DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Notice for all US Patent Applications filed on or after March 16, 2013
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Status of the Claims
This communication is in response to communications received on 8/6/25. Claim(s) 21, 28, and 35 has/have been amended, claim(s) none is/are cancelled, claim(s) none is/are new, and applicant states support can be found at instant specification Fig. 8 and [0046-0048, 0051, 0101-0107]. Therefore, Claims 21-24, 26-31, 33-38, and 40 is/are pending and have been addressed below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see applicant’s remarks, filed 8/6/25, with respect to rejections under 35 USC 101 for claim(s) 21-24, 26-31, 33-38, and 40 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive as far as they apply to the amended 101 rejection(s) below.
Applicant respectfully traversed the rejection on pg. 10-14.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees because even if the specification is directed to a technical improvement, the claims as written as directed to an abstract of project management via managing documents, drivers, and tokens using blockchain. While the applicant has cited the specification for support, the improvements are still not in the claims as written.
Furthermore the claims appear to directed to a business problem of more efficient labeling, as tokenization with flags can be done without a computer as in its simplest form is merely labeling and citing to the label. While the improved labeling may reduce usage of the computer the same can be said of more efficient labeling in any filing system (manual or computer based) thus the desired items can be found quicker thereby using less resources.
Applicant is relying on 2106.05(d) “well understood, routine, and conventional” however Examiner is relying on 2106.05(f) “apply it.” Examiner relied on “apply it” because of item (2) Whether the claim invokes computers or other machinery merely as a tool to perform an existing process of 2106.05(f). Where here the existing process in a more efficient filing system via more efficient labeling.
Thus, the argument(s) a tore unpersuasive.
Applicant’s arguments, see applicant’s remarks, filed 8/6/25, with respect to rejections under 35 USC 103 for claim(s) 21-24, 26-31, 33-38, and 40 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive as far as they apply to the amended 103 rejection(s) below.
Applicant respectfully traversed the rejection on pg. 14-17.
The Examiner respectfully disagrees because the Indenbom citation [0027] was for the previous determining step
(determining interconnectivity based on the identified content of the first document file that matches content of a previous document file of the sequence).
However the new storing limitation
(updating the first and second project data structure to include the first and second document token, wherein accessing the first and second document file via the first and second project data structure occurs based on the access permission corresponding to the first and second document token)
is similar to the second updating limitation
(storing the content of the first document file that matches the content of the previous document file in the first project data structure such that the content is accessible via the first and second project data structure based on the access permission corresponding to the first document token)
where both limitations have an action occur based on document tokens and thus Reid is cited.
Thus, the argument(s) are unpersuasive.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claim(s) 21-24, 26-31, 33-38, and 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter as noted below.
The limitation(s) below for representative claim(s) 21, 28, and 35 that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, is directed to project management via managing documents, drivers, and tokens using blockchain.
Step 1: The claim(s) as drafted, is/are a process (claim(s) 21-24 and 26--27 recites a series of steps) and system (claim(s) 28-31 and 33-39 recites a series of components).
Step 2A – Prong 1: The claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The claim(s) recite(s) (emphasis added):
Claim 21: receiving a request from a user device to access a first project data identifying a sequence of document types, wherein the first project data is a data accessible by a group of users;
identifying a first document type based on the sequence, wherein the first document type includes a categorical designation and a specific document;
prompting the user to supply a first document file corresponding to the first document type;
receiving the first document file from the user device;
updating the first project data to indicate reception of the first document file;
identifying a second document type based on the sequence, wherein the second document type includes a categorical designation and a specific document;
prompting the user to supply a second document file corresponding to the second document type;
receiving the second document file from the user device;
updating the first project data to indicate reception of the second document file;
hashing the second document file to generate a document token indicating an access permission corresponding to the second document file,
receiving a command from the user device to associate the second document file with a second project data differing from the first project data;
updating the first and second project data to include the document token, wherein accessing the first and second document file via the first and second project data occurs based on the access permission corresponding to the first and second document token;
identifying content of the first document file that matches content of a previous document file of the sequence;
identifying content of the first document file that does not match content of a previous document file of the sequence;
storing the content of the first document file that matches the content of the previous document file in the first project data structure such that the content is accessible via the first and second project data structure based on the access permission corresponding to the first document token; and
generating a third document file including the content.
Claim 28 and 35: the same analysis as claim(s) 21.
Dependent claims 21-24, 26-27, 29-31, 33-34, 36-38, and 40 recite the same or similar abstract idea(s) as independent claim(s) 21, 28, and 35 with merely a further narrowing of the abstract idea (s): .
The identified limitations of the independent and dependent claims above fall well-within the groupings of subject matter identified by the courts as being abstract concepts of:
a method of organizing human activity (commercial or legal interactions including advertising, marketing or sales activities or behaviors, or business relations) because the invention is directed to economic and/or business relationships as they are for project management via managing documents, drivers, and tokens using blockchain.
Step 2A – Prong 2: This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because:
The additional elements encompassed by the abstract idea include user device, first project data structure, tokenized data structure, second project data structure (claim(s) 21, 28, 35), memory, processor (claim(s) 28), non-transitory computer-readable medium, computing device (claim(s) 35), second user device (claim(s) 23, 30, and 37), database (claim(s) 26, 33, and 40), cloud computing platform (claim(s) 27, 34).
The claim(s) does/do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because the additional elements as described above with respect to Step 2A Prong 2 fails to describe:
Improvements to the functioning of a computer, or to any other technology or technical field - see MPEP 2106.05(a)
Applying or using a judicial exception to effect a particular treatment or prophylaxis for a disease or medical condition – see Vanda Memo
Applying the judicial exception with, or by use of, a particular machine – see MPEP 2106.05(b)
Effecting a transformation or reduction of a particular article to a different state or thing - see MPEP 2106.05(c)
Applying or using the judicial exception in some other meaningful way beyond generally linking the use of the judicial exception to a particular technological environment, such that the claim as a whole is more than a drafting effort designed to monopolize the exception - see MPEP 2106.05(e) and Vanda Memo.
Thus the additional elements as described above with respect to Step 2A Prong 2 are merely (as additionally noted by instant specification [0126-0127]) invoked as a tool and/or general purpose computer to apply instructions of an abstract idea in a particular technological environment, and/or mere application of an abstract idea in a particular technological environment and merely limiting the use of an abstract idea to a particular technological field do not integrate an abstract idea into a practical application (MPEP 2106.05(f)&(h)).
Step 2B: The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. Thus the additional elements as described above with respect to Step 2A Prong 2 are merely (as additionally noted by instant specification [0126-0127]) invoked as a tool and/or a general purpose computer to apply instructions of an abstract idea in a particular technological environment, and/or mere application of an abstract idea in a particular technological environment and merely limiting the use of an abstract idea to a particular technological field do not integrate an abstract idea into a practical application and thus similarly the combination and arrangement of the above identified additional elements when analyzed under Step 2B also fails to necessitate a conclusion that the claims amount to significantly more than the abstract idea for the same reasons as set forth above (MPEP 2106.05(f)&(h)).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
It has been held that a prior art reference must either be in the field of applicant’s endeavor or, if not, then be reasonably pertinent to the particular problem with which the applicant was concerned, in order to be relied upon as a basis for rejection of the claimed invention. See In re Oetiker, 977 F.2d 1443, 24 USPQ2d 1443 (Fed. Cir. 1992).
Claim(s) 21, 24, 27, 28, 31, 34, 35, and 38 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reid et al. (US 2018/0232526 A1) in view of Tatchell et al. (US 2020/0065761 A1) and Indenbom et al. (US 2018/0349332 A1).
Regarding claim 21, 28, and 35 (currently amended), Reid teaches a computer implemented method, comprising:
a user device to access a first project data structure identifying a sequence of document types, wherein the first project data structure is a tokenized data structure accessible by a group of users [see at least Figs. 2-3 and 11 and [0268, 0273, 0314, 0534] cloud lockbox 130 (computer/system), key masters 112, and user devices;
[0713-0725, 0534-0535, 0548] smart contract that uses blockchain where there is a) a single vault or b) each user creates their own vault for project data where “any party may elect to establish any number of vaults associated with a given project. Also, as described herein, the parties may elect to share the entirety of any vault's contents with other parties or may select specific files or file groups to share with other parties.”;
[0714-0720] document types; [0471-0472, 0524, 0753] specific documents including research agreement, negotiated agreements called federation, invoice from one party to another;
[0007, 0546-0548] benefits of application specific blockchain];
identifying a first document type based on the sequence, wherein the first document type includes a categorical designation and a specific document [see at least [0464, 0466] “Upon receipt of a new file for Consumer 1 646, Dissociative Masking 750 searches for and deletes personal identifiers, e.g. Consumer 1's 646 name in a continuity of care document. … To be effective, Dissociative Masking 750 will have to be trained to understand the various types of documents and data sources being processed by people such as Analyst 751. Dissociative Masking 750 may elect not to process data files that do not adhere to a known field mapping, providing a process error message for further human intervention.”;
[0714-0720] document types; [0471-0472, 0524, 0753] specific documents including research agreement, negotiated agreements called federation, invoice from one party to another];
receiving the first document file from the user device [see at least Fig. 11 and [0535-0536, 0540] “Once the mission is activated, updates and new information will flow up and down the chain of command including to/from individual soldiers such as Soldier 791. Soldier's 791 authentication to the Squad or Platoon 793 Core Components 501 utilizes Soldier's Handheld Device 798 and may include biometric methods, including possible continuous authentication using a Biometric Device 799 as depicted in reference numeral 6.”;];
identifying a second document type based on the sequence, wherein the second document type includes a categorical designation and a specific document [see at least [0464, 0466] “Upon receipt of a new file for Consumer 1 646, Dissociative Masking 750 searches for and deletes personal identifiers, e.g. Consumer 1's 646 name in a continuity of care document. … To be effective, Dissociative Masking 750 will have to be trained to understand the various types of documents and data sources being processed by people such as Analyst 751. Dissociative Masking 750 may elect not to process data files that do not adhere to a known field mapping, providing a process error message for further human intervention.” ;
[0714-0720] document types; [0471-0472, 0524, 0753] specific documents including research agreement, negotiated agreements called federation, invoice from one party to another];
receiving the second document file from the user device [see at least Fig. 11 and [0535-0536, 0540] “Once the mission is activated, updates and new information will flow up and down the chain of command including to/from individual soldiers such as Soldier 791. Soldier's 791 authentication to the Squad or Platoon 793 Core Components 501 utilizes Soldier's Handheld Device 798 and may include biometric methods, including possible continuous authentication using a Biometric Device 799 as depicted in reference numeral 6.”];
receiving a command from the user device to associate the second document file with a second project data structure differing from the first project data structure; and
updating the first and second project data structure to include the first and second document data, wherein accessing the first and second document file via the first and second project data structure occurs based on the access permission corresponding to the first and second document data [for the limitations above, see at least Fig. 11 and [0535] “With the ability to establish multiple vaults for a single project or mission as described herein, the Mission Planner 790 may create separate vaults for various levels of secrecy. Similarly, if the mission is being coordinated with a coalition of forces from other countries, the Mission Planner 790 may create a separate vault for data to be shared with coalition partners. As with the example herein of using SEED Protocol 500 for managing projects, rather than duplicating data among the various vaults, a single participant's view of a mission will be crafted based on their role and the unification of the contents of various vaults will be crafted based on their level of privilege.”;
[0536] “At the discretion of the Mission Planner 790 or based on pre-determined time intervals, the encrypted mission data will be distributed to one or more Squad or Platoon 793 instances of the Core Components 501 as depicted in reference numeral 2, populating the Cloud Lockbox 130 and the Registry 620 with the mission data.”;
[0540] “Once the mission is activated, updates and new information will flow up and down the chain of command including to/from individual soldiers such as Soldier 791. Soldier's 791 authentication to the Squad or Platoon 793 Core Components 501 utilizes Soldier's Handheld Device 798 and may include biometric methods, including possible continuous authentication using a Biometric Device 799 as depicted in reference numeral 6.”;
[0714-0720] document types;];
the first document file a previous document file of the sequence;
the first document file a previous document file of the sequence;
storing the content of the first document file that matches the content of the previous document file in the first project data structure such that the content is accessible via the first and second project data structure based on the access permission corresponding to the first document data [for the limitations above, see at least [0713-0725, 0534-0535, 0548] smart contract that uses blockchain where there is a) a single vault or b) each user creates their own vault for project data where “any party may elect to establish any number of vaults associated with a given project. Also, as described herein, the parties may elect to share the entirety of any vault's contents with other parties or may select specific files or file groups to share with other parties.”;
Fig. 11 and [0535] “With the ability to establish multiple vaults for a single project or mission as described herein, the Mission Planner 790 may create separate vaults for various levels of secrecy. Similarly, if the mission is being coordinated with a coalition of forces from other countries, the Mission Planner 790 may create a separate vault for data to be shared with coalition partners. As with the example herein of using SEED Protocol 500 for managing projects, rather than duplicating data among the various vaults, a single participant's view of a mission will be crafted based on their role and the unification of the contents of various vaults will be crafted based on their level of privilege.”;
[0536] “At the discretion of the Mission Planner 790 or based on pre-determined time intervals, the encrypted mission data will be distributed to one or more Squad or Platoon 793 instances of the Core Components 501 as depicted in reference numeral 2, populating the Cloud Lockbox 130 and the Registry 620 with the mission data.”;
[0540] “Once the mission is activated, updates and new information will flow up and down the chain of command including to/from individual soldiers such as Soldier 791. Soldier's 791 authentication to the Squad or Platoon 793 Core Components 501 utilizes Soldier's Handheld Device 798 and may include biometric methods, including possible continuous authentication using a Biometric Device 799 as depicted in reference numeral 6.”;
[0714-0720] document types]; and
a third document file [see at least [0464, 0466] “Upon receipt of a new file for Consumer 1 646, Dissociative Masking 750 searches for and deletes personal identifiers, e.g. Consumer 1's 646 name in a continuity of care document. … To be effective, Dissociative Masking 750 will have to be trained to understand the various types of documents and data sources being processed by people such as Analyst 751. Dissociative Masking 750 may elect not to process data files that do not adhere to a known field mapping, providing a process error message for further human intervention.” ;
[0714-0720] document types; [0471-0472, 0524, 0753] specific documents including research agreement, negotiated agreements called federation, invoice from one party to another].
Reid teaches blockchain for contracts and the concept of adding data (documents) to a first blockchain file (that is a first series of blocks) but doesn’t/don’t explicitly teach the actual adding data (documents) to a first blockchain file (that is a first series of blocks) however Tatchell discloses
receiving a request from a user device to access a first project data structure identifying a sequence of document types [see at least [0015-0016] computer system and user devices;
[0046] “It is a further object of the invention to provide the abovementioned system, wherein the contract blockchain 435 is accessible by computer of the buyer 420 a, of the financier 420 d, of the certifying authority 420 e, or any combination thereof.”;
[0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices];
prompting the user device to supply a first document file corresponding to the first document type [see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”];
receiving the first document file from the user device [see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”];
updating the first project data structure to indicate reception of the first document file [see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”];
prompting the user device to supply a second document file corresponding to the second document type [see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”];
receiving the second document file from the user device [see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”];
updating the first project data structure to indicate reception of the second document file [see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”];
hashing the first document file to generate a first document token indicating an access permission corresponding to the first document file;
hashing the second document file to generate a second document token indicating an access permission corresponding to the second document file;
first and second document token, first and second document token;
the first document token [for the limitations above, see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”;
[0259] “Information is appended to contract blockchain 435—including to a nested layer therein such as VPO 440—is in the form of a block. New blocks may be attached only to a most recent block. Blocks may be encrypted to prevent attachment of a block by an unauthorized entity and/or to protect privacy. However, contract blockchain 435 is accessible and viewable by suppliers' computers 420 c-d, and VPO 440 (and other items appended to contract blockchain 435 as described herein).”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Reid with Tatchell to include the limitation(s) above as disclosed by Tatchell. Doing so would help further define Reid’s contract blockchain process to include a specific contract type [see at least Tatchell [0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029, 0046] ].
Furthermore, all of the claimed elements were known in the prior arts of a) Reid and b) Tatchell and c) one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Reid in view of Tatchell doesn’t/don’t explicitly teach but Indenbom discloses
identifying content of the first document file that matches content of a previous document file of the sequence;
identifying content of the first document file that does not match content of a previous document file of the sequence [for the limitations above, see at least [0026] “A similarity measurement value may be a product of the process that identifies similar documents, and may be based on a percentage of similar words to the target document, a percentage of similar characters to the target document, or the like. In some implementations the similarity measure may be represented as a numerical value. For example, a similarity measurement of 0 may indicate that the document is not similar to the target document 120, and a similarity measurement of 1 may indicate that a document is an exact match to the target document.”.;
[0027] “Marking projection module 100 may then select one or more most similar documents 130 from the set of similar documents to obtain those documents that are the “most similar” to the target document 120.”];
generating a third document file including the content [for the limitations above, see at least [0032] “Once the projected markings 180 have been determined for target document 120, marking projection module 100 may then store the markings 180 for the target document 120. As shown in FIG. 1, the resulting document may be stored as a new marked document 140 that contains the text content of target document 120 as well as the projected markings 180.].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Reid in view of Tatchell with Indenbom to include the limitation(s) above as disclosed by Indenbom. Doing so would help further define Reid in view of Tatchell’s (Reid [0714-0720] ) use of vaults for negotiations including multiple revisions such as determining document revisions [see at least Indenbom [0026-0032] ].
Furthermore, all of the claimed elements were known in the prior arts of a) Reid in view of Tatchell and b) Indenbom and c) one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 24, 31, and 38, modified Reid teaches the computer implemented method of claim 21, as well as the first document type
and Reid teaches
depositing the document token and the other token in a digital wallet corresponding to a creator of the first project data structure [see at least Fig. 11 and [0535] “With the ability to establish multiple vaults for a single project or mission as described herein, the Mission Planner 790 may create separate vaults for various levels of secrecy. Similarly, if the mission is being coordinated with a coalition of forces from other countries, the Mission Planner 790 may create a separate vault for data to be shared with coalition partners. As with the example herein of using SEED Protocol 500 for managing projects, rather than duplicating data among the various vaults, a single participant's view of a mission will be crafted based on their role and the unification of the contents of various vaults will be crafted based on their level of privilege.”;
[0536] “At the discretion of the Mission Planner 790 or based on pre-determined time intervals, the encrypted mission data will be distributed to one or more Squad or Platoon 793 instances of the Core Components 501 as depicted in reference numeral 2, populating the Cloud Lockbox 130 and the Registry 620 with the mission data.”;
[0540] “Once the mission is activated, updates and new information will flow up and down the chain of command including to/from individual soldiers such as Soldier 791. Soldier's 791 authentication to the Squad or Platoon 793 Core Components 501 utilizes Soldier's Handheld Device 798 and may include biometric methods, including possible continuous authentication using a Biometric Device 799 as depicted in reference numeral 6.”;
[0714-0720] document types;].
Modified Reid teaches blockchain for contracts and the concept of adding data (documents) to a first blockchain file (that is a first series of blocks) but doesn’t/don’t explicitly teach the actual adding data (documents) to a first blockchain file (that is a first series of blocks) however Tatchell discloses
wherein the document type corresponds to a group of documents, the method further comprising [see at least [0069] “one or more supplier certifications from one or more the supplier computers”]:
hashing the first document file to generate a document token;
hashing the group of documents to generate a group token; and
the document token and the group token [for the limitations above, see at least [0016, 0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029] contract blockchain that is appended in response to receiving documents from user devices;
[0145-0147] “a. providing smart certificate to the potential buyers to review, revise, negotiate and accept; and b. notifying any modification to buyers, suppliers and financier by creating the new blockchains.”;
[0259] “Information is appended to contract blockchain 435—including to a nested layer therein such as VPO 440—is in the form of a block. New blocks may be attached only to a most recent block. Blocks may be encrypted to prevent attachment of a block by an unauthorized entity and/or to protect privacy. However, contract blockchain 435 is accessible and viewable by suppliers' computers 420 c-d, and VPO 440 (and other items appended to contract blockchain 435 as described herein).”;
[0069] “”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify modified Reid with Tatchell to include the limitation(s) above as disclosed by Tatchell. Doing so would help further define modified Reid’s (Reid) contract blockchain process to include a specific contract type [see at least Tatchell [0019, 0022-0023, 0025-0029, 0046] ].
Furthermore, all of the claimed elements were known in the prior arts of a) modified Reid and b) Tatchell and c) one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 27 and 34, modified Reid teaches the computer implemented method of claim 21,
and Reid teaches wherein receiving the first document file further comprises: receiving, via cloud computing platform, a designation of the document file [see at least Figs. 2-3 and 11 and [0268, 0273, 0314, 0534] cloud lockbox 130 (computer/system), key masters 112, and user devices;
[0273] “Key Masters 112 may be provisioned as hardware appliances, dedicated servers, dedicated virtual servers, shared virtual servers, or any combination thereof.”;
Fig. 3 and [0337-0339] as noted by Fig. 3 numeral 10 the key master transmits information to the lockbox including file information;
Fig. 3 and [0347] alternative data file data may be transmitted from the key master to the registry to the lockbox].
Claim(s) 22-23, 26, 29-30, 33, 36-37, and 40 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reid in view of Tatchell and Indenbom as applied to claim(s) 1, 8, and 15 above and further in view of Lee et al. (US 2008/0148143 A1).
Regarding claim 22, 29, and 36, modified Reid teaches the computer implemented method of claim 21, as well as the first project data structure
and Reid teaches further comprising:
identifying a third document type based on the sequence [see at least [0464, 0466] “Upon receipt of a new file for Consumer 1 646, Dissociative Masking 750 searches for and deletes personal identifiers, e.g. Consumer 1's 646 name in a continuity of care document. … To be effective, Dissociative Masking 750 will have to be trained to understand the various types of documents and data sources being processed by people such as Analyst 751. Dissociative Masking 750 may elect not to process data files that do not adhere to a known field mapping, providing a process error message for further human intervention.”];
updating the first project data structure to indicate an action [see at least Fig. 11 and [0535] “With the ability to establish multiple vaults for a single project or mission as described herein, the Mission Planner 790 may create separate vaults for various levels of secrecy. Similarly, if the mission is being coordinated with a coalition of forces from other countries, the Mission Planner 790 may create a separate vault for data to be shared with coalition partners. As with the example herein of using SEED Protocol 500 for managing projects, rather than duplicating data among the various vaults, a single participant's view of a mission will be crafted based on their role and the unification of the contents of various vaults will be crafted based on their level of privilege.”;
[0536] “At the discretion of the Mission Planner 790 or based on pre-determined time intervals, the encrypted mission data will be distributed to one or more Squad or Platoon 793 instances of the Core Components 501 as depicted in reference numeral 2, populating the Cloud Lockbox 130 and the Registry 620 with the mission data.”;
[0540] “Once the mission is activated, updates and new information will flow up and down the chain of command including to/from individual soldiers such as Soldier 791. Soldier's 791 authentication to the Squad or Platoon 793 Core Components 501 utilizes Soldier's Handheld Device 798 and may include biometric methods, including possible continuous authentication using a Biometric Device 799 as depicted in reference numeral 6.”;
[0714-0720] document types; [0464, 0466] more document types “Upon receipt of a new file for Consumer 1 646, Dissociative Masking 750 searches for and deletes personal identifiers, e.g. Consumer 1's 646 name in a continuity of care document. … To be effective, Dissociative Masking 750 will have to be trained to understand the various types of documents and data sources being processed by people such as Analyst 751. Dissociative Masking 750 may elect not to process data files that do not adhere to a known field mapping, providing a process error message for further human intervention.”. ].
Modified Reid doesn’t/don’t explicitly teach but Lee discloses
generating a document template corresponding to the document type [see at least [0033] “In step S2, the file configuration module 100 creates various kinds of XML templates according to the patent types and the electronic application regulations of the intellectual property offices of different countries. The XML templates are ready to be inserted with the parsed contents of the drafted files so as to generate the patent application files. Each of the XML templates has a unique template identifier.”];
receiving data from the user device corresponding to a field of the document template [see at least [0037] “In step S10, the file loading module 120 analyzes and verifies whether the drafted files meet the basic requirements. … Otherwise, if the drafted files do not meet the basic requirements, in step S16, the file loading module 120 gives a prompt to update the drafted files and afterwards upload the updated drafted files into the system, and then the procedure returns to step S10.”];
updating the document template with the data [see at least [0039] “When generating other patent application files in the same patent type, step S2 to step S6 need not to be repeated except that new XML templates, new template identifiers or basic requirements need to be established, edited or deleted.”]; and
perform an action to indicate completion of the document template [see at least [0044] “If all chapters have been read, in step S30, the file generating module 160 generates the patent application files in the XML format according to the XML templates, and stores the patent application files into the database 2.”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify modified Reid with Lee to include the limitation(s) above as disclosed by Lee. Doing so would help further define modified Reid’s (Reid [0464, 0466] ) contract blockchain process on dissociate masking to include further clarification on “standardizing the formats and contents of drafted files, and generating electronic patent applicant files that comply with different electronic application regulations of the intellectual property offices” [see at least Lee [0005-0006] ].
Furthermore, all of the claimed elements were known in the prior arts of a) modified Reid and b) Lee and c) one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 23, 30, and 37, modified Reid teaches the computer implemented method of claim 22,
and Reid teaches notifying the user device of the modification [0529-0532] notification policy’s regarding data]; and
updating the first project data structure in response to receiving a command accepting the modification from the user device [see at least [00753-0762] “All parties may inspect all blocks but access to related File IDs may be restricted to specific parties as described herein. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 16, one individual at Party A may be authorized to verify that an invoice from Party B to Party C has been approved for payment, but the individual at Party A may not be authorized to access the associated File ID containing the invoice details and amount.”;
[0792-0796] another process for updating a project after receiving approval from a user “Once agreement has been reached, Trader 1's 405 Key Master B 407 generates a pending transaction and deposits it in Trader 1 Transaction Vault 467, as depicted in reference numerals 2 and 4 as illustrated in FIG. 17.”;].
Modified Reid doesn’t/don’t explicitly teach but Lee discloses
further comprising: receiving a modification of the document template from a second user device;
the modification [for the limitations above, see at least [0037] “In step S10, the file loading module 120 analyzes and verifies whether the drafted files meet the basic requirements. … Otherwise, if the drafted files do not meet the basic requirements, in step S16, the file loading module 120 gives a prompt to update the drafted files and afterwards upload the updated drafted files into the system, and then the procedure returns to step S10.”;
Fig. 1 and [0016] “at least one client computer 2, at least one database 3, and at least one Web server 5”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify modified Reid with Lee to include the limitation(s) above as disclosed by Lee. Doing so would help further define modified Reid’s (Reid [0464, 0466] ) contract blockchain process on dissociate masking to include further clarification on “standardizing the formats and contents of drafted files, and generating electronic patent applicant files that comply with different electronic application regulations of the intellectual property offices” [see at least Lee [0005-0006] ].
Furthermore, all of the claimed elements were known in the prior arts of a) modified Reid and b) Lee and c) one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Regarding claim 26, 33, and 40, modified Reid teaches the computer implemented method of claim 21, as well as the second document type.
Modified Reid doesn’t/don’t explicitly teach but Lee discloses
further comprising: determining whether a document template corresponding to the document type has been stored in a database [see at least [0033] “In step S2, the file configuration module 100 creates various kinds of XML templates according to the patent types and the electronic application regulations of the intellectual property offices of different countries. The XML templates are ready to be inserted with the parsed contents of the drafted files so as to generate the patent application files. Each of the XML templates has a unique template identifier.”]; and
in response to determining that the database lacks the document template, prompting the user device to supply the second document file corresponding to the second document type [see at least [0037] “In step S10, the file loading module 120 analyzes and verifies whether the drafted files meet the basic requirements. … Otherwise, if the drafted files do not meet the basic requirements, in step S16, the file loading module 120 gives a prompt to update the drafted files and afterwards upload the updated drafted files into the system, and then the procedure returns to step S10.”;
[0039] “When generating other patent application files in the same patent type, step S2 to step S6 need not to be repeated except that new XML templates, new template identifiers or basic requirements need to be established, edited or deleted.”;
[0044] “If all chapters have been read, in step S30, the file generating module 160 generates the patent application files in the XML format according to the XML templates, and stores the patent application files into the database 2.”].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify modified Reid with Lee to include the limitation(s) above as disclosed by Lee. Doing so would help further define modified Reid’s (Reid [0464, 0466] ) contract blockchain process on dissociate masking to include further clarification on “standardizing the formats and contents of drafted files, and generating electronic patent applicant files that comply with different electronic application regulations of the intellectual property offices” [see at least Lee [0005-0006] ].
Furthermore, all of the claimed elements were known in the prior arts of a) modified Reid and b) Lee and c) one skilled in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods with no change in their respective functions, and the combination would have yielded predictable results to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Conclusion
When responding to the office action, any new claims and/or limitations should be accompanied by a reference as to where the new claims and/or limitations are supported in the original disclosure.
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.
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/J.W./Examiner, Art Unit 3624
/Jerry O'Connor/Supervisory Patent Examiner,Group Art Unit 3624