Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
The present Office Action is responsive communication received 4/28/2025. Claims 1-20 are pending. Claims 1, 9, 11, 15, 17 and 19 are amended.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments received on 4/28/2025 are considered and are respectfully addressed as follows:
Applicant argues the cited reference Xia does not teach:
“determine a proximity channel by selecting a data link circuit of the computer system and a data link circuit of the authentication device as endpoints for the proximity channel, wherein the endpoints are selected based on whether signals transmitted by each data link circuit satisfy a threshold similarity”, as recited in the amended independent claims.
The examiner agrees. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn. However, upon further consideration, a new ground of rejection is made using Xia in view of Wang et al. (US 20220070881).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 8, 16 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 8, 16 and 20 recite two instances of “a proximity channel”, the first in the independent claims 1, 9, and 17 (determine a proximity channel in claims 1, 9, measure a proximity channel in claim 17), the second in the additional limitations in claims 7, 15 and 20 (determine, responsive to …., a proximity channel in claims 7 and 15; evaluating a proximity channel in claim 20); therefore the subsequent limitation “the proximity channel” in claims 8, 15 and 20 is indefinite, because it is not understood to what prior instance it refers to. Clarification is kindly requested.
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.
Claims 1-2,7, 9-10, 15, 17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US 11520870 to Xia et al., hereinafter Xia, and further in view of US 20220070881 to Wang et al., hereinafter Wang.
Regarding claims 1 and 9, Xia discloses:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, a method, comprising stored instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, (Col. 8:35-45), causes the processor to:
determine a state of each data link circuit (Col. 26:58-60: the interface of the computer shows status information for paired devices, for example, the device name and the date pairing occurred) available at a computer system comprising one or more data link circuits based on operation metrics measured for the data link circuit (Col.12:26-36: Measurements of actual signal strengths detected at different distances can be set through a calibration process, so the signal strength that appears at a particular distance can be measured. As another example, proximity can be determined to be achieved when other indicators of distance indicate that the distance satisfies a threshold. For example, GPS data or WI-FI triangulation data for one or both devices 110, 120 can be used to verify that the distance between the devices 110, 120 is less than or equal to a maximum distance threshold), each data link circuit to transmit digital data from the computer system; (data can be transmitted over wireless link, or accelerated over cellular or Internet (all links used to transmit data. See Col. 1:55-65);
determine a communication channel that transmits signals between the computer system and an authentication device by selecting a data link circuit at the computer system based on the state of the data link circuit (Col. 3:13-21: At appropriate times, a server or other system can send a notification to a mobile device that triggers enhanced transmission of messages. For example, when authentication is needed to access a secure resource, a notification can be sent to a mobile device to switch from a standard or low-power transmission mode to a mode where transmissions occur at a higher rate);
transmit, by the communication channel, an authentication request to the authentication device (Col. 2:33-37: When the user attempts to access the computer, the computer sends a message to a server system over a network, e.g., such as the Internet, to indicate that access has been attempted. The server, in turn, causes a second message to be sent to the mobile phone, e.g., as a notification over a cellular network.), the authentication request generated in response to a target user requesting access to the computer system (Col. 10:25-31, the notification from the server 130 prompts the device 110 to send authentication data for gaining access to the resource 120, e.g., a password for the resource 120, to the server 130. The server 130 forwards this authentication data to the resource 120. Having received the authentication data, the resource 120 can process the data and determine whether it authorizes access.);
measure, responsive to receiving validation of the authentication request from the authentication device, (Col. 12:4-10, The resource 120 can evaluate several factors to determine whether to grant access to the user 102 in response to detecting the previously paired device 110. For example, the resource 120 detects the paired device 110, and based on stored records of which pairing links or devices represent authentication tokens, the resource 120 determines that the device 110 represents a valid authentication token.), a proximity of the authentication device to the computer system based on data transmitted; (Col 5:54-59, the method includes: in response to receiving the message from the mobile device, determining a signal strength of a wireless connection between the computing device and the mobile device;); and
grant, responsive to the measured proximity of the authentication device satisfying a threshold proximity, the target user access to the to the computer system. (Col 3:65-67, con.4:1-7: computer system grants access to its resource based on the proximity of the mobile).
Xia does not explicitly but Wang discloses:
determine a proximity channel by selecting a data link circuit of the computer system and a data link circuit of the authentication device as endpoints for the proximity channel, wherein the endpoints are selected based on whether signals transmitted by each data link circuit satisfy a threshold similarity ([0131]: obtain measurement results of device 112,113, 114 for a user terminal 121, and measurements of device 112, 113, 114 for a user terminal 111; wherein the measurement results greater than a first threshold mean a proximity between the terminal 121, 111 and the device 112, 113, 114 ([0045), therefore a proximity channel as claimed is determined).
Wang and Xia are analogous art, both directed to proximity-based communication. It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to include in the teachings of Xia, the proximity channel as taught by Wang and teach additionally: measure, responsive to receiving validation of the authentication request from the authentication device a proximity of the authentication device to the computer system based on data transmitted through the proximity channel ; one would have been motivated to modify Xia by Wang because it would allow grouping devices within a proximity threshold to promote resources sharing (Wang, [0038]).
Regarding claims 2, 10, Xia in view of Wang discloses: the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, the method of claim 9, further comprising:
identify each available data link circuit based on hardware specifications for the computer system. (Xia Col. 12:16-26, the resource may determine that sufficient proximity has been achieved when transmissions from the device have at least a minimum received signal strength at the resource. The minimum signal strength can be set as a default of the system, or may be based on hardware capabilities of the devices (e.g., known information about the device model numbers, antennas or radio modules used, transmission powers and reception gain, and so on), and/or data indicating current configurations or settings of the devices).
Regarding claims 7, 15, Xia in view of Wang discloses: the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, the method of claim 9, further comprising:
receive, by the communication channel, a characterization for a data link circuit at the computer system and a characterization of a corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device, wherein the characterizations describe measurements of signals transmitted by the data link circuit and the corresponding data link circuit; (Xia Col. 12:26-32, Measurements of actual signal strengths detected at different distances can be set through a calibration process, so the signal strength that appears at a particular distance can be measured. As another example, proximity can be determined to be achieved when other indicators of distance indicate that the distance satisfies a threshold.)
determine a similarity between the characterization of the data link circuit at the computer system and the characterization of the corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device; (Xia Col 11:15-35, in the example of FIG. 1, the trusted device 110 and the resource 120 communicate using a short-range wireless communication channel 105, such as a direct wireless radiofrequency (RF) communication link between the devices 110, 120 … Other techniques for determining distance between devices, including GPS location tracking and WI-FI triangulation, can additionally or alternatively be used to determine proximity of one device to another. In some implementations, the devices 110, 120 may communicate over multiple wireless communication links, concurrently or at different times, and the techniques discussed herein may be performed using any or all of the links)
and determine, responsive to the similarity satisfying a threshold similarity, a proximity channel between the computer system and the authentication device by selection of the data link circuit at the computer system and the corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device. (Wang, [0045][0131]), see motivation to combine in claim 1’s rejection).
Regarding claim 17, Xia Discloses: A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising stored instructions encoded thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, (Col. 8:35-45, systems, apparatus, and computer programs, configured to perform the actions of the methods, encoded on computer-readable storage devices. A system of one or more devices can be so configured by virtue of software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of them installed on the system that in operation cause the system to perform the actions.)
causes the processor to: transmit, by a communication channel, an authentication request to an authentication device from a computer system, wherein the authentication request generated by a target user requesting access to a computer system and the communication channel transmits signals between the computer system and the authentication device; (Col. 2:33-46 When the user attempts to access the computer, the computer sends a message to a server system over a network, e.g., such as the Internet, to indicate that access has been attempted. The server, in turn, causes a second message to be sent to the mobile phone, e.g., as a notification over a cellular network. When the mobile phone receives this second message, the mobile phone initiates or increases the frequency of wireless transmissions identifying the mobile device. This allows the computer nearby to detect the mobile device more quickly than it would have with the more infrequent transmissions in the standard operating mode of the mobile device. The mobile device also sends authentication data the data to the computer.)
and responsive to receipt of validation of the authentication request from the authentication device, measure a proximity of the authentication device to the computer system based on data transmitted through a proximity channel, (Col.10:29-43, Having received the authentication data, the resource 120 can process the data and determine whether it authorizes access. Even if the authentication data would authorize access, e.g., includes a correct password, the resource 120 delays providing access until the proximity of the device 110 is detected); and
grant the target user access to the to the computer system responsive to the measured proximity of the authentication device satisfying a threshold proximity. (Col.10:29-43, … Once proximity of the device 110 is detected, the resource grants access, for example, by passing a received password to an operating system of the resource 120. This arrangement can significantly speed up the process of obtaining proximity-based access, because the notification from the server 130 triggers an increased rate of transmissions from the device 110, and because the transmission and processing of authentication data are not required to occur after establishing a direct wireless connection between the devices 110, 120; also in Col 3:65-67, con.4:1-7: computer system grants access to its resource based on the proximity of the mobile).
Xia does not explicitly but Wang discloses:
wherein the proximity channel is determined by selecting a data link circuit of the computer system and a data link circuit of the authentication device as endpoints for the proximity channel and the endpoints are selected based on whether signals transmitted by each data link circuit satisfy a threshold similarity ([0131]: obtain measurement results of device 112,113, 114 for a user terminal 121, and measurements of device 112, 113, 114 for a user terminal 111; wherein the measurement results greater than a first threshold mean a proximity between the terminal 121, 111 and the device 112, 113, 114 ([0045), therefore a proximity channel as claimed is determined).
Wang and Xia are analogous art, both directed to proximity-based communication. It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to include in the teachings of Xia, the proximity channel as taught by Wang because it would allow grouping devices within a proximity threshold to promote resources sharing (Wang, [0038]).
Regarding claim 18, Xia in view of Wang discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the instructions to determine the communication channel further comprises stored instructions that when executed cause the processor to:
compare a state determined for a data link circuit of the computer system to a threshold requirement, the threshold requirement representing a measurable attribute for evaluating a potential communication channel involving the data link circuit; (Xia Col. 12:20-26, The minimum signal strength can be set as a default of the system, or may be based on hardware capabilities of the devices 110, 120 (e.g., known information about the device model numbers, antennas or radio modules used, transmission powers and reception gain, and so on), and/or data indicating current configurations or settings of the devices 110, 120.)
and select the data link in response to the state of the data link circuit satisfying the threshold requirement. (Xia Col 12:13-15, In general, the device may be considered to be in proximity to the resource when a distance or measure indicative of distance satisfies a predetermined threshold.)
Regarding claim 19, Xia in view of Wang discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 17,
wherein instructions further cause the processor to: receive, by the communication channel, a characterization for a data link circuit at the computer system and a characterization of a corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device, wherein the characterizations describe measurements of signals transmitted by the data link circuit and the corresponding data link circuit; (Xia Col. 11:15-27, FIG. 1, the trusted device 110 and the resource 120 communicate using a short-range wireless communication channel 105, such as a direct wireless radiofrequency (RF) communication link between the devices 110, 120. Examples include wireless personal area networks, communications according to IEEE 802.15, and Bluetooth, e.g., communication using IEEE 802.15.1 protocols or other Bluetooth standards. Other types of wireless links, such as IEEE 802.11 or WI-FI communication, may additionally or alternatively be used. In general, a direct communication link between the devices 110, 120 is used and signal strength over the wireless communication link is used as an indicator of distance between the devices 110, 120.)
determine a similarity between the characterization of the data link circuit at the computer system and the characterization of the corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device; (Xia Col. 14:64-67, Col. 15:1-3, FIG. 2A is a block diagram showing an example of a system 200 for proximity-based access. As illustrated, the device 110 and the resource 120 may communicate with the server 130 over a network 104, which may include public and/or private networks and may include the Internet.)
and determine, responsive to the similarity satisfying a threshold similarity, the proximity channel between the computer system and the authentication device by selection of the data link circuit at the computer system and the corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device. (Wang, [0045][0131]), see motivation to combine in claim 17’s rejection)
Regarding claim 20, Xia in view of Wang discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 19, further comprising instructions that cause the processor to: compare a state of the data link circuit at the computer system to a threshold requirement, wherein the threshold requirement represents a measurable attribute for evaluating a proximity channel involving the data link circuit; (Xia Col 19:57-60, The resource 120 compares the signal strength of received messages with a predetermined signal strength threshold representing a minimum distance at which automatic proximity-based authentication is permitted.)
and determine, responsive to the state of the data link circuit satisfying the threshold requirement, the proximity channel by selection of the data link circuit at the computer system and the corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device. (Xia Col 19:67, and Col 20:1-3, the resource compare an average of multiple signal strength values to the threshold to determine whether the device is sufficiently near to justify providing access.)
Claims 3, 8, 11, and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia in view of Wang, and further, in view of US 9900782 to McHenry et al., hereinafter McHenry.
Regarding claims 3, 11, Xia in view of Wang discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 1, the method of claim 9, further comprising:
the first data link circuit being a highest ranked data link circuit and the threshold requirement representing a measurable attribute for evaluating a potential communication channel involving the data link circuit; (Xia Col. 12: 37-52, thresholds that are used to determine whether proximity has been achieved may be set by the system provider or an administrator. For example, a default distance may be set by the system or by a security policy, e.g., 3 ft, 5 ft, 10 ft, and so on, or a signal strength corresponding to those distances.)
compare the state determined for a first data link circuit of the one or more data link circuits to a threshold requirement, (Xia Col 12:32-36, GPS data or WI-FI triangulation data for one or both devices 110, 120 can be used to verify that the distance between the devices 110, 120 is less than or equal to a maximum distance threshold.)
Xia in view of Wang does not explicitly teach but McHenry discloses select the first data link circuit in response to the state of the first data link circuit satisfying the threshold requirement (Col. 9:9-20, generating a first confidence score indicating the difference between a predefined signal mask and energy levels measured in a first group of the plurality of channels, generating a second confidence score indicating the difference between the predefined signal mask and energy levels measured in a second group of the plurality of channels including at least one channel at a higher frequency than each channel in the first group of channels, and, in response to at least one of the first and second confidence scores exceeding a predefined threshold, classifying the corresponding group of channels as containing a cooperative signal.)
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to include in the teachings of Xia and Wang, selecting the data link circuit in response to the state satisfying the threshold requirement, as taught by McHenry, because it would allow spectrum detection, using multiple circuits, where the first circuit is configured to receive data from the detector and to determine a type of signal present (McHenry Col. 2:22-27).
Regarding claims 8, 16, Xia in view of Wang discloses: The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 7, the method of claim 15, further comprising determining a state of the data link, and
determine, responsive to the state of the data link circuit satisfying the threshold requirement, the proximity channel by selection of the data link circuit at the computer system and the corresponding data link circuit at the authentication device. (Col 19:64-76 and Col 20:1-3, The resource 120 may use multiple transmissions received from the device 110 to evaluate the signal strength over the wireless communication channel 105. For example, the resource 120 may compare an average of multiple signal strength values to the threshold to determine whether the device 110 is sufficiently near to justify providing access.)
Xia in view of Wang does not teach, but McHenry discloses:
compare a state of the data link circuit at the computer system to a threshold requirement, wherein the threshold requirement represents a measurable attribute for evaluating a proximity communication channel involving the data link circuit (Col 9:6-19, a method of classifying the status of a channel by a dynamic spectrum access-enabled device may include determining a channelization for a region of spectrum, measuring the energy present in a plurality of channels defined by the channelization, generating a first confidence score indicating the difference between a predefined signal mask and energy levels measured in a first group of the plurality of channels, generating a second confidence score indicating the difference between the predefined signal mask and energy levels measured in a second group of the plurality of channels including at least one channel at a higher frequency than each channel in the first group of channels, and, in response to at least one of the first and second confidence scores exceeding a predefined threshold, classifying the corresponding group of channels as containing a cooperative signal.)
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to modify the teachings of Xia and Wang to include the comparing as taught by McHenry, because it would allow determining a channelization for a region of spectrum, measuring energy present in at least one channel defined by the channelization, calculating a confidence score based on the comparison of the detected signal to a signal mask, and giving the classification of a signal (McHenry [Col. 9:31-43]).
Claims 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia in view of Wang and further in view of US 20210084656 to Feng et al., hereinafter, Feng.
Regarding claim 4, Xia in view of Wang discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 2;
Xia in view of Wang does not teach, but Feng discloses
wherein the stored instructions further comprise stored instructions that when executed cause the processor to: rank each data link circuit of the computer system based on a predicted performance of a potential communication channel involving the data link circuit given the state determined for the data link circuit. ( [0213] measure the energy (e.g., received signal strength) across the whole sensing window for related radio resource candidates. It is exemplarily assumed that the corresponding radio resource candidates are ranked from 1 to 4 as illustrated in FIG. 9 based on the energy measurements.)
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to include the ranking of the data link circuit, as taught by Feng because it would allow prioritizing the resources used for transmitting data and quickly identify a second resource when a first one is not available ([Feng, [0174]).
Claims 6, 12 and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia, Wang, McHenry as applied to claims 3, 11, and further, in view of Feng.
Regarding claims 6, 14, Xia in view of Wang and McHenry discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, the method of claim 11, further comprising:
wherein the threshold requirement requires one of: a signal strength measurement for the authentication device exceeding a threshold; (Xia Col. 19:57-67, Col.20:1-5, The resource 120 may use multiple transmissions received from the device 110 to evaluate the signal strength over the wireless communication channel 105. The resource may compare an average of multiple signal strength values to the threshold to determine whether the device is sufficiently near to justify providing access.)
and a latency measurement for the authentication device exceeding a threshold. (Xia Col. 19:23-33, Typically, communications over the network 204, e.g., over the Internet, may have a low latency, e.g., often on the order of a few hundred milliseconds. The delay to establish a connection over the wireless communication channel 105, e.g., Bluetooth, may be much greater, for example, 5 seconds or more. Thus, in many instances, the round trip time from the resource 120 sending the message 210 to receiving the authentication data 230 may be less than the amount of time needed to detect the presence of the device 110 over the wireless communication channel 105 and receive enough transmissions to evaluate the signal strength.)
Xia in view of Wang and McHenry do not explicitly teach, however, Feng discloses:
a packet loss rate measurement for the authentication device exceeding a threshold;
([0251] The data is usually associated with a ProSe-Per-Packet-Priority (PPPP) which indicates the priority of the data. A suitable priority threshold may be defined in the vehicular UE e.g., by the eNodeB, and is used to distinguish between data that can be dropped or not. If the priority is not high enough (e.g., falls under the priority threshold), the data is dropped; otherwise, the preemption procedure proceeds to select radio resources to be used for the transmission of the data this time however additionally taking into account reserved radio resources that were initially excluded from the previous candidate search in the primary and secondary subframes.)
a channel occupancy rate measurement for the potential communication channel within a threshold for reliable data transmission; ([0262] The congestion level of the sidelink channel (may also be termed channel busy ratio, CBR) is determined by the vehicular UE e.g., by comparing the energy level of sufficient samples with a threshold across the whole bandwidth or only within one resource pool.)
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to modify the teachings of Xia in view of Wang and McHenry with Feng to include a packet loss rate measurement and a channel occupancy rate measurement as taught by Feng because it would ensure reliable packet/data transmission for high priority data despite high congestion level of the channel ([Feng, [0250]).
Regarding claim 12, Xia in view of Wang and McHenry discloses: The method of claim 11; Xia in view of Wang and McHenry does not explicitly teach, but Feng discloses:
further comprising: ranking each data link circuit of the computer system based on a predicted performance of a potential communication channel involving the data link circuit given the state determined for the data link circuit. ([0213] it is possible to measure the energy (e.g., received signal strength) across the whole sensing window for related radio resource candidates. It is exemplarily assumed that the corresponding radio resource candidates are ranked from 1 to 4 as illustrated in FIG. 9 based on the energy measurements.)
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to modify the teachings of Xia in view of Wang and McHenry with Feng to include the ranking of the data link circuit as taught by Feng because it would allow ranking and selecting the highest-ranking resource used for transmitting data and quickly identify a second resource when a first one is not available ([Feng, [0174]).
Claims 5 and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Xia in view of Wang and McHenry, and further, in view of US 5594943 to Balachandran et al., hereinafter, Balachandran.
Regarding claims 5, 13, Xia in view of Wang and McHenry discloses: The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, the method of claim 11.
Xia in view of Wang and McHenry does not explicitly teach, but Balachandran discloses:
wherein the stored instructions further comprise stored instructions that when executed cause the processor to: compare, responsive to a determination that the state of the highest ranked data link circuit does not satisfy the threshold requirement, the state determined for a second data link circuit of the one or more data link circuits to the threshold requirement, the second data link circuit being a next highest ranked data link circuit; and responsive to the state of the second highest ranked data link circuit satisfying the threshold requirement, determine the communication channel by selecting the second data link circuit at the computer system. (Col. 19:21-38, FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the steps taken. The remote unit then attempts to acquire the first channel on the list (i.e., the channel having the best ranking) (STEP 1303). If the parameters of the channel that is acquired are in violation of the Primary Thresholds associated with the cell to which that channel is allocated (STEP 1307), then the scanning mode flag is set and the T.sub.-- HANDOFF1 timer is initialized and started (STEP 1308), and a determination is made as to whether the thresholds set by the Secondary Thresholds are violated (STEP 1309)).
It would have been obvious to a skilled artisan before the instant application was effectively filed to modify the teachings of Xia in view of Wang and McHenry with Balachandran to determine the communication channel, as taught by Balachandran, because it would promote providing efficient handoffs between cells and/or sectors within a cellular mobile data communication network (Col. 1:12-13).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Eom et al 11690113 disclose measuring at each device, strength of received signal against a threshold and determining a proximity state; performing pairing.
Gum 20210067595 discloses determining the proximity between two devices based on measured characteristics of signals transmitted from one device, whether the signal (rssi signal) exceeds a threshold.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CATHERINE B THIAW whose telephone number is (571)270-1138. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8am-5pm with Flex.
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/Catherine Thiaw/Supervisory Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2407 8/13/2025