Prior art

The following analysis identifies the most relevant prior art for US patent 8083137, based on its patent citations and the explicit relationship as a divisional application. Due to the inability to access the full text of each cited patent via live search, descriptions of prior art (beyond their titles) and their potential anticipation of claims are inferred where necessary, with particular attention to the known relationship between US8083137B2 and its parent application US7254548B1.

Most Relevant Prior Art for US8083137B2

The most relevant prior art for US8083137B2 is its parent application, U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,548. US8083137B2 is a divisional application claiming priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 11/567,044, which is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 10/192,426, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,548. The subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,548 and related applications is expressly incorporated by reference into US8083137B2.

1. U.S. Pat. No. 7,254,548 (US7254548B1)

• Full Citation: US7254548B1 - System and method for the administration of financial accounts using profiles.
• Publication Date: 2007-08-07.
• Filing Date: 2002-07-10.
• Brief Description: As the direct parent application, US7254548B1 undoubtedly discloses a system and method for administering financial accounts where users can establish and manage self-imposed spending limits based on predefined categories. It would cover the core concepts of storing user profiles with category-based limits, tracking transactions against these limits, and providing feedback or notifications. Given the title, it would also describe the use of "profiles" to facilitate this administration, likely including mechanisms for users to access and modify their account settings and review transaction summaries. The detailed description of US8083137B2 extensively references the systems and methods (e.g., System 10, Processor 15, Database 16, Profiles 17) which would originate from this parent application.
• Potential Anticipated Claims (under 35 U.S.C. § 102):
  • Claims 1, 5, 12, 19 (Independent Claims): These claims define the fundamental system and method for storing user-keyed profiles with user-selected categories and pre-set limits, and presenting transaction summary data including these limits. As the parent patent disclosing the overarching invention, US7254548B1 is highly likely to anticipate the core elements of these independent claims.
  • Claims 2, 6, 13 (Purchasable Items in Categories): If the parent patent describes how items are classified or associated with user-selected categories, these claims would be anticipated.
  • Claims 3, 7, 14, 24 (Assigning Items to Categories/Changing Natural Association): The concept of allowing a user to change the default or "natural" categorization of an item (e.g., ice cream from "food" to "snack," as described in FIG. 6 of US8083137B2) is a specific feature that, if present in the parent's disclosure, would anticipate these claims.
  • Claims 4, 8, 15, 22, 23 (Sub-user Management): US8083137B2 extensively discusses the establishment and control of sub-users with specific limits and permissions (e.g., "a main user of a credit card allows other sub-users"). This functionality would almost certainly be detailed in the parent application, thereby anticipating these claims.
  • Claims 9-11, 16-18 (Communication Mediums): These claims specify various communication channels (network, wireless, cellular) for communicating transaction data. The parent patent would likely cover various communication methods for user interaction and notification.
  • Claim 20 (Presenting User Profile Information): This claim relates to presenting profile data via the Internet, email, or telephone. Such methods of access and interaction would logically be part of the system described in the parent patent.
  • Claim 21 (Accepting Changes to Categories/Limits): The ability for a user to modify their self-imposed limits and categories is central to the invention and would be disclosed in the parent.

Given its direct priority relationship and broad title, US7254548B1 likely anticipates most, if not all, of the claims in US8083137B2 by disclosing the core inventive concepts related to personalized financial account administration with category-based spending controls and sub-user management.

2. U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,472 (US5914472A)

• Full Citation: US5914472A - Credit card spending authorization control system.
• Publication Date: 1999-06-22.
• Filing Date: 1997-09-23.
• Brief Description: This patent, by its title, appears to describe a system that allows for controlling or authorizing spending on credit cards. This would likely involve mechanisms to set limits or rules for transactions. While not explicitly stating "category-by-category," a "spending authorization control system" could encompass or be adapted to such a feature.
• Potential Anticipated Claims (under 35 U.S.C. § 102):
  • Claims 1, 5, 12, 19: These claims relate to storing a profile with user pre-set limits and presenting transaction summary data with those limits. A "spending authorization control system" that allows for user-defined limits, even if not explicitly categorized, could potentially anticipate the broad concept of a user-preset limit and tracking against it. The novelty of US8083137B2 here might rest on the "category by category" basis and the presentation of "transaction summary data containing said at least one user-selected category's user pre-set limit."

3. U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,710 (US5953710A)

• Full Citation: US5953710A - Children's credit or debit card system.
• Publication Date: 1999-09-14.
• Filing Date: 1996-10-09.
• Brief Description: This patent's title strongly suggests a system for managing financial transactions for children, likely involving a main account holder (parent) and sub-users (children) with controlled spending. Such a system would inherently require setting limits, possibly on specific types of purchases or amounts, to govern the child's usage of the card.
• Potential Anticipated Claims (under 35 U.S.C. § 102):
  • Claims 4, 8, 15, 22, 23 (Sub-user Management): These claims specifically relate to user-selected sub-user identities, sub-user transactions, and respective authorized amounts or times of usage. A "Children's credit or debit card system" would almost certainly involve these features for parental control. The distinction for US8083137B2 would depend on the specificity of "user-selected categories" for sub-users and the presentation of summary data containing the pre-set limits for those categories.

4. U.S. Pat. No. 2004/0039694 (US20040039694A1)

• Full Citation: US20040039694A1 - System and method for facilitating a subsidiary card account with controlled spending capability.
• Publication Date: 2004-02-26.
• Filing Date: 2001-05-29.
• Brief Description: This published application describes a system for managing "subsidiary card accounts" with "controlled spending capability." This directly addresses the concept of a main user providing a card to another (subsidiary) user and imposing spending restrictions. The "controlled spending capability" strongly implies the ability to set limits, and potentially category-based restrictions, for these subsidiary accounts.
• Potential Anticipated Claims (under 35 U.S.C. § 102):
  • Claims 4, 8, 15, 22, 23 (Sub-user Management): Similar to US5953710A, this reference directly targets the management of sub-accounts with spending controls, making it highly relevant to the claims in US8083137B2 that pertain to sub-user identities, their transactions, authorized amounts, and usage times. The specific "category by category" aspect of the limits and the presentation of summary data (as claimed in US8083137B2) would be a key differentiating factor.
  • Claims 1, 5, 12, 19 (Core Concepts): Depending on the level of detail regarding how "controlled spending" is achieved, this reference could also broadly anticipate the idea of user-defined limits against which transactions are tracked.

Important Note on Anticipation:
A definitive statement of anticipation under 35 U.S.C. § 102 would require a full, claim-by-claim comparison of US8083137B2's claims against the entire disclosure (specification, drawings, and claims) of each cited prior art reference. The analysis above is based on the titles and the general inventive concepts apparent from those titles and the relationships between the patents. US7254548B1, as the parent application, is the most likely to fully anticipate many of the claims of US8083137B2.