHEST REMAINING NUMBER PRESENT

RATE ($) ADDITIONAL

RATE ($) ADDITIONAL

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I-AMENDMENT PAID FOR

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* If the entry in column 1 is less than the entry in column 2, write "0" in column 3. Legal Instrument Examiner: •• If the "Highest Number Previously Paid For" IN THIS SPACE is less than 20, enter "20". INICHELE PETERSONI ••• If the "Highest Number Previously Paid For" IN THIS SPACE is less than 3, enter "3".

The "Highest Number Previously Paid For" (Total or Independent) is the highest number found in the appropriate box in column 1.

This collection of mformatlon IS required by 37 CFR 1.16. The mformatlon IS required to obtam or retam a benefit by the public which IS to file (and by the USPTO to process) an application. Confidentiality is governed by 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14. This collection is estimated to take 12 minutes to complete, including gathering, preparing, and submitting the completed application form to the USPTO. Time will vary depending upon the individual case. Any comments on the amount of time you require to complete this form and/or suggestions for reducing this burden, should be sent to the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. DO NOT SEND FEES OR COMPLETED FORMS TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND TO: Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.




12/053,447 03/2112008

24739 7590 05117/2010



Pankaj Gupta




10000.00 4271

EXAMINER

NGUYEN, TIEN C


3694


05/17/2010 ELECTRONIC




[email protected] [email protected]

PTOL-90A (Rev. 04/07)




TIEN C. NGUYEN 3694

-- The MAILING DA TE of this communication appears on the cover sheet with the correspondence address --Period for Reply

A SHORTENED STATUTORY PERIOD FOR REPLY IS SET TO EXPIRE ~ MONTH(S) OR THIRTY (30) DAYS, WHICHEVER IS LONGER, FROM THE MAILING DATE OF THIS COMMUNICATION. - Extensions of time may be available under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a). In no event, however, maya reply be timely filed

after SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. - If NO period for reply is specified above, the maximum statutory period will apply and will expire SIX (6) MONTHS from the mailing date of this communication. - Failure to reply within the set or extended period for reply will, by statute, cause the application to become ABANDONED (35 U.S.C. § 133).

Any reply received by the Office later than three months after the mailing date of this communication, even if timely filed, may reduce any earned patent term adjustment. See 37 CFR 1.704(b).

Status

1)1ZI Responsive to communication(s) filed on 312112008.

2a)0 This action is FINAL. 2b)1ZI This action is non-final.


closed in accordance with the practice under Ex parte Quay/e, 1935 CD. 11, 453 O.G. 213.


4)1ZI Claim(s) 1-28 is/are pending in the application.



6)1ZI Claim(s) 1-28 is/are rejected.



Application Papers


10)1ZI The drawing(s) filed on 312112008 is/are: a)1ZI accepted or b)O objected to by the Examiner.



11)0 The oath or declaration is objected to by the Examiner. Note the attached Office Action or form PTO-152.





2.0 Certified copies of the priority documents have been received in Application No. __ .




Attachment(s)

1) IZI Notice of References Cited (PTO-B92)

2) 0 Notice of Draftsperson's Patent Drawing Review (PTO-94B)

4) 0 Interview Summary (PTO-413) Paper No(s)/Mail Date. __ .

5) 0 Notice of Informal Patent Application 3) 0 Information Disclosure Statement(s) (PTO/SB/OB) Paper No(s)/Mail Date __ .


PTOL-326 (Rev. OB-06)

6) 0 Other: __ .



Art Unit: 3694

DETAILED ACTION


Page 2

1. This action is in response to the application filed on 3/21/2008. Claims 1-28 are pending

and are examined.




3. Claims 1-28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is

directed to non-statutory subject matter.

Claims 1-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C 101 as a nonstatutory and descriptive material

perse, 33 F.3d at 1360, 31 USPQ2d at 1759 (MPEP 2106.01). The system contains software

structures not claimed as embodied in computer-readable media and therefore are descriptive

material per se and are not statutory because they are not capable of causing function change

in a computer. See In re Warmerdam, 33 F.3d at 1361,31 USPQ2d at 1760.

Claims 1-14 are directed toward a link for connected to a merchant site. Such link can

be a computer program, per se, which is not a statutory category and is therefore unpatentable.

Such link claimed as computer listings per se, i.e. the descriptions or expressions of the

programs, are not physical "things". Appropriate correction is required.

Claims 1-14 are claimed as "the computer appliance operated by a person" for selects a

transaction service. Such "computer appliance" is intense use and is therefore unpatentable.

Appropriate correction is required.


Art Unit: 3694

Page 3

Claims 1-14 are claimed as "software executing from a computer-readable medium" to

access to the service. Such "software executing from a computer-readable medium" need to be

changed to "software stored on a computer and executed by a computer". Appropriate

correction is required.

Claims 15-28 recite method directed to purely mental steps. In order for a method to be

considered a "process" under §1 01, a claimed process must either: (1) be tied to a particular

machine or (2) transform underlying subject matter (such as an article or materials) to a different

state or thing (also referred to as the "machine-or-transformation test"). Diamond v. Diehr, 450

U.S. 175, 184 (1981); Parkerv. Flook, 437 U.S. 584, 588 n.9 (1978); Gottschalkv. Benson, 409

U.S. 63, 70 (1972); Cochrane v. Deener, 94 U.S. 780, 787-788 (1876). If neither of these

requirements is met by the claim, the method is not a patent eligible process under §1 01 and is

non-statutory subject matter. Thus, to qualify as a statutory process, the claim should positively

recite the machine which it is tied, for example, by identifying the machine that accomplishes the

method steps, or positively recite the subject matter that is being transformed, for example, by

identifying the material that is being changed to a different state.

Claims 15-28 recite to mainly method steps of "arranging payments" and "arranging

repayment terms" for the payment made to the merchant. These method steps fail to the first

prong since they are not explicitly tied to perform using a particular machine or apparatus.

Similarly, these method steps fail to the second prong because they do not result in a

transformation of subject matter into another state or thing. Thus, claims 15-28 are non-

statutory.



Art Unit: 3694



Page 4

(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.

5. Claims 1, 5, 6, 8,12,13,15,19,20,22,26 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C.

103(a) as being unpatentable over Larkin et al. (2002/0069158) and further in view of

Mancini (7,606,764).

As per claims 1, 8,15 and 22, Larkin teaches:


operated by a person who has selected one or more products or services to purchase at the


arrange payment (a merchant web page connected and linked to a customer computer 28 so

that the customer selects one or more goods and service to purchase and the multiple-purpose

payment transaction service program, see at least paragraph 15); and

software executing from a computer-readable medium accessible to the service; wherein

the transaction service, via the software verifies the identity of the person (wherein the

multipurpose program provider verifies the customer by account identifier, see at least Fig.2,

element 73), determines credit worthiness for the person (wherein accesses the credit

worthiness of the customer to determine if the customer meets credit worthiness requirements

of the credit provider, see at least abstract and paragraphs 16, 21 and 22), and the worthiness

being sufficient (wherein the customer meets credit worthiness requirements of the credit


Art Unit: 3694

Page 5

provider and the customer has been approved for the credit, see at least abstract and

paragraphs 16, 21 and 22), arranges payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the

person, and arranges repayment terms with the person for the payment to the merchant

(wherein provides payment to the merchant through payment processor 52, see at least

paragraph 22).

Larkin does not explicitly to teach wherein a link to a merchant server coupled to an

interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store and arranges payment and arranges

repayment terms with the person for the payment to the merchant.

Mancini teaches these limitation wherein a link to a merchant server coupled to an

interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store (wherein a link to an online retailer's

web page coupled to a point-of-sale terminal, see at least column 1, lines 8-12 and column 7,

lines 8-22) and arranges payment and arranges repayment terms with the person for the

payment to the merchant (wherein the arranged repayment terms has been displayed to the

user and the user selects desired repayment option, see at least column 10, lines 50-61, column

11, lines 30-67 and column 12, lines 1-45, and Fig.8 and Fig.9).


made to modify a system and method of Larkin to include all the limitations above as taught by

Mancini in order to provide the consumer a different repayment options to lengthen or shorten

the existing obligation which associates with the consumer's account.

As per claims 5, 12, 19 and 26, Larkin teaches wherein the service is associated with a

plurality of potential lenders (wherein the service is associated with a plurality of potential

lenders such as Visa, Mastercard, Amx, and Multi Purpose to provide service to the customer,

see at least Fig.2), and individual ones of the potential lenders are solicited to provide credit to


Art Unit: 3694

Page 6

the person once credit worthiness is determined (and Multi Purpose are solicited to provide

credit to the customer once credit worthiness is determined, see at least paragraph 16).

As per claims 6, 13,20, and 27, Larkin teaches wherein the credit worthiness

determined by the service is shared with the potential lenders (wherein the credit worthiness

determined by the service is shared with the potential I Multi Purpose lenders when the

customer is directed to a web page of lender entity offering the multipurpose program, see at

least paragraph 16), individual ones of the lenders offer credit (wherein multipurpose program

provider offers credit to the customer, see at least paragraph 16 and Fig.3 ), the service selects

one of the lenders, and completes a transaction for the purchase of the products or services

between the person and the merchant (see at least paragraphs 15, 16, 19-22 and Fig.3).

6. Claims 7,14,21 and 28 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being unpatentable

over Larkin et al. (2002/0069158) and Mancini (7,606,764) and further in view of Salter

(2004/0044616).

As per claims 7, 14,21 and 28, Larkin teaches wherein enrolls the person as a client of

the service if not already a client and pays the merchant (see at least paragraphs 17 and 22).

Larkin does not explicitly to teach wherein the service arranges repayment terms for

credit provided by the lender and manages repayment of the debt.

Mancini teaches these limitations wherein the service arranges repayment terms for

credit provided by the lender (wherein the arranged repayment terms has been displayed to the

user and the user selects desired repayment option, see at least column 10, lines 50-61, column

11, lines 30-67 and column 12, lines 1-45, and Fig.8 and Fig.9).


made to modify a system and method of Larkin to include all the limitations above as taught by


Art Unit: 3694

Page 7

Mancini in order to provide the consumer a different repayment options to lengthen or shorten

the existing obligation which associates with the consumer's account.

Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach wherein manages repayment of the debt.

Salter teaches this limitation wherein manages repayment of the debt (wherein arranging

for repayments by arranging to make an automatic payments on the loans from a paycheck of

an employee, claim 5 and 6).


made to modify a system and method of Larkin and Mancini to include all the limitations above

as taught by Salter in order to assist the customer in offsetting an existing debt based on his/her

financial preferences.

7. Claims 2-4,9-11,16-18,,23-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103(a) as being

unpatentable over Larkin et al. (2002/0069158) and Mancini (7,606,764), and further in

view of Wokaty, JR. (2007/0033135).

As per claims 2,9, 16 and 23, Larkin teaches wherein the transaction service solicits a

customer personal data from the merchant site as a component in determining credit worthiness

for the person (wherein the transaction service solicits a customer personal data from the entity

offering the multipurpose program site to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at

least paragraph 16). However, Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach wherein the

transaction service solicits a transaction history in determining credit worthiness for the person.






Art Unit: 3694

Page 8



as taught by Wokaty in order to provide the useful information to enable the credit provider to

evaluate the credit applications more efficiently.

As per claims 3, 10, 17 and 24, Larkin teaches wherein a plurality of merchant sites are

clients of the service (wherein the multipurpose program provider may be a different entity

clients of the service to provide the customer several transaction services, see at least

paragraphs 19 and 22, Fig.2 and Fig.3), and the service solicits customer personal data from

individual ones of the client merchant sites in determining credit worthiness for the person

(wherein the service solicits customer personal data from the multipurpose program provider of

the entity client to determine credit worthiness for the customer, see at least paragraphs 19 and

22, Fig.2 and Fig.3).

However, Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach wherein the transaction service

solicits a transaction history in determining credit worthiness for the person.










Art Unit: 3694

Page 9

As per claims 4, 11, 18 and 25, Larkin and Mancini do not explicitly to teach wherein

the person is a client of the service, and the service maintains a profile for the person, including

transaction history with the service and credit worthiness for the person determined at different


Wokaty teaches this limitation wherein the person is a client of the service (wherein the

customer is a client of the credit service to request a credit limit, see at least paragraph 2), and

the service maintains a profile for the person (wherein the computing platform 110 maintain and

update a customer database 140 for the customer so that the credit worthiness for the customer

can be determined based on a customer database 140 data, see at least paragraphs 21, 27

and Fig.1), including transaction history with the service and credit worthiness for the person

determined at different times on an ongoing basis (including check-writing behavior history and

credit worthiness for the customer determined at different times to re-evaluated a customer's

credit account, see at least paragraphs 27-39 and Fig.2).





Conclusion

8. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner

should be directed to TIEN C. NGUYEN whose telephone number is (571) 270-5108. The

examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Thursday (8:00am-4:00pm EST).


Art Unit: 3694

Page 10

If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's

supervisor, James P. Trammel can be reached on 571-273-6712. The fax phone number for

the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.


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.

/tn/

/James P Trammell/

Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 3694



Examiner Art Unit

TIEN C. NGUYEN 3694 Page 1 of 1

u.s. PATENT DOCUMENTS

* Document Number

Country Code-Number-Kind Code Date

MM-YYYY Name Classification

* A US-2007/0045406 03-2007 Giesen et al. 235/380

* B US-2007/0061255 03-2007 Epting et al. 705/039

* C US-2002/0069158 06-2002 Larkin et al. 705/38

* D US-2002/0194122 12-2002 Knox et al. 705/39

* E US-2004/0044616 03-2004 Salter, Maurice M. 705/038

* F US-2007/0033135 02-2007 Wokaty, Robert Dwane JR. 705/038

* G US-7,606,764 10-2009 Mancini, Phillip Dominick 705/39

H US-

I US-

J US-

K US-

L US-

M US-




N

0

P

Q

R

S

T



U

V

W

X

*A copy of this reference IS not bemg furnished with this Office action. (See MPEP § 707.05(a).) Dates in MM-YYYY format are publication dates. Classifications may be US or foreign.

u.s. Patent and Trademark Office


Application/Control No.

Index of Claims 12053447

Examiner

TIEN C NGUYEN

Rejected Cancelled N

= Allowed Restricted

Applicant(s)/Patent Under Reexamination

GUPTA, PANKAJ

Art Unit

3694

Non-Elected A Appeal

Interference o Objected

D Claims renumbered in the same order as presented by applicant D CPA D T.D. D R.1.47

CLAIM DATE Final Original 05/07/2010

1 if

2 if

3 if

4 if

5 if

6 if

7 if

8 if

9 if

10 if

11 if

12 if

13 if

14 if

15 if

16 if

17 if

18 if

19 if

20 if

21 if

22 if

23 if

24 if

25 if

26 if

27 if

28 if

u.s. Patent and Trademark Office Part of Paper No.: 20100424

Page 1 of 1

UNIIED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

BIB DATA SHEET

SERIAL NUMBER FILING or 371 (c) DATE

CLASS

12/053,447 03/21/2008 705

RULE

APPLICANTS Pankaj Gupta, Redwood City, CA;

** CONTINUING DATA ************************* This appln claims benefit of 60/919,814 03/22/2007

and claims benefit of 60/915,214 05/01/2007 and claims benefit of 60/951,77807/25/2007 and claims benefit of 60/979,457 10/12/2007

** FOREIGN APPLICATIONS *************************



CONFIRMATION NO. 4271

GROUP ART UNIT ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.

3694 10000.00

** IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED ** ** SMALL ENTITY ** 04/02/2008

Foreign Priority claimed DYes D No STATE OR SHEETS TOTAL INDEPENDENT 35 USC t t 9(a-d) conditions met DYes D No D Met after

Allowance COUNTRY DRAWINGS CLAIMS CLAIMS Verified and

CA 6 28 4 Acknowledged Examiner's Signature Initials

ADDRESS


TITLE

Credit and transaction systems

D All Fees

FEES: Authority has been given in Paper D 1.16 Fees (Filing)

FILING FEE D 1.17 Fees (Processing Ext. of time)

RECEIVED No. to chargelcredit DEPOSIT ACCOUNT

805 No. for following: D 1.18 Fees (Issue)

D Other

D Credit

BIB (Rev. 05/07).

To: From:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]


May 17, 2010 06:12:39 AM

Dear PAIR Customer:






Document CTNF 892

Mailroom Date 05/17/2010 05/17/2010








12053447

PLUS Search Results for SIN 12053447, Searched Mon Mar 0908:57:39 EDT 2009 The Patent Linguistics Utility System (PLUS) is a USPTO automated search system

for U.S. Patents from 1971 to the present PLUS is a query-by-example search system which produces a list of patents that are most closely related linguistically to the application searched. This search was prepared by the staff of the Scientific and Technical Information Center, SIRA.

20080281726 99 20060273155 49 616087447 637807547 2002001676947 20060293953 46 601463646 7051001 46 713157846 20010001321 46 2002015212346 20020169713 46 20030200180 46 2004010306046 20050061872 46 20050086167 46 2005014412646 20050256802 46 20060143124 46 20060178986 46 20060259364 46 20070047703 46 20070078761 46 20070078787 46 20080040261 46 2008011468446 20080114691 46 20080288400 46 20080313081 46 676400346 20080103959 46 20080208739 44 2004018701344 20070067832 44 647757844 731124944 743053744 20020004772 44 2002001977244 20040088249 44 2004018131044 2007017420844 2008002178744 20080306848 44 20080288405 44 20060224502 44 683968344 20020095360 44 2006022621644

20060229974 44


APPLICATION NUMBER FILING OR 371 (C) DATE

12/053,447 03/21/2008

24739 CENTRAL COAST PATENT AGENCY, INC 3 HANGAR WAY SUITE D WATSONVILLE, CA 95076

Title:Credit and transaction systems

Publication No.US-2008-0281726-A 1 Publication Date: 11 /13/2008

Ul\TfE]) STI\TES ])EPA RTME'IT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Adill",. COMMISSIO'JER FOR PATENTS

PO Box 1450 Alexandria, Virgmia 22313-1450 \VVi\V.uspto.gOY

FIRST NAMED APPLICANT ATTY. DOCKET NO.lTITLE

Pankaj Gupta 10000.00 CONFIRMATION NO. 4271

PUBLICATION NOTICE

111111111111111111111111]~!I]~~I~~I~~I~jl~JI~ ~UIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

NOTICE OF PUBLICATION OF APPLICATION

The above-identified application will be electronically published as a patent application publication pursuant to 37 CFR 1.211, et seq. The patent application publication number and publication date are set forth above.

The publication may be accessed through the USPTO's publically available Searchable Databases via the Internet at www.uspto.gov. The direct link to access the publication is currently hUp://www.uspto.gov/patft!.

The publication process established by the Office does not provide for mailing a copy of the publication to applicant. A copy of the publication may be obtained from the Office upon payment of the appropriate fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(a)(1). Orders for copies of patent application publications are handled by the USPTO's Office of Public Records. The Office of Public Records can be reached by telephone at (703) 308-9726 or (800) 972-6382, by facsimile at (703) 305-8759, by mail addressed to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Office of Public Records, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450 or via the Internet.

In addition, information on the status of the application, including the mailing date of Office actions and the dates of receipt of correspondence filed in the Office, may also be accessed via the Internet through the Patent Electronic Business Center at www.uspto.gov using the public side of the Patent Application Information and Retrieval (PAIR) system. The direct link to access this status information is currently hUp://pair.uspto.gov/. Prior to publication, such status information is confidential and may only be obtained by applicant using the private side of PAIR.

Further assistance in electronically accessing the publication, or about PAIR, is available by calling the Patent Electronic Business Center at 1-866-217-9197.

Office of Data Managment, Application Assistance Unit (571) 272-4000, or (571) 272-4200, or 1-888-786-0101

page 1 of 1


APPLICATION

Ul\TfE]) STI\TES ])EPA RTME'IT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Adill",. COMMISSIO'JER FOR PATENTS

PO Box 1450 Alexandria, Virgmia 22313-1450 \VVi\V.uspto.gOY

NUMBER FILING or

371 (c) DATE FIL FEE REC'D ATTY.DOCKET.NO

12/053,447 03/21/2008


805 10000.00 28 4 CONFIRMATION NO. 4271

UPDATED FILING RECEIPT

111111111111111111111111]~!I]~~I~~I~~I~ 1111~~]1~ 11] 11111111111111111111111

Date Mailed: 08/07/2008

Receipt is acknowledged of this non-provisional patent application. The application will be taken up for examination in due course. Applicant will be notified as to the results of the examination. Any correspondence concerning the application must include the following identification information: the U.S. APPLICATION NUMBER, FILING DATE, NAME OF APPLICANT, and TITLE OF INVENTION. Fees transmitted by check or draft are subject to collection. Please verify the accuracy of the data presented on this receipt. If an error is noted on this Filing Receipt, please submit a written request for a Filing Receipt Correction. Please provide a copy of this Filing Receipt with the changes noted thereon. If you received a "Notice to File Missing Parts" for this application, please submit any corrections to this Filing Receipt with your reply to the Notice. When the USPTO processes the reply to the Notice, the USPTO will generate another Filing Receipt incorporating the requested corrections

Appl icant( s) Pankaj Gupta, Redwood City, CA;

Power of Attorney: The patent practitioners associated with Customer Number 24739

Domestic Priority data as claimed by applicant This appln claims benefit of 60/919,814 03/22/2007 and claims benefit of 60/915,214 05/01/2007 and claims benefit of 60/951 ,778 07/25/2007 and claims benefit of 601979,457 10/12/2007

Foreign Applications

If Required, Foreign Filing License Granted: 04/02/2008

The country code and number of your priority application, to be used for filing abroad under the Paris Convention, is US 12/053,447

Projected Publication Date: 11/13/2008

Non-Publication Request: No

Early Publication Request: No ** SMALL ENTITY **

page 1 of 3

Title


Preliminary Class

705

PROTECTING YOUR INVENTION OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States and have no effect in a foreign country, an inventor who wishes patent protection in another country must apply for a patent in a specific country or in regional patent offices. Applicants may wish to consider the filing of an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). An international (PCT) application generally has the same effect as a regular national patent application in each PCT-member country. The PCT process simplifies the filing of patent applications on the same invention in member countries, but does not result in a grant of "an international patent" and does not eliminate the need of applicants to file additional documents and fees in countries where patent protection is desired.

Almost every country has its own patent law, and a person desiring a patent in a particular country must make an application for patent in that country in accordance with its particular laws. Since the laws of many countries differ in various respects from the patent law of the United States, applicants are advised to seek guidance from specific foreign countries to ensure that patent rights are not lost prematurely.

Applicants also are advised that in the case of inventions made in the United States, the Director of the USPTO must issue a license before applicants can apply for a patent in a foreign country. The filing of a U.S. patent application serves as a request for a foreign filing license. The application's filing receipt contains further information and guidance as to the status of applicant's license for foreign filing.

Applicants may wish to consult the USPTO booklet, "General Information Concerning Patents" (specifically, the section entitled "Treaties and Foreign Patents") for more information on timeframes and deadlines for filing foreign patent applications. The guide is available either by contacting the USPTO Contact Center at 800-786-9199, or it can be viewed on the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html.

For information on preventing theft of your intellectual property (patents, trademarks and copyrights), you may wish to consult the U.S. Government website, http://www.stopfakes.gov. Part of a Department of Commerce initiative, this website includes self-help "toolkits" giving innovators guidance on how to protect intellectual property in specific countries such as China, Korea and Mexico. For questions regarding patent enforcement issues, applicants may call the U.S. Government hotline at 1-866-999-HAL T (1-866-999-4158).

GRANTED

LICENSE FOR FOREIGN FILING UNDER

Title 35, United States Code, Section 184

Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, 5.11 & 5.15

The applicant has been granted a license under 35 U.S.C. 184, if the phrase "IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED" followed by a date appears on this form. Such licenses are issued in all applications where the conditions for issuance of a license have been met, regardless of whether or not a license may be required as

page 2 of 3

set forth in 37 CFR 5.15. The scope and limitations of this license are set forth in 37 CFR 5.15(a) unless an earlier license has been issued under 37 CFR 5.15(b). The license is subject to revocation upon written notification. The date indicated is the effective date of the license, unless an earlier license of similar scope has been granted under 37 CFR 5.13 or 5.14.

This license is to be retained by the licensee and may be used at any time on or after the effective date thereof unless it is revoked. This license is automatically transferred to any related applications(s) filed under 37 CFR 1.53(d). This license is not retroactive.

The grant of a license does not in any way lessen the responsibility of a licensee for the security of the subject matter as imposed by any Government contract or the provisions of existing laws relating to espionage and the national security or the export of technical data. Licensees should apprise themselves of current regulations especially with respect to certain countries, of other agencies, particularly the Office of Defense Trade Controls, Department of State (with respect to Arms, Munitions and Implements of War (22 CFR 121-128)); the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce (15 CFR parts 730-774); the Office of Foreign AssetsControl, Department of Treasury (31 CFR Parts 500+) and the Department of Energy.

NOT GRANTED

No license under 35 U.s.C. 184 has been granted at this time, if the phrase "IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED" DOES NOT appear on this form. Applicant may still petition for a license under 37 CFR 5.12, if a license is desired before the expiration of 6 months from the filing date of the application. If 6 months has lapsed from the filing date of this application and the licensee has not received any indication of a secrecy order under 35 U.S.C. 181, the licensee may foreign file the application pursuant to 37 CFR 5.15(b).

page 3 of 3

DECLARATION AND POWER OF ATTORNEY FOR PATENT APPLICATION ATTORNEY DOCKET NO.IOOOO.OO

As a below named inventor, I hereby declare that: My residence, post office address and citizenship are as stated below next to my name. I believe I am the original, first and sole inventor (if only one name is listed below) or an original, fITst and joint inventor (if plural names are listed below) of the subject matter which is claimed and for which a patent is sought on the invention entitled: Credit and Transaction Systems

the specification of which (check one) 0 is attached hereto. I8l was filed on:03/21/2008 !8l Application Serial No. 12/053.447 o and was amended on __

(If applicable) I hereby state that I have reviewed and understand the contents of the above-identified specification, including the claims, as amended by any amendment refen'ed to above. I acknowledge the duty to disclose infonnation which is material to the examination of this application in accordance with Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, s 1.56 (a). In the case that the present application is a continuation-in-part application, I further acknowledge the duty to disclose material infonnation as defined in 37 CFR s 1.56( a) which became available between the filing date of the prior application and the filing date of the present application. I hereby claim foreign priority benefits under Title 35, United States Code s 119 of any foreign applications for patent or inventor's certificate listed below and have also identified below any foreign application for patent or inventor's certificate having a filing date before that of the application on which priority is claimed: Prior Foreign Application(s)

(Number) (Country) (DaylMonthIY ear Filed)

(Number) (Counay) (Day/MonthlYear Filed) I hereby claim the benefit under Title 35, United States Codes, 120 and 119 ofany United States application(s) listed

below and, insofar as the subject matter of each of the claims of this application is not disclosed in the prior United States application in the manner provided by the first paragraph of Title 35, United States Code, sl12, I acknowledge the duty to disclose material infonnation as defined in Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, sI56(a) which occurred between the filing date of the prior application and the national or PCT international filing date of this application.

(Application Serial No.): 60/919,814 (Filing Date): 03/22/2007 (Status): pending (Application Serial No.): 60J915 214 (Filing Date): 05/0112007 (Status): pending (Application Serial No.): 60J951 778 (Filing Date): 07/25/2007 (Status): pending (Application Serial No.): 60J979 457 (Filing Date): 10112/2007 (Status): pending (Application Serial No.): __ (Filing Date): __ (Status): __ _

POWER OF ATIORNEY: As a named inventor, I hereby appoint:

[g] Practitioners at customer number: 24739

OR

D Practitioners: Name: Registration number

to prosecute this application and transact all business in the Patent and Trademark Office connected therewith.

Please send all correspondence practitioners at:

[g] The practitioners at the customer number indicated above

D Customer number: 24739

07/28/2008 11:56

Page 2 DECLARATION AND POWER OF ATTORNEY ll'OR PATEN1' APPLICATION

ATTORNEY DOCKET NO, 10000.00

#02.!l1 P. 003 /003

1 hereby Ot'.c1m'e that all statements made herem of my own ~10w.icdg~ are tme a..'ld that all 8t$!ements mad\.'> on l1ltblmation ll;(J.d b~licf are believed to be true; and further that these statcmoots were made with the ktlOwlcd~c that willful false statcm{'.nt:~ and the like so maoe; ru-e pUll.ishabl~ by 'fine or itnprisunmem. or both, Undl..T Section 1001 of Titk 1 S of the 'United Statt:s Code and thai s!,!ch willful false st.<i.tements may jeopardl~.e tlle '~'a1idlty of the application or any patem issued thel'L"{)tJ.

Full noone of ~K)le or first iIlYC£ltQI: Pa'lk~j-<illP.ta,

_____ .. __ Dated: :J;,l,..'1 2.~ .. ZOo t;

PO£"!. Office Address: ~ame

Dec1aratton and Power of Attomey- Page 2

PTO/SB/22 (12-07) Approved for use through 12/31/2007. OMS 0651-0031

U.S. Patent and Trademerk Office; U.S. DEPARMENT OF COMMERCE Under the paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless if displays a valid OMS control number.


FY2008


10000.00 (Fees pursuant to the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (H.R. 4818).)

Application Number 121053,447 Filed 03/21/2008

For Pankaj J. Gupta

Art Unit 3621 Examiner Unknown

This is a request underthe provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a) to extend the period for filing a reply in the above identified application.



D One month (37 CFR 1.17(a)(1)) $120 $60 $

[{] Two months (37 CFR 1.17(a)(2)} $460 $230 $ 230

D Three months (37 CFR 1.17(a)(3)) $1050 $525 $

D Four months (37 CFR 1.17(a)(4)) $1640 $820 $

D Five months (37 CFR 1.17(a)(5)) $2230 $1115 $

[{] Applicant claims small entity status. See 37 CFR 1 .27.

D A check in the amount of the fee is enclosed.

D Payment by credit card. Form PTO-2038 is attached.

o The Director has already been authorized to charge fees in this application to a Deposit Account.

[{] The Director is hereby authorized to charge any fees which may be required, or credit any overpayment, to Deposit Account Number 50-0534 . I have enclosed a duplicate copy of this sheet.


I am the o D o D

applicant/inventor.

assignee of record of the entire interest. See 37 CFR 3.71. Statement under 37 CFR 3.73(b} is enclosed (Form PTO/S8196).

attorney or agent of record. Registration Number _3_5_,_0_7_4 _____ _

attorney or agent under 37 CFR 1.34. Registration number if acting under 37 CFR 1,34 _______ _

07/29/2008 Signature Date

Donald R. Boys 831-768-1755 Typed or printed name Telephone Number


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If you need assistance in completing the fonn, call1-800-PTO·9199 and select option 2.





First Named Inventor/Applicant Name: Pankaj J. Gupta




Utility Filing Fees


USD($)

Basic Filing:

Utility filing Fee (Electronic filing) 4011 1 75 75

Utility Search Fee 2111 1 255 255

Utility Examination Fee 2311 1 105 105

Pages:

Claims:

Claims in excess of 20 2202 8 25 200

Independent claims in excess of 3 2201 1 105 105

M iscellaneous-Fi Ii ng:


USD($)

Late filing fee for oath or declaration 2051 1 65 65

Petition:

Patent-Appeals-and-I nterference:

Post -Allowance-and -Post -Issu ance:

Extension-of-Time:


Miscellaneous:



EFSID: 3693344





First Named Inventor/Applicant Name: Pankaj J. Gupta





Receipt Date: 29-J U L -2008


Time Stamp: 14:16:02








Authorized User

File Listing:

Document 1

Number Document Description 1

File Name J File Size(Bytes) 1 MUlti,1 Pages /Message Digest Part /.zip (if appl.)

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po. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virgmia 22313-1450 ","""w.uspto.gov

APPLICATION NUMBER FILING OR 3 71 (C) DATE FIRST NAMED APPLICANT ATTY. DOCKET NO.lTITLE

12/053,447 03/21/2008


Pankaj 1. Gupta 10000.00 CONFIRMATION NO. 4271

FORMALITIES LETTER

111111111111111111111111]~!I~~~I~~I~~I~~~ ~II~~~JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Date Mailed: 04/07/2008

NOTICE TO FILE MISSING PARTS OF NONPROVISIONAL APPLICATION

FILED UNDER 37 CFR 1.53(b)

Filing Date Granted

Items Required To Avoid Abandonment:

An application number and filing date have been accorded to this application. The item(s) indicated below, however, are missing. Applicant is given TWO MONTHS from the date of this Notice within which to file all required items and pay any fees required below to avoid abandonment. Extensions of time may be obtained by filing a petition accompanied by the extension fee under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.136(a).

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The applicant needs to satisfy supplemental fees problems indicated below.

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page 1 of 2

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page 2 of 2


APPLICATION

UKITED STATES DEPARTME.\IT OF COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office Address: COMMISSIO'JER FOR PATENTS

po. Box 1450 Alexandria, Virgmia 22313-1450 ","""w.uspto.gov

NUMBER FILING or

371 (c) DATE FIL FEE REC'D ATTY.DOCKET.NO

12/053,447 03/21/2008


0.00 10000.00 28 4 CONFIRMATION NO. 4271

FILING RECEIPT

111111111111111111111111]~!I~~~I~~I~~I~~~ ~II~~~JIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Date Mailed: 04/07/2008

Receipt is acknowledged of this non-provisional patent application. The application will be taken up for examination in due course. Applicant will be notified as to the results of the examination. Any correspondence concerning the application must include the following identification information: the U.S. APPLICATION NUMBER, FILING DATE, NAME OF APPLICANT, and TITLE OF INVENTION. Fees transmitted by check or draft are subject to collection. Please verify the accuracy of the data presented on this receipt. If an error is noted on this Filing Receipt, please write to the Office of Initial Patent Examination's Filing Receipt Corrections. Please provide a copy of this Filing Receipt with the changes noted thereon. If you received a "Notice to File Missing Parts" for this application, please submit any corrections to this Filing Receipt with your reply to the Notice. When the USPTO processes the reply to the Notice, the USPTO will generate another Filing Receipt incorporating the requested corrections

Applicant(s) Pankaj J. Gupta, Redwood City, CA;

Power of Attorney: None

Domestic Priority data as claimed by applicant This appln claims benefit of 60/919,81403/22/2007 and claims benefit of 60/915,21405/01/2007 and claims benefit of 60/951 ,77807/25/2007 and claims benefit of 60/979,457 10/12/2007

Foreign Applications

If Required, Foreign Filing License Granted: 04/02/2008

The country code and number of your priority application, to be used for filing abroad under the Paris Convention, is US 12/053,447

Projected Publication Date: To Be Determined - pending completion of Missing Parts

Non-Publication Request: No

Early Publication Request: No ** SMALL ENTITY **

page 1 of 3

Title


Preliminary Class

705

PROTECTING YOUR INVENTION OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States and have no effect in a foreign country, an inventor who wishes patent protection in another country must apply for a patent in a specific country or in regional patent offices. Applicants may wish to consider the filing of an international application under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). An international (PCT) application generally has the same effect as a regular national patent application in each PCT-member country. The PCT process simplifies the filing of patent applications on the same invention in member countries, but does not result in a grant of "an international patent" and does not eliminate the need of applicants to file additional documents and fees in countries where patent protection is desired.

Almost every country has its own patent law, and a person desiring a patent in a particular country must make an application for patent in that country in accordance with its particular laws. Since the laws of many countries differ in various respects from the patent law of the United States, applicants are advised to seek guidance from specific foreign countries to ensure that patent rights are not lost prematurely.

Applicants also are advised that in the case of inventions made in the United States, the Director of the USPTO must issue a license before applicants can apply for a patent in a foreign country. The filing of a U.S. patent application serves as a request for a foreign filing license. The application's filing receipt contains further information and guidance as to the status of applicant's license for foreign filing.

Applicants may wish to consult the USPTO booklet, "General Information Concerning Patents" (specifically, the section entitled "Treaties and Foreign Patents") for more information on timeframes and deadlines for filing foreign patent applications. The guide is available either by contacting the USPTO Contact Center at 800-786-9199, or it can be viewed on the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html.

For information on preventing theft of your intellectual property (patents, trademarks and copyrights), you may wish to consult the U.S. Government website, http://www.stopfakes.gov. Part of a Department of Commerce initiative, this website includes self-help "toolkits" giving innovators guidance on how to protect intellectual property in specific countries such as China, Korea and Mexico. For questions regarding patent enforcement issues, applicants may call the U.S. Government hotline at 1-866-999-HAL T (1-866-999-4158).

GRANTED

LICENSE FOR FOREIGN FILING UNDER

Title 35, United States Code, Section 184

Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, 5.11 & 5.15

The applicant has been granted a license under 35 U.S.C. 184, if the phrase "IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED" followed by a date appears on this form. Such licenses are issued in all applications where the conditions for issuance of a license have been met, regardless of whether or not a license may be required as

page 2 of 3

set forth in 37 CFR 5.15. The scope and limitations of this license are set forth in 37 CFR 5.15(a) unless an earlier license has been issued under 37 CFR 5.15(b). The license is subject to revocation upon written notification. The date indicated is the effective date of the license, unless an earlier license of similar scope has been granted under 37 CFR 5.13 or 5.14.

This license is to be retained by the licensee and may be used at any time on or after the effective date thereof unless it is revoked. This license is automatically transferred to any related applications(s) filed under 37 CFR 1.53(d). This license is not retroactive.

The grant of a license does not in any way lessen the responsibility of a licensee for the security of the subject matter as imposed by any Government contract or the provisions of existing laws relating to espionage and the national security or the export of technical data. Licensees should apprise themselves of current regulations especially with respect to certain countries, of other agencies, particularly the Office of Defense Trade Controls, Department of State (with respect to Arms, Munitions and Implements of War (22 CFR 121-128)); the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce (15 CFR parts 730-774); the Office of Foreign AssetsControl, Department of Treasury (31 CFR Parts 500+) and the Department of Energy.

NOT GRANTED

No license under 35 U.s.C. 184 has been granted at this time, if the phrase "IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED" DOES NOT appear on this form. Applicant may still petition for a license under 37 CFR 5.12, if a license is desired before the expiration of 6 months from the filing date of the application. If 6 months has lapsed from the filing date of this application and the licensee has not received any indication of a secrecy order under 35 U.S.C. 181, the licensee may foreign file the application pursuant to 37 CFR 5.15(b).

page 3 of 3


U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it contains a valid OMB control number.

Attorney Docket Number 10000.00 Application Data Sheet 37 CFR 1.76

Application Number

Title of Invention Credit and Transaction Systems

The application data sheet is part of the provisional or non provisional application for which it is being submitted. The following form contains the bibliographic data arranged in a format specified by the United States Patent and Trademark Office as outlined in 37 CFR 1.76. This document may be completed electronically and submitted to the Office in electronic format using the Electronic Filing System (EFS) or the document may be printed and included in a paper filed application.

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37 CFR 5.2 (Paper filers only. Applications that fall under Secrecy Order may not be filed electronically.)

A r lppllcan t I f f norma Ion:

Applicant 1 I Remove I

Applicant Authority C!)lnventor I OLegal Representative under 35 U.S.C. 117 I OParty of Interest under 35 U.S.C. 118

Prefix Given Name Middle Name Family Name Suffix

Pankaj J. Gupta

Residence Information (Select One) C!) US Residency 0 Non US Residency o Active US Military Service

City Redwood City State/Province I CA I Country of Residence i I US

Citizenship under 37 CFR 1.41(b) i IN

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Address 1 555 Price Ave .. Suite 250

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Customer Number 24739

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Email Address [email protected] I Add Email I IRemove Emaill

Email Address [email protected] IRemove Emaill

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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless it contains a valid OMB control number.


Application Number


Application Information:

Title of the Invention Credit and Transaction Systems

Attorney Docket Number 10000.00 I Small Entity Status Claimed ~ Application Type Nonprovisional

Subject Matter Utility

Suggested Class (if any) 1 Sub Class (if any)l

Suggested Technology Center (if any)

Total Number of Drawing Sheets (if any) 6 I Suggested Figure for Publication (if any) I

Publication Information:

D Request Early Publication (Fee required at time of Request 37 CFR 1.219)

Request Not to Publish. I hereby request that the attached application not be published under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)

D and certify that the invention disclosed in the attached application has not been and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral agreement, that requires publication at eighteen months after filing.

Representative Information:

Representative information should be provided for all practitioners having a power of attorney in the application. Providing this information in the Application Data Sheet does not constitute a power of attorney in the application (see 37 CFR 1.32). Enter either Customer Number or complete the Representative Name section below. If both sections are completed the Customer Number will be used for the Representative Information during processing.

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Customer Number 24739

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Prior Application Status Pending I Remove I Application Number Continuity Type Prior Application Number Filing Date (YYYY-MM-DD)

non provisional of 60919814 2007-03-22



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Signature !Donald R. Boys! Date (YYYY-MM-DD) 2008-03-21

First Name Donald I Last Name I Boys Registration Number 35074

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10000.00 Attorney Docket Number Application Data Sheet 37 CFR 1.76

Application Number


This collection of information is required by 37 CFR 1.76. The information is required to obtain or retain a benefit by the public which is to file (and by the USPTO to process) an application. Confidentiality is governed by 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14. This collection is estimated to take 23 minutes to complete, including gathering, preparing, and submitting the completed application data sheet form to the USPTO. Time will vary depending upon the individual case. Any comments on the amount of time you require to complete this form and/or suggestions for reducing this burden, should be sent to the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commerce, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. DO NOT SEND FEES OR COMPLETED FORMS TO THIS ADDRESS. SEND TO: Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313·1450.

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9. A record from this system of records may be disclosed, as a routine use, to a Federal, State, or local law enforcement agency, if the USPTO becomes aware of a violation or potential violation of law or regulation.

EFS Web 2.0

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5

CREDIT AND TRANSACTION SYSTEMS

by inventor Pankaj Gupta

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to four provisional patent applications,

being SIN 60/919,814 filed March 22,2007, SIN 60/915,214 filed May 1,2007, SIN

60/951,778 filed July 25,2007, and SIN 60/979,457 filed October 12,2007. The

10 disclosure of all four provisional applications is incorporated in the present case at least

by reference.

15

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the area of network transacting systems in general,

including credit and payment aspects of transactions, and pertains in some embodiments

more specifically to such systems for matching purchasers with credit vendors, arranging

20 and managing transactions, and provision for payments and settling of debt balances.

2. Description of Related Art

It is well-known that a person seeking to purchase products or services may use

cash, a credit card or a debit card to pay the seller, or may arrange with the seller a

25 contract for payment over time. A purchaser in some instances may also arrange for an

advance from a credit source, such as a finance company, to pay the vendor the purchase

price, and then may repay the finance source according to pre-arranged terms. Also, in

many cases, especially those involving large enterprises like department stores and the

like, the store itself may issue a credit card, or may have other sorts of credit

5

- 2 -

arrangements to offer, perhaps pre-arranged with certain financial institutions. A good

example is a car dealership which may have pre-arrangements with banks and loan

compames. The car dealer may guide and facilitate credit arrangement for a potential

buyer.

Even with all of these services available, there are still drawbacks and unmet

needs. Credit cards typically have fixed interest rates and payment requirements. Also,

in arrangement with purchases at greater amounts than most credit cards will provide,

with banks and loan companies for example, takes time, and the credit risk for the lender

must be determined, which usually happens through well-known credit tracking

10 companies, such as Equifax, for example. Even after a purchaser's credit worthiness is

determined, it is still often necessary for a credit application and a contract to be prepared

and executed.

Currently sellers of goods and services, either through "brick and mortar" stores

or network-based, such as in the Internet, have no way to process consumer transactions

15 in a way that is analogous to business transactions. When a merchant makes a business

transaction the merchant typically bills the business for the goods or services rendered,

typically with Net 30 terms. If the business entity does not pay by end of the term, i.e. 30

days, then the businesses are usually charged interest.

What is clearly needed are systems whereby merchants may very quickly and

20 with assurance assess credit worthiness of potential buyers, and once that worthiness is

established, partner the potential buyers with one or more of a plurality of credit vendors

who may compete for the business, all arrangements being done quickly and substantially

at the point of purchase.

25

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present inventor, being aware of the growth ofInternet commerce even in the

face of reluctance by many otherwise willing customers to share credit card information

- 3 -

on the Internet, has devised a service that provides credit to worthy customers without a

need for the customers t provide credit card information.

In one embodiment of the invention an Internet-coupled transaction service is

provided, comprising a link to a computer appliance coupled to a merchant site, the

5 computer appliance operated by a person who has selected one or more products or

services to purchase at the merchant site, and who has selected, through the merchant

site, the transaction service to arrange payment, and software executing from a computer

readable medium accessible to the service. The transaction service, via the software

verifies the identity of the person, determines credit worthiness for the person, and if the

10 person is determined to be credit worthy, offers to arrange a payment to be made to the

merchant on behalf of the person, and if the person selects the offering the transaction

service arranges repayment terms with the person for the payment to the merchant.

In another aspect of the invention an Internet-coupled transaction service is

provided, comprising a link to a merchant server coupled to an interactive transaction

15 interface in a physical retail store, the transaction interface operated by an employee of


the retail store, and selected for purchase by a customer in the retail store, and software

executing from a computer-readable medium accessible to the service. Details of the

purchase and identification information for the customer are entered at the interactive

20 interface, and the transaction service, via the software verifies the identity of the

customer, determines a credit worthiness score for the customer, and the score being

sufficient, arranges payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the customer, and

arranges repayment terms with the customer for the payment to the merchant.

In yet another aspect of the invention a method for managing transactions is

25 provided, comprising steps for (a) at an Internet-connected transaction service linked to

an appliance (typically a PC) operated by a person also linked to an Internet merchant

site, the person having selected via a browser executing in the appliance (a PC), one or

more products or services offered for sale at the Internet merchant site, determining credit

worthiness for the person; (b) upon the credit worthiness being sufficient, arranging

- 4 -

payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the person; and (c) arranging repayment

terms with the person for the payment made to the merchant.

In still another aspect of the invention a method for managing transactions is

provided comprising steps for (a) at an Internet-connected transaction service linked to a

5 merchant server coupled to an interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store

which is an outlet for the merchant, the transaction interface operated by an employee of


the retail store, and selected for purchase by a customer in the retail store, determining

credit worthiness for the customer; (b) upon the credit worthiness being sufficient,

10 arranging payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the person; and (c) arranging

repayment terms with the person for the payment made to the merchant.

15

20

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a high-level architectural diagram for practicing the invention in one

embodiment.

Fig. 2 is a high-level architectural diagram for practicing the invention in an

alternative embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a high-level architectural diagram for practicing the invention in yet

another alternative embodiment.

Fig. 4 illustrates an exemplary payment window that might be presented at an

online merchant site.

Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating communication paths used in deriving consumer

25 identity from a merchant in an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 illustrates an exemplary payment widow in an alternative embodiment of

the invention.

- 5 -

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention in one embodiment allows merchants to enable their

consumer purchasers (buyers/customers) to establish credit in near real-time when

5 making a purchase.

Fig. 1 is a high-level architectural diagram illustrating how the invention may be

practiced in one embodiment. In Fig. 1 a buyer 101 has established an Internet

connection 104 with an on-line merchant 102, and is in process of selecting products for

purchase. This person is termed a buyer for convenience, and may be called a client, a

10 customer, or by another term depicting a person who endeavors to purchase goods or

services, even though there may be no transaction accomplished at the time shown in Fig.

1. The Internet connection may be by any known practice or process, and is not limited

to a PC and a land-line connection. The connection may be wireless, and the appliance

used may be a laptop, a PDA or other hand-held device or appliance with Internet

15 connectivity.

As is the case with most on-line merchants, payment options include at least use

of a valid credit or debit card. There may be other options as well, such as a purchase

order and bill-me-later, or arranging payment with a third party. In the system illustrated

by Fig. 1 there is yet another payment option at merchant 102 available to buyer 101.

20 That option is a hyperlink labeled NOCA 107, which initiates services of a payment and

credit-option site 103 of the same name (in this example). NOCA is, in this example, a

name to represent a host providing services according to an embodiment of the present

invention. That name might well be different in other embodiments.

When and if a buyer of a product or service initiates hyperlink 107 (or otherwise

25 initiates a request to pay by NOCA), software 108 executing at the merchant's site

interacts, in one embodiment with software 109 executing on the buyers appliance to

open a connection 105 with NOCA site 103, where services may be provided through

software 110 operating on the NOCA site. Software 109 in one embodiment is a browser

re-direct or a browser plug-in. that may operate with any of the well-known browser

- 6 -

software currently in use. In some other embodiments some communication may be

accomplished between merchant 102 and NOCA site 103 over a direct connection 106.

In a preferred embodiment transactions are processed through the buyer site so persistent

tokens may be accessed, user identity may be challenged, and to negotiate and validate

5 terms and conditions of various transactions of which the buyer may be a part.

In a broad sense NOCA operates to authenticate the buyer (in this embodiment

using at least information from the merchant to authenticate the buyer; such information

could consist of user's prior transaction history with the merchant which is passed to

Noca as a single score), to assess the credit-worthy status of the buyer once authenticated,

10 to provide, directly or through a set of lender( s) 111, payment to the merchant for goods

and services in the buyer's online shopping cart for purchase (assuming, of course, credit

worthiness), and subsequently in some embodiments to assist the buyer in making

payments on credit extended through the NOCA site.

15

NOCA operates, however, quite differently from traditional credit sources.

In one embodiment, NOCA associates with a set oflenders 111, illustrated in Fig.

1 as Lender 1, Lender 2, through Lender n. There is no limitation as to the nature of the

lenders, as the term may encompass enterprises (or even persons) willing to cooperate

with NOCA to pay for products and services on behalf of buyers, and to be repaid

directly by the buyer per terms and conditions established between the buyer and buyer's

20 lender of choice with interest, or by NOCA, through NOCA managing transactions

between the buyer, the merchant and the lender. NOCA will in many embodiments

facilitate money (or other value) transfer between the buyer and the lender, but NOCA

itself is not underwriting the transaction(s) in any preferred embodiment.

Lenders 111 may be banks or credit unions, but may also be enterprises of many

25 other sorts, and may also be persons who are legally authorized to underwrite the buyer's

purchases with respect to the pertinent laws of extending credit and underwriting, as

applicable. An object is to create and maintain opportunities for a large number of

enterprises to be able to offer credit to buyers in such situations. In some embodiments

the relationship between NOCA and lenders may be in the nature of an ongoing auction

- 7 -

wherein lenders compete for underwriting credit for buyers. In other aspects there may

be many other criteria upon which a lender may be selected to underwrite payment to the

merchant on behalf of the buyer.

Fig. 1 illustrates interrelationships between a buyer 101, a merchant 102, NOCA

5 103 as a credit, payment and settlement service, and a perhaps variable set oflender(s)

111. Merchant 102 in this example has previously consummated an agreement with

NOCA, and therefore has software that enables the merchant to offer NOCA services to

buyers on merchant's site 102, facilitated by software 108 provided in a preferred

embodiment by NOCA.

10

15

At the point of purchase, there may be anyone of several different circumstances.

In one case for example, the buyer may be a new buyer for the particular merchant,

therefore having no transaction history with that merchant, may have no history with

other on-line merchants, and may also be unknown to NOCA. In this case the following

steps may take place:

1. Buyer 101 logs on at the merchant's site 102. Some sites only sell if a new buyer

establishes an account. Others may offer a way to select and purchase products

without an account. We will assume in this case that an account is required, and this

buyer provides all the necessary information, including establishing a usemame and a

20 password. At this point the buyer may select items to purchase, but of course will not

have a purchase history with this merchant, or other on-line merchants.

2. The buyer completes selections and is at the shopping cart level in the purchase

process. At this point the buyer chooses NOCA's payment option 107.

3. NOCA 103 gets information about the buyer from the merchant and enrolls the buyer

25 in NOCA's system by creating an account. Information for creating such an account

is either obtained from the merchant's system, which might already have all or some

of the information about the buyer, and/or directly from the buyer. The information

is stored in a data repository 112, which may operate with a database, in a manner

similar to the creation of the account on the merchant's site. (and perhaps asking the

- 8 -

buyer to add in a PIN which can be used as a one-time password to authenticate the

buyer at a later visit to NOCA's website.)

4. The enrollment transaction creates an account for the buyer at NOCA, and a profile

for that buyer in repository 112.

5 5. At this point NOCA can do one of two things, either (a) Offer the buyer only a Debit

payment or (b) compute a credit score for the buyer and if the credit score is within

range offer the buyer a Credit and a Debit option. Computing credit score: As there is

no purchase history for this buyer, either at the merchant 102 or at other merchants

which may be associated with NOCA (NOCA can poll these other merchants as a part

10 of the process), NOCA has to access more conventional sources, such the buyers

history with conventional credit services and inclusively from other databases

available commercially to check a person's credentials. NOCA, in such an instance,

may also elicit additional information from the buyer, and in this process will attempt

to elicit sorts of information that may be checked and verified online, such as home

15 ownership, purchase contracts for major items like automobiles, and so on. In one

embodiment NOCA gets the identity information from the merchant and interactively

does a lookup on certain databases about the buyer using all or subset of the

following fields: First Name, Last Name, Telephone Number, Physical address, Email

address (And optional DOB, or DOB with year being optional). The databases that

20 are looked up may be those available commercially, and the lookup is done

interactively in near real-time. This is a software-driven automated process,

accomplished in a sub-second period. Given the results of the lookup a risk score is

assigned that will allow the merchant or the lender to decide whether or not to

underwrite the transaction. If a reliable score is not be established the buyer will be

25 offered the Debit option instead.

6. Once a credit score is established, under some circumstances that score may be shared

with merchant 102, and perhaps with other merchants associated with subscribers to

the NOCA service. Now, assuming that the buyer has been found to be creditworthy,

NOCA arranges either with the merchant, who may extend credit, or through the

- 9 -

network oflender(s), payment for the items selected by the buyer. In the case of the

lender, the determined credit score may be shared with individual credit scores of the

lenders as well. In most instances the payment to the merchant is arranged with one,

of the network of lenders. More about the process of selecting a lender is described

5 below.

7. Now that the buyer is enrolled in NOCA and the buyer's credit transaction is

complete, the buyer has been extended credit by a selected or preferred lender, and

the buyer will need to settle the debt. At the end of each month typically the buyer

will receive an email asking the buyer to click on a link that will take the buyer to

10 their statement listing all the transactions that are due by the end of the month, and

having an interactive interface for the buyer to select various options.

8. The buyer may either make the payment or payments in full or pay a minimal amount.

9. In some cases the buyer may consolidate payments for different merchants, or may

maintain separate accounts. Also, options may be extended for the buyer to select

15 payment dates, and other configuration of payment options. The buyer will have at

least two choices of making the payment or payments, either making an Automated

Clearing House (ACH) transaction or using an online bill pay service.

10. Once a payment is processed the account is either settled in full, or if a partial

payment is made it will not be less than the monthly interest on the outstanding

20 balance, and the buyer will carry the outstanding amount as a loan from the lender. It

is to be emphasized here that the payment plan is paying back the lender, with

interest. The merchant, in most cases, assuming it is not the merchant who extends

the credit, is paid up front with money from the lender or lenders facilitated by

NOCA's network.

25

In the case that the buyer has on online and/or offline transactional history, the

buyer's risk score may be determined based on his/her transaction history with various

merchants. Some basic tenets of the system in an embodiment are: if the buyer has

- 10 -

already transacted with merchant 102 at least once, merchant 102 will likely have a

profile for the buyer, and at least a short purchase history.

1. In this case the NOCA system determines the identity of the buyer and verifies

authenticity online. This process is accomplished substantially or completely online

5 using a standard web browser interface. The buyer signs up at a merchant site using

merchant site sign-in procedures (e.g. usemame, password) and the merchant

authenticates the buyer and relays the authentication information to NOCA with a

unique id (without passing the password).

2. In preferred embodiments the connection between NOCA and the Merchant is not just

10 encrypted but also digitally signed, hence secure.

3. Once the buyer is authenticated the available transaction history for that buyer is

relayed to NOCA. If the merchant prefers to not relay the transaction history, the

merchant may use a NOCA "risk scoring" service, which is made available by NOCA

as a web service, to interactively score the risk for the buyer based on the transaction

15 history - without necessarily transmitting the complete (or even partial) transaction

history of the buyer to NOCA.

4. Once NOCA has a risk score from information provided by merchant 102 about the

buyer, NOCA will then calculate an aggregate risk score based on this one and other

risk scores from other transaction histories with other merchants in the system.

20 5. If the buyer has never transacted with the merchant but has transacted with one or

more merchants in NOCA'S system then the same process may be followed as in the

previously-described process (above), with the exception that the lender and/or

merchant will get a score from NOCA and can decide to offer credit or not.

6. In some embodiments an algorithm to calculate the actual risk score may rely on one

25 or more of considering number of transactions, size of each transaction, frequency of

transactions, time of earliest transaction and inter-transactional duration and, in some

cases, other parameters from other online databases, such as median income in the zip

code demographic, length of stay at current address, previous addresses, and so forth.

- 11 -

The situations described above attain in cases mostly where potential buyers are

not fully integrated into the overall NOCA system, which includes all of the on-line

merchants who are associated with or subscribers to NOCA, and the lenders likewise

associated. As the system matures, however, there will be a large number of merchants,

5 lenders and buyers in full association in the NOCA system. In the mature case many, if

not most buyers, selecting NOCA at a merchant site will be regular customers of that

merchant or at least of other merchants in the NOCA system, and will be enrolled as

NOCA associates. The process is quite automatic in this case, and may be a "one click"

process. When such a buyer selects the NOCA option the payment to the merchant is

10 nearly instantly made and the account balance at NOCA is incremented.

Even for existing users ofNOCA system as buyers, regular reassessment of credit

worthiness can be done, and buyers are kept informed of current status. VIP treatment

may also be established for buyers who are highly rated, and special purchase programs,

discounts and the like may be offered. In some cases buyers may establish preference

15 profiles with NOCA, and NOCA may mine information from associated merchants and

other sources as well, and alert buyer associates of good deals and special purchase

opportunities according to the buyer's preferences. This system may also be planet-wide,

and buyers may be apprised of purchase offers for travel and other services beyond just

specific products. This sort of service may extend to airlines, hotels, tours, indeed to

20 almost anything that mat be for sale.

In some cases a buyer may be denied due to a low credit score. In such a case, in

one embodiment NOCA will have a service for helping that buyer become a fully

accredited associate ofNOCA, by explaining diplomatically how the system works,

where the problem lies, and how the problem may be overcome and corrected. Specific

25 programs may be offered, either by NOCA or by associated third parties, to help people

become associated to be able to partake of the considerable advantages of being a NOCA

associate.

In the descriptions above it may seem that transactions are handled one-at-a-time

and incrementally. Actually, in a fully mature system, hundreds of thousands of

- 12 -

transactions may be approved and accomplished each day, or even more. An individual

lender may approve and fund, for example, several thousand payments to merchants in a

particular day, and buyers may make thousands of payments to NOCA that are to accrue

to that same lender.

5 The descriptions above apply specifically to on-line buyers and systems. It is

well-known, however, that only a relatively small portion of the world-wide population

shops primarily on-line, and the greater portion do not; yet nearly everyone shops

somewhere.

Fig. 2 is a high-level architectural diagram illustrating practicing the invention in

10 the case of buyers shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, in addition to or in lieu of online

shopping, such as well-known department stores. It is not necessary that a person be on

line enabled to be a buyer associated with NOCA, and to have access to the advantages of

that association. It is also true that a person may be a NOCA associate on-line, and also

enabled to take advantage ofNOCA advantages when shopping in conventional

15 environments, and even in buying gasoline, purchasing big-ticket items, or even in real

estate transactions.

In Fig. 2 a buyer 201 has selected items to purchase from displays at, for example,

a department store, and has presented these items to a clerk 202 for purchase. In the

conventional situation clerk 202 would compute the total, including applicable taxes, and

20 elicit from buyer 201 desired payment type, which conventionally might be by credit

card, debit card, check, or cash.

In an embodiment of the present invention the department store's local system,

operating for example on server 213, connected in one example to check-out stations,

such as stations 203 and 211 (with clerk 210 in attendance) by a local area network

25 (LAN) 212, is enabled by NOCA, and may operate software 214 as a NOCA client or

subscriber through terminal 203 via LAN 212 and server 213, the terminal operable by

clerk 202 at the check-out station.

In one instance assume that buyer 201 is an enrolled NOCA user. In this instance

buyer 201 will have a transaction history with the store (merchant), or at least with other

- 13 -

merchants, either on-line, conventional, or both, and NOCA will have a record most

likely sufficient for validation for nearly real-time transaction. Buyer 201, having

selected items 204, tells clerk 202 he wishes to pay by NOCA. There needs to be a

mechanism for verifying this buyer as a NOCA user. In one embodiment the buyer may

5 have a NOCA ID card, which in some cases may be a smart card with more than a

conventional magnetic strip. In this case the buyer or the clerk may interface the ID card

to a reader terminal connected to the merchant's digital system, and software 209 and 214

will cause information on the smartcard to be sent to NOCA. At NOCA, the ID is

confirmed, the creditworthiness is confirmed, a payment increment sufficient to pay for

10 items 204 is created, and payment is made, or at least authorized, to the merchant of Fig.

2 by NOCA. At the same time the buyer's account at NOCA is updated to add the new

amount to the buyer's debt, along with detailed information for the time of purchase, the

items purchased, and so forth.

The description just above that "payment is made to the merchant" means in this

15 instance that data at NOCA (and at the merchant) is at least updated as to the fluid

account between the enrolled merchant and NOCA, so that the payment is accounted for.

Actual payment may well be made by, for example, funds transfer from one account to

another at some period, such as once every twenty-four hours at some agreed-to time in

the early morning hours. When such payment is made, data is attached and associated to

20 the account for all identities, products and services provided, and so forth, so accounts are

completely reconciled on both sides. In some cases this accounting and transfer may

occur by agreement not with the specific merchant where the sale took place, but with a

regional headquarters or a parent corporation of the merchant.

There may be a variety of ways identity is established and verified for a buyer

25 under different circumstances. Such ID may include one or more of many known ID

verification methods and apparatus, such as fingerprint scan, iris scan, voice print,

password code, OpenID and many more. The smart card example is just one example of

how ID may be established.

- 14 -

We may also assume the case where a buyer does not transact with any merchants

on line, and has no online history. Many people are still wary of Internet commerce, but

may still benefit from NOCA association. In such cases enterprises, like the department

store described above with reference to Fig. 2, may enroll with NOCA and become

5 enabled, just as shown in Fig. 2, and may inform their customers of the possibility of

NOCA association, and the potential advantages of such association. So a customer

(buyer) may fill out an application at a brick-and-mortar merchant, which the merchant

will upload to NOCA. One the buyer is enrolled at NOCA and credit worthiness is

established, that buyer may be issued suitable ID to transact as a NOCA-enrolled

10 associate.

In a broader sense, enterprises other than brick-and-mortar retail outlets may avail

themselves of the advantages accruable to NOCA associates. Think contractors, doctors,

lawyers, real estate firms, flea-market sellers, travel agencies, door-to-door sales persons,

and just about every case of someone with something to offer to someone else who might

15 buy, creating a transaction. Also in a broad sense, commercial enterprises, or anyone

who has something to sell, and persons who purchase may be elicited in just about any

way to become enrolled with NOCA.

Fig. 3 is an architectural diagram depicting a door-to-door sales person 301, who

is an enrolled NOCA seller, at the door of a potential customer 302, who is an enrolled

20 NOCA buyer. Salesperson 301 has articles 303 for sale, and buyer 302 agrees to buy.

Salesperson 301 carries a hand-held, wirelessly enabled device 304, which connects

wirelessly to a server 313 via antenna 306 and other apparatus and software not shown.

That is, the hand-held device may connect through a cellular telephone system to a public

land-line system, then to the Internet to connect to server 313. Buyer 302 has a NOCA

25 ID, such as discussed above, which may be transmitted via device 304 to server 313,

which by virtue of software 314 and a land-line connection 305, may communicate to

NOCA 103. The wireless device may be a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant

(PDA), a Blackberry device, or a cellular telephone, among other sorts of devices. In

some cases the device will communicate with a base station on the way to server 313.

- 15 -

Also in some cases the transaction might be enabled by a cellular call to a call-center

operated by or for NOCA, and transaction may be by voice with a real agent, or with an

interactive voice response system (IVR). In some cases the transaction may be over the

Internet and in others not. The requirement is that the details of the transaction between

5 the buyer and the seller get communicated to NOCA, and NOCA does the rest, as

described for other embodiments above.

At service stations there may be equipment installed for a NOCA-enrolled buyer

to provide identity, and gasoline purchases may be added to a buyer's NOCA account.

Sellers in booths at flea markets and the like may operate much as depicted above for

10 door-to-door salespersons.

An enrolled buyer in NOCA will have a profile that may be updated in repository

112 on a regular basis, both by the buyer and by NOCA. An active profile for an enrolled

buyer will comprise contact information, the buyers secure ID, the buyer's current credit

score, transaction histories, and much more, and may also comprise a set of thresholds,

15 related perhaps to credit score, for what total indebtedness the particular buyer may incur

with NOCA and still be approved quickly and regularly for purchases. In some cases a

threshold will be set for certain kinds of purchases, such as real estate. As an example, a

particular buyer may be approved to purchase real estate, or not. And if so, there may be

a threshold above which a purchase may not be approved. The same sort of criteria may

20 attain for other high-ticket purchases, like automobiles and trucks. A VIP buyer, who

may be quite wealthy, may be approved to buy just about anything and everything, but

regular and ongoing maintenance on the profile will still be done.

With the above teaching in mind it should be clear that essentially the entire life

of financial transactions of a person may be handled in NOCA. One person may

25 consolidate bills and purchases at will and in anyone of many ways through NOCA.

There is no impediment to a single person being enrolled as both a buyer and

seller in NOCA. In fact, in one aspect there may be a category ofNOCA Buyer/Seller.

So, in another aspect of the invention, in a mature system, where there may be, for

example, millions of enrolled persons and other entities, the same persons may buy and

- 16 -

sell essentially anything through NOCA. An enrolled Buyer/Seller, for example, may,

instead of planning a yard sale, may offer used items for sale through NOCA, to other

Buyer/Sellers, and Buyers. Software 110 at NOCA may be enabled to list and display

such items for sale, which are not limited in form, but may be categorized in certain

5 ways, and offered for sale in a variety of ways. A Buyer/Seller may sell his house or his

car, which may be purchased by an enrolled buyer, and financing may be arranged

through the set of lenders 111.

In yet another embodiment of the invention, resellers may use NOCA services to

buy stock for resale from wholesale suppliers. Such activity may be handled by software

10 110 at NOCA, with special attributes for such situations. Businesses may buy goods and

services for operation as well, such as stationary, furniture, et al. through NOCA, and in

the cases where financing is necessary, the same may be arranged through the set of

lender(s) 11, and maintenance of such accounts may be entirely at NOCA or at the

lender, or both, with account reconciliation periodically. All sorts of business-to-business

15 services may be thus provided.

Another Option

In yet another aspect of the invention an additional option is provided for

consumers (buyers), especially for on-line transactions. It was described above, relative

20 to Fig. 1, that a merchant site might have a NOCA option (which may be labeled with a

different company name or enterprise identity). In another embodiment the choices may

be more specific, as illustrated, for example, by Fig. 4, which is an illustration of an

exemplary interactive payment window 401 displayed on a desktop 402, that might be

presented at a merchant site.

25 In this option the buyer is presented with two radio buttons 403 and 404 (might be

check boxes). One is to pay be credit card, the other to pay by credit without having to

give the merchant (us) your credit card number. The second option, hosted by an

enterprise providing services according to an embodiment of the present invention,

initiates services providing credit without a need for entering credit card information.

- 17 -

For online transactions traditional credit card payment systems rely on the buyer

either manually inputting or storing their credit card number at the merchant site or at a

third-party site accessible to and trusted by the end buyer. In this embodiment of the

invention, if the buyer chooses the "no credit card" option, the buyer is instead taken to a

5 next screen where he/she is presented with terms and conditions of credit being offered.

The "next screen" is not shown, but is an interactive window as in Fig. 4, but one that

presents information for the potential buyer regarding terms and conditions for extending

credit. If the buyer accepts the terms and conditions, he/she is issued credit from an

issuing institution, such as a bank, based on a risk profile unique to that buyer. In this

10 process the buyer is identified by NOCA, accessible data is retrieved to determine a risk

profile or score, that score is sent to at least one, but possibly more than one lending

institution, which, if the institution finds the buyer creditworthy, enables a credit offer for

the buyer. Alternately the information from lender(s) may be cached at NOCA's servers

and thus the credit decision making could happen in real-time on NOCA's platform

15 without the need to communicate with the lender(s). The terms and conditions shown to

the buyer reflect the terms and conditions the lender(s) is willing to offer credit to the

buyer, who is not party to the calculations on his or her behalf behind the scenes, that is

the process is transparent to the buyer.

When the buyer selects the "no credit card" or an alternately named option,

20 identity is verified using an aggregate system which relies on the buyer's registered

credentials with NOCA, with the transacting merchant as well as possibly other

merchants - all aggregated and verified in real-time - obviating the need for buyer to

supply a traditional 16 digit card number.

25 For example, in one embodiment:

1) The system determines the identity of the buyer and verifies authenticity online.

This process is accomplished substantially or completely online using a standard

web browser interface. The buyer signs up at a merchant site and the merchant

authenticates the buyer and relays the authentication information to NOCA.

5

10

- 18 -

2) In preferred embodiments the connection between NOCA and the Merchant is not

just encrypted but also digitally signed, hence secure.

3) Once the buyer is authenticated a transaction history or transaction history score

for that buyer is relayed to NOCA. Hence the buyer is authenticated without the

need to have a 16 digit card number.

In some cases the buyer may be well-known to NOCA and to the merchant, and

may have a profile already indicating credit worthiness, and a quantitative threshold as

well. In this case approval may be very quick, and the transaction can proceed rapidly.

If the buyer has never transacted with the merchant but has transacted with

another merchant in NOCA's system then the same process may be followed as in the

previously-described process (above), with the exception that the Merchant will get

authentication from NOCA for the buyer.

If the buyer has never transacted with the merchant and the buyer never transacted

15 with any other merchant in the NOCA system:

20

25

1) In one embodiment NOCA gets the identity information from the merchant and

interactively does a lookup on certain databases about the buyer using all or

subset of the following fields: First Name, Last Name, Telephone Number,

Physical address, Email address (And optional DOB, or DOB with year being

optional)

2) The databases that are looked up are those available commercially, and the lookup

is done interactively in near real-time

3) Given the results of the lookup a risk score is assigned that will confirm or deny

the authentication of the buyer.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of an interactive window 601 displayed on a desktop 602

for enabling a buyer to select payment options in an alternative embodiment of the

invention. In this embodiment the buyer still has the option of paying by credit card,

selecting radio button 603 in this example, but is offered an option by radio button 604 to

- 19 -

use the "no credit card" option. Buttons 605 illustrate selection for incentives for the

buyer to use this option. The buyer may select, for example, frequent flier miles on an

airline of the buyer's choice, 1 % (or some other percentage) cash back, or points which

may in future be redeemed for other value. There is no credit card needed, no social

5 security number needed, and no worries about identity theft through a credit card number.

Chargebacks

In embodiments of the present invention, when a buyer transacts online, NOCA

logs the transaction with a tracking ID that will uniquely identify that specific transaction

10 with the merchant, with NOCA and with the buyer.

Chargebacks are defined as transactions on a buyer's credit statement that the

buyer's dispute with the merchant. There may be many reasons motivating a need for a

chargeback, therefore in embodiments of the invention mechanisms are put in place to

resolve almost any issue between the buyer and the merchant. An online chargeback

15 dispute resolution system is initiated that connects the buyer, the merchant and the credit

institution online, seamlessly, enabling dispute resolution and tracking. In one

embodiment of the invention the process works as follows:

(A) When a buyer transacts with a merchant online NOCA will record the transaction

details including description of item( s) and shipping information. This information will

20 be recorded as part of the transaction process if and when the buyer selects NOCA's

payment system as the payment option.

NOCA will use the information recorded to query a shipper's online systems

using publicly-available Application Programming Interfaces (APls), and track delivery

and receipt. NOCA may, subsequent to delivery and receipt of the shipped good(s)

25 and/or service(s) by the buyer, send an electronic confirmation request or survey. This

electronic confirmation request/survey may be sent as an email with an interactive form

that the Buyer can respond to, the responses of which will be received by NOCA online

and summarized in its database. These responses mayor may not be shared with the

originating Merchant.

- 20-

Should a buyer wish to dispute goods or services received from the Merchant the

buyer can log in to the NOCA website and click a "dispute" button, then submit a dispute

request. The dispute request will be tracked online by NOCA and will be resolved with

the Merchant using the tracking data collected by NOCA during the delivery of goods

5 and/or services. Since NOCA will have the tracking data, this process will alleviate all

the false disputes based on missed-delivery or non-receipt of delivery. In addition it will

provide a way for the buyer to track the dispute status and resolution online.

Deriving Buyer Identity

10 In one embodiment of the invention a method and system is provided for using a

buyer's existing identity by NOCA (which, as described above, may have different names

in many other embodiments) with an online merchant for processing a payment

transaction. This obviates a need for the buyer to provide additional payment system

details and/or Identity associated with such a system. This unique system retrieves or

15 derives a buyer's identity from an existing identity with in an online merchant's data

repository and uses it for processing payment of the buyer's transaction with the online

merchant.

In this unique system the identity can be used either as is or with augmentation of

additional data either residing at NOCA or data which NOCA has access to from third

20 parties. Getting/retrieving buyer identity from an online merchant in near real time for

processing payment of an online transaction obviates any need for the buyer to re-input

identity for the payment system. In addition, this identity, either by itself or augmented

further using information available to NOCA, may serve as a basis for authenticating the

buyer as well as determining the buyer's risk score (transaction amount authorization) for

25 a financial institution underwriting the transaction (providing credit).

In a preferred embodiment all of this processing takes place in real-time before

the buyer, in the online process, reaches the checkout option. The online merchant gets a

response from NOCA as to whether the buyer is authentic and has a credit worthy score.

- 21 -

If the buyer is credit worthy then the merchant may also gets an upper limit up to which

the bank, or other credit-providing institution, is willing to underwrite the transaction.

Definitions:

5 Buyer - an online entity (usually a person) that will initiate an online or an offline

transaction. If the transaction is online NOCA will log the transaction with a tracking ID

that will uniquely identify the transaction with the merchant, NOCA and the end buyer.

Although buyers may most often be persons, the concept extends to other entities as well,

such as corporations, non-profit organizations and government entities, all of whom may

10 initiate transactions as buyers.

Merchant - on online or offline entity that offers good(s) and/or service(s) for sale.

NOCA - online network entity/enterprise enabling buyers to transact online or offline

15 without using credit cards. A new debit/credit payment network/service. NOCA will not

have effective fiduciary control over the buyer's or the merchant's money at any financial

institution, but will simply act as a network to process transactions.

20

25

The time related sequence of events in one embodiment of the invention is as follows:

For a credit transaction if the buyer has an existing account at the merchant site:

1) Buyer logs into the merchant site.

2) Merchant sends the buyer's information to NOCA, for example by using an XML

data structure over secure HTTP. The information on the buyer may include, but

will not be limited to First Name, Last Name, Email address, Phone number

(home phone, cell phone, work phone), Home address, Date of birth and possibly

SS#.

5

10

- 22-

3) NOCA will authenticate the buyer information supplied by the Merchant using its

own proprietary algorithm as well possibly verifying it from third party

commercial databases

4) A risk score is calculated for the buyer based on transaction history supplied by

the merchant and other parameters.

5) Based on the result of authentication and risk assessment a reply is sent to the

merchant indicating whether the buyer is authentic, and the maximum size of

transaction the underwriter of choice is willing to underwrite.

6) If the transaction amount is less than or equal to the amount approved by the

underwriter the buyer gets the option to select the NOCA payment system

7) The buyer can accept NOCA's payment system and the transaction is carried

through without the buyer having to supply any additional information

If the buyer does not have an existing account at the merchant site:

15 1) The buyer might create an account at the merchant site, and the transaction could

20

25

proceed in one of two possible directions:

(1) Either the buyer supplies enough information to complete an authentication

and risk assessment (typically this information would include FirstName, Last

Name, DOB, Home Address, Email, Phone, Social Security #)

(2) Or the buyer could be unwritten for a certain amount (typically a small

amount). The sequence of events after this in this use case will be same as (2)

through (7) in the case above where the buyer does have an account with the

merchant.

For a Debit transaction the process described above can be simplified in either of

the cases whether the buyer has an account with the merchant or not.

Step (1) will be same as for Credit.

Step (2) Buyer is presented a form in the image of check. The form requires the

buyer to fill out bank identifying information i.e. Routing # and Account #. Should the

- 23 -

buyer not have access to Routing # and Account # N OCA will provide a mechanism to

get it in real-time by accessing the user's online bank account. Once the buyer fills out

the Routing # and Account # this information will be sent (posted) securely to NOCA's

servers.

5 Fig. 5 illustrates transaction flow involved in deriving buyer identity from a

merchant. The flow of information is illustrated as lines 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 between

buyer 501 and merchant 502 and NOCA 503. Firstly, by path 1 buyer 501 submits to pay

by NOCA option to merchant site 502. On path 2 the merchant sends, in this case, an

HTML response that auto-posts a form containing an XML payment request to the

10 buyer's system. On path 3 the buyer's browser posts that form to the NOCA site. NOCA

processes the XML payment request. NOCA crafts a HTML response and posts same to

the buyer's site on path 5. The buyer's browser posts that form to the merchant site. The

merchant now responds to the buyer with results.

In the process just described with the aid of Fig. 5 communication between

15 merchant 502 and NOCA 503 is indirect, routed through the buyer's computer. In some

embodiments, based on an established relationship between a merchant and NOCA, there

may be more direct communication between the merchant and NOCA, such as by

Internet links between the two directly.

20 Social Graph manipulations

In a further embodiment of the present invention a method and system is provided

for using a social graph, as known in a social network, to authenticate a buyer and to

determine a credit risk score for the buyer. In this embodiment the definitions are the

same as the definitions listed above, except for "social graph" and "risk score" which are

25 defined as:

Further Definitions:

Social graph - a depiction of the connections that an individual has in a social network.

The number of connections, the type of connection (e.g. weak, strong etc.), the length of

- 24-

connection (when was the connection established and how long has it been since

establishment), attributes of a person at the other end of a connection are all attributes

that may constitute a social graph.

5 Risk score (or credit risk score) - is a normalized score that will allow an underwriter to

determine a ceiling amount and a length of time (i.e. the terms) on which to extend credit

to the buyer.

Each member of a social network will have a social graph, which may be uniquely used

10 to determine a possible risk-score for an individual.

15

In one instance it may work as follows:

1) The individual buyer's direct connections (contacts), being those only 1 degree of

separation away, are checked to see if they (the contacts) are already registered in

the NOCA system.

2) If one of more of these 1 degree separation contacts already have a risk score they

can be sent a notification within the social network (or outside of the social

network for example, by email) asking if they are willing to vouch for the buyer

in question. The terms and conditions of vouching for someone may be

20 determined by the underwriting institution and may be binding or non-binding

25

3) Depending on the number of responses (affirmative, negative, neutral) NOCA

may determine a risk score by an algorithm that would provide a potential

underwriter to decide whether or not to extend an offer of credit to the particular

buyer. In determining this risk score the abovementioned attributes of when and

long a buyer's profile has been on the social network, the time and length of the

buyer's contacts and which ones of the contact persons is already in NOCA's

system will playa role.

- 25 -

In essence this is using the social graph in the social network to provide a

transitive trust relationship between the buyer and NOCA; i.e. if the buyer is not a

member ofNOCA's system but one of the user's connected friends is, then (depending

on whether that friend is willing to confirm or not that the original user is indeed who

5 he/she says they are) the buyer could leverage his/her social graph to get a credit risk

score and subsequently be underwritten by a credit provider.

In time the social graph procedure could provide a more granular risk-score when

augmented with other information available about the buyer in NOCA's database i.e.

information such as size, type and frequency of transactions, size, type and frequency of

10 the connected friend's transactions etc.

15

Those with skill in the art will be aware that there are many alterations that might

be made in the embodiments described above, without departing from the spirit and scope

of the invention, therefore the invention must be limited only by the claims that follow.

- 26-

I claim:

1. An Internet-coupled transaction service, comprising:


5 operated by a person who has selected one or more products or services to purchase at the


arrange payment; and


wherein the transaction service, via the software verifies the identity of the

10 person, determines credit worthiness for the person, and the worthiness being sufficient,

arranges payment to be made to the merchant on behalf of the person, and arranges

repayment terms with the person for the payment to the merchant.

2. The service of claim 1 wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history

15 from the merchant site as a component in determining credit worthiness for the person.

20

3. The service of claim 2 wherein a plurality of merchant sites are clients of the service,

and the service solicits transaction history from individual ones of the client merchant

sites in determining credit worthiness for the person.

4. The service of claim 1 wherein the person is a client of the service, and the service

maintains a profile for the person, including transaction history with the service and

credit worthiness for the person determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

25 5. The service of claim 1 wherein the service is associated with a plurality of potential

lenders, and individual ones of the potential lenders are solicited to provide credit to the

person once credit worthiness is determined.

5

- 27-

6. The service of claim 5 wherein the credit worthiness determined by the service is

shared with the potential lenders, individual ones of the lenders offer credit, the service

selects one of the lenders, and completes a transaction for the purchase of the products or

services between the person and the merchant.

7. The service of claim 6 wherein the service arranges repayment terms for credit

provided by the lender, pays the merchant, enrolls the person as a client of the service if

not already a client, and manages repayment of the debt.

10 8. An Internet-coupled transaction service, comprising:

15

a link to a merchant server coupled to an interactive transaction interface in a

physical retail store, the transaction interface operated by an employee of the retail store

for managing sales transactions for products or services offered for sale by the retail

store, and selected for purchase by a customer in the retail store; and


wherein details of the purchase and identification information for the customer are

entered at the interactive interface, and the transaction service, via the software verifies

the identity of the customer, determines a credit worthiness for the customer, and the

credit worthiness being sufficient, arranges payment to be made to the merchant on

20 behalf of the customer, and arranges repayment terms with the customer for the payment

to the merchant.

9. The service of claim 8 wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history

from the merchant site as a component in determining a credit worthiness for the

25 customer.

10. The service of claim 9 wherein a plurality of merchant sites are clients of the service,

and the service solicits transaction history from individual ones of the client merchant

sites in determining a credit worthiness for the customer.

5

- 28 -

11. The service of claim 8 wherein the customer is a client of the service, and the service

maintains a profile for the customer, including transaction history with the service and

credit worthiness for the customer determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

12. The service of claim 8 wherein the service is associated with a plurality of potential


customer once credit worthiness is determined.

10 13. The service of claim 12 wherein the credit worthiness determined by the service is



services between the customer and the merchant.

15 14. The service of claim 13 wherein the service arranges repayment terms for credit

provided by the lender, pays the merchant, enrolls the customer as a client of the service

if not already a client, and manages repayment of the debt.

20

15. A method for managing transactions, comprising:

(a) at an Internet-connected transaction service linked to an appliance operated by

a person also linked to an Internet merchant site, the person having selected via a browser

executing in the appliance, one or more products or services offered for sale at the

Internet merchant site, determining credit worthiness for the person;

(b) upon the credit worthiness being sufficient, arranging payment to be made to

25 the merchant on behalf of the person; and

(c) arranging repayment terms with the person for the payment made to the

merchant.

- 29-

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the service solicits a transaction history from the

merchant site as a component in determining credit worthiness for the person.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein a plurality of merchant sites are clients of the

5 service, and the service solicits transaction history from individual ones of the client

merchant sites in determining credit worthiness for the person.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein the person is a client of the service, and the service

maintains a profile for the person, including transaction history with the service and

10 credit worthiness for the person determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

15

20

19. The method of claim 15 wherein the service is associated with a plurality of potential


person once credit worthiness is determined.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the credit worthiness determined by the service is



services between the person and the merchant.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the service arranges repayment terms for credit

provided by the lender, pays the merchant, enrolls the person as a client of the service if

not already a client, and manages repayment of the debt.

25 22. A method for managing transactions comprising:

(a) at an Internet-connected transaction service linked to a merchant server

coupled to an interactive transaction interface in a physical retail store which is an outlet

for the merchant, the transaction interface operated by an employee of the retail store for

managing sales transactions for products or services offered for sale by the retail store,

5

10

- 30 -

and selected for purchase by a customer in the retail store, determining credit worthiness

for the customer;

(b) upon the credit worthiness being sufficient, arranging payment to be made to

the merchant on behalf of the person; and

(c) arranging repayment terms with the person for the payment made to the

merchant.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein the transaction service solicits a transaction history

from the merchant site as a component in determining credit worthiness for the customer.

24. The service of claim 23 wherein a plurality of merchants are clients of the service,

and the service solicits transaction history from individual ones of the client merchants in

determining a credit worthiness for the customer.

15 25. The method of claim 22 wherein the customer is a client of the service, and the

service maintains a profile for the customer, including transaction history with the service

and credit worthiness for the customer determined at different times on an ongoing basis.

26. The method of claim 22 wherein the service is associated with a plurality of potential

20 lenders, and individual ones of the potential lenders are solicited to provide credit to the

customer once credit worthiness is determined.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the credit worthiness determined by the service is


25 selects one of the lenders, and completes a transaction for the purchase of the products or

services between the customer and the merchant.

5

- 31 -

28. The method of claim 27 wherein the service arranges repayment terms for credit

provided by the lender, pays the merchant, enrolls the customer as a client of the service

if not already a client, and manages repayment of the debt.

- 32 -

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

An Internet-coupled transaction service has a link to a computer appliance

coupled to a merchant site, the computer appliance operated by a person who has selected

5 one or more products or services to purchase at the merchant site, and who has selected,

through the merchant site, the transaction service to arrange payment, and software

executing from a computer-readable medium accessible to the service. The transaction

service, via the software verifies the identity of the person, determines a credit worthiness

for the person, and the score being sufficient, arranges payment to be made to the

10 merchant on behalf of the person, and arranges repayment terms with the person for the

payment to the merchant.

15


Application Number:

Filing Date:

Title of Invention: Credit and Transaction Systems

First Named Inventor/Applicant Name: Pankaj J Gupta

Filer: Donald Rex Boys/Patricia Lambuth



Utility Filing Fees


USD($)

Basic Filing:

Utility filing Fee (Electronic filing) 4011 1 75 75

Utility Search Fee 2111 1 255 255

Utility Examination Fee 2311 1 105 105

Pages:

Claims:

Claims in excess of 20 2202 8 25 200

Independent claims in excess of 3 2201 1 105 105

M iscellaneous-Fi Ii ng:


USD($)

Petition:

Patent-Appeals-and-I nterference:

Post -Allowance-and -Post -Issu ance:

Extension-of-Time:

Miscellaneous:



EFSID: 3037882




Title of Invention: Credit and Transaction Systems

First Named Inventor/Applicant Name: Pankaj J Gupta


Filer: Donald Rex Boys/Patricia Lambuth



Receipt Date: 21-MAR-2008

Filing Date:

Time Stamp: 18:59:52



Submitted with Payment I no

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Noca File Wrapper