DETAILED ACTION
1. This action is responsive to communication filed on 28 October 2025, with acknowledgement of an original application filed on 30 April 2020.
2. Claims 1-23 are currently pending. Claims 1, 8, and 15 are in independent forms. Claims 1, 3, 8, 11, and 15-16 has been amended.
Response to Amendment
3. Applicant’s arguments filed 28 October 2025 have been fully considered however they are moot due to new grounds of rejection below initiated by applicant’s amendment.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
5. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
6. Claims 1-23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kotay et al. US Patent Application Publication No. 2018/0115892 (hereinafter Kotay) in view of Bradley et al. US Patent Application Publication No. 2019/0373469 (hereinafter Bradley) in further view of Bernier et al. US Patent Application Publication No. 2015/0081837 (hereinafter Bernier).
Regarding claim 1, Kotay discloses a method comprising:
“determining, by a first computing device, an update to at least one network credential, wherein the first computing device provides access to a network based on the at least one network credential” (see Kotay par. 0040, the computing device 104 (first computing device) can receive network credentials 122 from the network device 116. The computing device 104 can determine what user account information 124 is associated with the network device 116 and update the network credentials 122 stored in the database 114 accordingly);
based on determining that the second computing device would be prevented from accessing the network without the update, sending, by the first computing device to the second computing device, the update to the at least one network credential via a configuration session between the first computing device and the second computing device (see Kotay par. 0069, the user device 300 (e.g., user device 202a) determine a failure to connect to a first network 301 (e.g., the first network 207a) associated with a first SSID broadcast by an access point 304 (e.g., the access point 204) at 305. In an aspect, the failure to connect to the first network 301 by the user device 300 can be based on a changed SSID or new SSID being configured for the first time and the user device 300 not being configured to connect to the first network 301 via the changed SSID or new SSID. In an aspect, a new SSID can describe a SSID that is used for a newly configured network for which no previous SSID exists. A changed SSID can describe an SSID associated with a network that has been updated or modified. Based on the determined failure to connect to the first network 301, the user device 300 can connect to a second network 302 (e.g., second network 207b) associated with a second SSID broadcast by the access point 304 at 306. The second SSID can be static. In other words, the second SSID is not changed frequently, if at all. The second network 302 can be a secure network but with limited functionality. For example, the second network 302 can be limited to providing a communications link between the user device 300 and the remote computing device 303 (e.g., a network device, communication device 210, a provisioning server, etc.) for the purposes of updating the user device 300 to be able to connect to the first network 301);
Kotay does not explicitly discloses based on the update, determining, by the first computing device , that a second computing device that would be prevented from accessing the network without the update.
However, in analogues art, Bradley discloses based on the update, determining, by the first computing device , that a second computing device that would be prevented from accessing the network without the update (see Bradley par. 0104, at step 610, the computing device 102-1 can determine whether approval is received for the nearby computing device 102-2 to access the wireless network 130. Upon determining that approval is not received, the computing device 102-1 can prevent a password (e.g., via authentication credentials 136) from being provided to the nearby computing device 102-2, at step 612. Otherwise, if approval is received, the computing device 102-1 can provide the password to enable the nearby computing device 102-2 to access the wireless network 130, at step 614).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bradley into the system of Kotay to include a computing device to prevent an unauthorized person in possession of the password from gaining access to potentially sensitive data that is accessible via the wireless network (see Bradley par. 0043).
Kotay in view of Bradley does not explicitly discloses wherein the second computing device is provisioned to communicate with the first computing device via a device provisioning protocol session.
However, in analogues art, Bernier discloses wherein the second computing device is provisioned to communicate with the first computing device via a device provisioning protocol session (see Bernier pars. 0128-0131, processors 70 may receive, via the short-range communication, a return encrypted device identifier and unique provisioning information 16N for user device 14N and from computing device 12 (128). As discussed with regard to FIG. 4, processors 70 may first receive the return encrypted device identifier and sent a confirmation to computing device 12 that the return encrypted device identifier has been authenticated prior to receiving the unique provisioning information 16N. If processors 70 determine that the device identifier received from computing device 12 is incorrect, such as it does not match the unique device identifier of user device 14N ("NO" branch of block 132), processors 70 may discard the received provisioning information 16N and again search or scan for another short-range communication provisioning service (124). In this manner, processors 70 may be prevented from completing the self-provisioning process with unauthorized information that may compromise the security of user device 14N or otherwise interfere with the owner or user intended use of user device 14N. If processors 70 determine that the device identifier received from computing device 12 is correct ("YES" branch of block 130), processors 70 may initiate the self-provisioning process using the received provisioning information 16N from computing device 12 via short-range communication (134)).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 2, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 1,
Kotay further discloses receiving, by the first computing device from a third computing device, the update to the at least one network credential, wherein the third computing device is a user device associated with administrative rights to the first computing device (see Kotay pars. 0034-0035, the network device 116 (third computing device) can be in communication with a network, such as a network 105. As an example, the network device 116 can facilitate the connection of a device, such as the user device 102, to the network 105. As a further example, the network device 116 can be configured as a network gateway and/or an access point).
Regarding claim 3, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 1,
Bernier further discloses wherein the second computing device is further provisioned to communicate with the first computing device via a user device in communication with the first computing device during the device provisioning protocol session (see Bernier par. 0120 computing device 12 may be powered on and, in some examples, processors 40 may be executing a provisioning session application configured to transmit unique provisioning information to user devices. Computing device 12, via the provisioning session application, may receive various user input configuring one or more aspects of the provisioning process (e.g., select how computing device 12 will sense each user device 14 and/or select the type of wireless device-to-device communication for transmission of the provisioning information, such as Bluetooth communication) or the provisioning information (e.g., the types of information to be included in the provisioning information)).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 4, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 1,
Kotay further discloses wherein the at least one network credential comprises a service set identifier or a password (see Kotay par. 0004, The disclosed methods and systems can be applied to wireless communication devices (e.g., user devices) that can be configured with a network identifier (e.g., service set identifier (SSID)) and security element (e.g., password) associated with a wireless access point (AP) to connect to a wireless network).
Regarding claim 5, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 1,
Kotay further discloses wherein the second computing device, prior to receiving the update to the at least one network credential, would be prevented by the first computing device from accessing the network using the at least one network credential (see Kotay par. 0076, A user device (second computing device) (e.g., the user device 202a) can determine a failure to connect to a first network 401 (e.g., the first network 207a) associated with a first SSID broadcast by an access point 404 (e.g., the access point 204) at 405. In an aspect, the failure to connect the user device 400 to the first network 401 can be based on a changed SSID or new SSID and the user device 400 not being configured to connect to the first network 401 via the changed SSID or new SSID).
Regarding claim 6, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 1,
Kotay further discloses wherein the wherein the second computing device, based on the received update to the at least one network credential, is configured to access the network using the at least one network credential (see Kotay par. 0037, the network device 116 can be in communication with the computing device 104 to provide the computing device 104 with up-to-date network credentials 122. The network device 116 can be configured to transmit the network credentials 122 to the computing device 104 upon detecting a change in the network credentials 122 or the network device 116 can transmit the network credentials 122 to the computing device 104 periodically (e.g., every hour, every day, etc . . . ).
Regarding claim 7, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 1,
Bernier further discloses based on a configuration advertisement received by the second computing device, receiving, at the first computing device from the second computing device, a request to initiate the configuration session, wherein the configuration advertisement identifies the first computing device (see Bernier par. 0008, a method includes transmitting, by a first computing device and to a second computing device via near-field communication, a network identifier and a service identifier, wherein the network identifier identifies a wireless device-to-device communication connection broadcast from the first computing device, and wherein the service identifier identifies a connection service of the wireless device-to-device communication connection, receiving, by the first computing device and from the second computing device via the wireless device-to-device communication connection and the connection service, a request to access a configuration service at a web address, responsive to receiving the request, transmitting, by the first computing device, the request to the web address of the configuration service via an Internet connection of the first computing device, receiving, by the first computing device and via the Internet connection, provisioning information from the configuration service and for the second computing device).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 8, Kotay discloses a method comprising:
“receiving, via the configuration session, the update to the at least one network credential” (see Kotay par. 0039, the computing device 104 can obtain the device identifier 108 from the user device 102 and retrieve information from the database 114, such as the address element 110 and/or the service elements 112. As another example, the computing device 104 can obtain the address element 110 from the user device 102 and can retrieve the service element 112 from the database 114, or vice versa. As another example, the computing device 104 can obtain the device identifier 108 from the user device 102 and can retrieve user account information and/or network credentials associated with the network device 116); and
“sending, to the second computing device, a request to join the network provided by the second computing device, wherein the request comprises the at least one network credential” (see Kotay par. 0037, the network device 116 can be in communication with the computing device 104 to provide the computing device 104 with up-to-date network credentials 122. The network device 116 can be configured to transmit the network credentials 122 to the computing device 104 upon detecting a change in the network credentials 122 or the network device 116 can transmit the network credentials 122 to the computing device 104 periodically (e.g., every hour, every day, etc . . . ). In an aspect, the network device 116 can transmit the identifier 118 with the network credentials 122 to aid in proper updating of data stored in the database 114. In an aspect, the computing device 104 can be a server for communicating with the user device 102 through the network 105 via the network device 116);
Kotay does not explicitly discloses receiving, by a first computing device from a second computing device, a configuration advertisement, wherein the second computing device sends the configuration advertisement based on an update to at least one network credential; wherein, based on an update to at least one network credential and, a determination, by the second computing device, that the first computing device would be prevented from accessing a network provided by the second computing device without the update.
However, in analogues art, Bradley discloses receiving, by a first computing device from a second computing device, a configuration advertisement, wherein the second computing device sends the configuration advertisement based on an update to at least one network credential (see Bradley pars. 0187, 0158-0159, the method 1750 begins at step 1752, where the first computing device 1602 receives, from a second computing device 1602, an advertisement packet 1620, software entities can execute on each of the computing devices 1602 and cause advertisement packets 1620 to be periodically transmitted by the computing device 1602. In particular, the advertisement packets 1620 can be specific to the computing device 1602, and can be detected and processed by nearby computing devices 1602—if any—that have been authorized to identify when the computing device 1602 is in proximity. In turn, the nearby computing device 1602 can perform at least one action in response to detecting that the computing device 1602 is in proximity to the nearby computing device 1602); wherein, based on an update to at least one network credential and, a determination, by the second computing device, that the first computing device would be prevented from accessing a network provided by the second computing device without the update (see Bradley par. 0104, at step 610, the computing device 102-1 can determine whether approval is received for the nearby computing device 102-2 to access the wireless network 130. Upon determining that approval is not received, the computing device 102-1 can prevent a password (e.g., via authentication credentials 136) from being provided to the nearby computing device 102-2, at step 612. Otherwise, if approval is received, the computing device 102-1 can provide the password to enable the nearby computing device 102-2 to access the wireless network 130, at step 614).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bradley into the system of Kotay to include a computing device to prevent an unauthorized person in possession of the password from gaining access to potentially sensitive data that is accessible via the wireless network (see Bradley par. 0043).
Kotay in view of Bradley does not explicitly discloses sending, to the second computing device, based on the configuration advertisement indicating the configuration advertisement originated from the first computing device, a request to initiate a configuration session between the first computing device and the second computing device, wherein the configuration session is a device provisioning protocol session.
However, in analogues art, Bernier discloses sending, to the second computing device, based on the configuration advertisement indicating the configuration advertisement originated from the first computing device, a request to initiate a configuration session between the first computing device and the second computing device, wherein the configuration session is a device provisioning protocol session (see Bernier pars. 0128-0131, computing device 12 is configured to generate and send provisioning information unique to each of user devices 14. In other examples, the processes of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be performed such that computing device 12 is configured to transmit provisioning information that is generic, or not unique, to each of user devices 14. For example, computing device 12 may be configured to transmit, via wireless device-to-device communication (e.g., Bluetooth communication), the provisioning information to user device 14N. The provisioning information may include one, two or more, or all of the following information: network credentials that allow user device 14N to access network 20, one or more setting values or configuration parameters that limit a respective function of user device 14N (e.g., device policy information), an administrator password that allows an administrator to access user device 14N, and/or instructions for user device 14N to automatically configure itself, via network 20, with at least one application for use by a user. In this manner, computing device 12 may be configured to transmit the same provisioning information to each user device 14. In response to receiving the generic provisioning information, each of user devices 14 may connect to network 20 and configure itself, via network 20, such that a user may use a respective one of user devices 14 and manually enter the appropriate user account information, such as a unique username and password).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 9, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 8,
Kotay further discloses receiving, by the second computing device from a third computing device, the update to the at least one network credential, wherein the third computing device is a user device associated with administrative rights to the second computing device (see Kotay pars. 0034-0035, the network device 116 (third computing device) can be in communication with a network, such as a network 105. As an example, the network device 116 can facilitate the connection of a device, such as the user device 102, to the network 105. As a further example, the network device 116 can be configured as a network gateway and/or an access point).
Regarding claim 10, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 8,
Kotay further discloses wherein the first computing device, prior to receiving the update to the at least one network credential, would be prevented by the second computing device from accessing the network using the at least one network credential (see Kotay par. 0076, A user device (second computing device) (e.g., the user device 202a) can determine a failure to connect to a first network 401 (e.g., the first network 207a) associated with a first SSID broadcast by an access point 404 (e.g., the access point 204) at 405. In an aspect, the failure to connect the user device 400 to the first network 401 can be based on a changed SSID or new SSID and the user device 400 not being configured to connect to the first network 401 via the changed SSID or new SSID).
Regarding claim 11, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 8,
Bernier further discloses wherein the first computing device is provisioned to communicate with the second computing device via a user device in communication with the second computing device during the device provisioning protocol session (see Bernier par. 0006, a method includes receiving, by a first computing device and from a second computing device via wireless device-to-device communication, a unique device identifier that identifies the second computing device, determining that the unique device identifier matches one of a plurality of device identifiers received by the first computing device, and responsive to the determination, transmitting, by the first computing device and via wireless device-to-device communication, provisioning information to the second computing device, wherein the provisioning information comprises network credentials that allow the second computing device to access a network).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 12, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 8,
Kotay further discloses wherein the first computing device is provisioned to communicate with the second computing device via a device provisioning protocol session and a user device in communication with the second computing device (see Kotay, par. 0070, 0089, the access point 304 can facilitate a connection between the user device 300 and a remote computing device 303 (e.g., communication device 210, provisioning server, etc.) at 307. In an aspect, the connection between the user device 300 and the remote computing device 303 can be a secure connection. The connection between the user device 300 and the remote computing device 303 can be protected using security protocols, such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), WPA2, and/or the like).
Regarding claim 13, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 8,
Kotay further discloses wherein the at least one network credential comprises a service set identifier or a password (see Kotay par. 0004, The disclosed methods and systems can be applied to wireless communication devices (e.g., user devices) that can be configured with a network identifier (e.g., service set identifier (SSID)) and security element (e.g., password) associated with a wireless access point (AP) to connect to a wireless network).
Regarding claim 14, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 8,
Bradley further discloses wherein the configuration advertisement comprises a configuration identifier that identifies at least one of: the second computing device or a configuration channel for the configuration session (see Bradley par. 0130, the computing device 102-1 can be associated with user information 120. In particular, the computing device 102-1 can utilize a hash algorithm (to which the nearby computing device 102-2 also has access to) to generate a unique hash value for the advertisement and the user information 120 that can be transmitted to the nearby computing device 102-2 as a hashed message. In turn, upon receiving the hashed message, the nearby computing device 102-2 can refer to a hash table that provides a correlation of the unique hash value to the user information 120 associated with the computing device 102-1 to identify the hashed advertisement as being provided by a known computing device 102 (e.g., a friend, a relative, a colleague, etc.)).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bradley into the system of Kotay to include a computing device to prevent an unauthorized person in possession of the password from gaining access to potentially sensitive data that is accessible via the wireless network (see Bradley par. 0043).
Regarding claim 15, Kotay discloses a method comprising:
“determining, by a first computing device, updated network credentials, wherein the first computing device is configured to generate a network accessible via the updated network credentials” (see Kotay par. 0040, the computing device 104 (first computing device) can receive network credentials 122 from the network device 116. The computing device 104 can determine what user account information 124 is associated with the network device 116 and update the network credentials 122 stored in the database 114 accordingly);
“sending, via the configuration session, the updated network credentials to the second computing device” (see Kotay par. 0037, the network device 116 can be in communication with the computing device 104 to provide the computing device 104 with up-to-date network credentials 122. The network device 116 can be configured to transmit the network credentials 122 to the computing device 104 upon detecting a change in the network credentials 122 or the network device 116 can transmit the network credentials 122 to the computing device 104 periodically (e.g., every hour, every day, etc . . . ). In an aspect, the network device 116 can transmit the identifier 118 with the network credentials 122 to aid in proper updating of data stored in the database 114. In an aspect, the computing device 104 can be a server for communicating with the user device 102 through the network 105 via the network device 116);
Kotay does not explicitly discloses receiving, from a second computing device, a configuration advertisement; based on a determination by the first computing device that the second computing device would be prevented from accessing the network without the updated network credential.
However, in analogues art, Bradley discloses receiving, from a second computing device, a configuration advertisement (see Bradley pars. 0187, 0158-0159, the method 1750 begins at step 1752, where the first computing device 1602 receives, from a second computing device 1602, an advertisement packet 1620. software entities can execute on each of the computing devices 1602 and cause advertisement packets 1620 to be periodically transmitted by the computing device 1602. In particular, the advertisement packets 1620 can be specific to the computing device 1602, and can be detected and processed by nearby computing devices 1602—if any—that have been authorized to identify when the computing device 1602 is in proximity. In turn, the nearby computing device 1602 can perform at least one action in response to detecting that the computing device 1602 is in proximity to the nearby computing device 1602); based on a determination by the first computing device that the second computing device would be prevented from accessing the network without the updated network credential (see Bradley par. 0104, at step 610, the computing device 102-1 can determine whether approval is received for the nearby computing device 102-2 to access the wireless network 130. Upon determining that approval is not received, the computing device 102-1 can prevent a password (e.g., via authentication credentials 136) from being provided to the nearby computing device 102-2, at step 612. Otherwise, if approval is received, the computing device 102-1 can provide the password to enable the nearby computing device 102-2 to access the wireless network 130, at step 614).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bradley into the system of Kotay to include a computing device to prevent an unauthorized person in possession of the password from gaining access to potentially sensitive data that is accessible via the wireless network (see Bradley par. 0043).
Kotay in view of Bradley does not explicitly discloses sending, to the second computing device a request to initiate a configuration session, wherein the configuration session is a device provisioning protocol session.
However, in analogues art, Bernier discloses sending, to the second computing device a request to initiate a configuration session, wherein the configuration session is a device provisioning protocol session (see Bernier pars. 0128-0131, computing device 12 is configured to generate and send provisioning information unique to each of user devices 14. In other examples, the processes of FIGS. 4 and 5 may be performed such that computing device 12 is configured to transmit provisioning information that is generic, or not unique, to each of user devices 14. For example, computing device 12 may be configured to transmit, via wireless device-to-device communication (e.g., Bluetooth communication), the provisioning information to user device 14N. The provisioning information may include one, two or more, or all of the following information: network credentials that allow user device 14N to access network 20, one or more setting values or configuration parameters that limit a respective function of user device 14N (e.g., device policy information), an administrator password that allows an administrator to access user device 14N, and/or instructions for user device 14N to automatically configure itself, via network 20, with at least one application for use by a user. In this manner, computing device 12 may be configured to transmit the same provisioning information to each user device 14. In response to receiving the generic provisioning information, each of user devices 14 may connect to network 20 and configure itself, via network 20, such that a user may use a respective one of user devices 14 and manually enter the appropriate user account information, such as a unique username and password).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 16, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 15,
Bernier further discloses initiating the configuration session with the second computing device (see Bernier par. 0007, determining, by a first computing device, that no user account has been established on the first computing device, responsive to the determination, initiating, by the first computing device, a short-range communication unit that is configured to communicate via wireless device-to-device communication, responsive to detecting a second computing device that broadcasts a provisioning service via the wireless device-to-device communication).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bernier into the system of Kotay and Bradley to provide a user account information may be separately, or manually, entered by the user in situations in which the user account is already set-up to prevent computing device from either acquiring the user's password and/or requiring the user to select a new password after the old user password was used to provision user device via computing device (see Bernier par. 0169).
Regarding claim 17, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 15,
Kotay further discloses wherein the second computing device is provisioned to communicate with the first computing device via a device provisioning protocol session and a user device in communication with the first computing device (see Kotay, par. 0070, 0089, the access point 304 can facilitate a connection between the user device 300 and a remote computing device 303 (e.g., communication device 210, provisioning server, etc.) at 307. In an aspect, the connection between the user device 300 and the remote computing device 303 can be a secure connection. The connection between the user device 300 and the remote computing device 303 can be protected using security protocols, such as Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), WPA2, and/or the like).
Regarding claim 18, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier the method of claim 15,
Kotay further discloses wherein the second computing device sends the configuration advertisement to the first computing device based on an unsuccessful attempt to join the network using invalid network credentials (see Kotay par. 0077, When a secure connection between the user device 400 and the remote computing device 403 is established, the user device 400 can transmit the token to the remote computing device 403 and the remote computing device 403 can validate (e.g., approve, accept, authorize, etc.) the token at 408. Alternatively, the remote computing device 403 can revoke, deny, or otherwise reject the token by determining that the token is invalid and designating the token as invalid, thus terminating any further attempt by the user device 400 to connect to the first network 401).
Regarding claim 19, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 15,
Bradley further discloses wherein the configuration advertisement comprises a hash of a configuration identifier (see Bradley par. 0130, upon receiving the hashed message, the nearby computing device 102-2 can refer to a hash table that provides a correlation of the unique hash value to the user information 120 associated with the computing device 102-1 to identify the hashed advertisement as being provided by a known computing device 102 (e.g., a friend, a relative, a colleague, etc.)).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bradley into the system of Kotay to include a computing device to prevent an unauthorized person in possession of the password from gaining access to potentially sensitive data that is accessible via the wireless network (see Bradley par. 0043).
Regarding claim 20, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier discloses the method of claim 15,
Bradley further discloses determining, by the first computing device based on the hash of the configuration identifier, that the configuration advertisement originated from the second computing device (see Bradley par. 0130, he computing device 102-1 can be associated with user information 120. In particular, the computing device 102-1 can utilize a hash algorithm (to which the nearby computing device 102-2 also has access to) to generate a unique hash value for the advertisement and the user information 120 that can be transmitted to the nearby computing device 102-2 as a hashed message).
Therefore it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the application to incorporate the teachings of Bradley into the system of Kotay to include a computing device to prevent an unauthorized person in possession of the password from gaining access to potentially sensitive data that is accessible via the wireless network (see Bradley par. 0043).
Regarding claims 21-23, Kotay in view of Bradley in further view of Bernier in further view of Bradley discloses the method of claim 1, the method of claim 8, the method of claim 15,
Kotay further discloses wherein determining, by the first computing device, the update to at least one network credential includes determining an update to at least one of a network name or a network password (see Kotay par. 0026, connecting a wireless communication device to a wireless network, despite a change in a network credential associated with the wireless network, without requiring manual reconfiguration of the wireless communication device. Wireless communication devices can be provisioned with a network identifier (e.g., service set identifier (SSID)) and security element (e.g., password) associated with a wireless access point (AP) to connect to a wireless network. A wireless communication device can be configured to detect an inability to connect to a wireless network provided by an access point, automatically connect to the access point using a fixed (e.g., permanent, non-changing, etc.) identifier to access a dedicated network for obtaining network credentials needed to access the wireless network without manually configuring such network credentials on the wireless communication device).
Conclusion 7. 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 nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) 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 mailing date of this final action.
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/SAMUEL AMBAYE/Examiner, Art Unit 2433
/JEFFREY C PWU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2433