DETAILED ACTION
This Action is in consideration of the Applicant’s response on January 7, 2026. Claims 1, 2, 8, 11, and 14 – 17 are amended by the Applicant. Claims 7, 12, and 19 are canceled. Claims 1 – 6, 8 – 11, 13 – 18, and 20 – 22, where Claims 1, 8, and 14 are in independent form, are presented for examination.
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 .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on January 7, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed December 8, 2025 have been fully considered but they are moot based on the new grounds of rejection necessitated by amendment.
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.
Claim(s) 1 – 6, 8 – 11, 13 – 18, and 20 – 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PGPub. 2022/0141024 (hereinafter “Rule”), in view of .
1. Regarding Claim 1, Rule discloses a method [Figs. 2A-2E, and 9] comprising:
maintaining a pool of phone numbers [Para. 0055];
receiving, from a client device, a request for a phone number for initiating a voice call [Figs. 2A-2E, and 9; Para. 0101];
transmitting, to the client device, a first phone number from the pool of phone numbers [Figs. 2A-2E, and 9; Para. 0102]; and
responsive to receiving, from the client device, the voice call at the first phone number, declaring the client device authenticated [Figs. 2A-2E, and 9; Para. 0103], wherein declaring the client device authenticated comprises:
identifying a user account associated with an application running on the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-102]; and
generating, for display on a computing device different from the client device, a notice of authentication indicating that the user account has been authenticated, wherein the notice of authentication comprises one or more identifying data items associated with the user account [Figs. 5 and 9; Para. 0071, 0103; GUI of call center application receives one or more attributes of the authenticated account].
2. Regarding Claim 2, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Rule further discloses that, responsive to receiving the request, associating a client device phone number with the first phone number [Para. 0053-55].
3. Regarding Claim 3, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Rule further discloses that upon expiration of a predetermined time period, disassociating a client device phone number with the first phone number [Para. 0053-55; session ID with pre-authenticated phone number associated with a time limit].
4. Regarding Claim 4, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Rule further discloses that, responsive to ending the voice call at the first phone number, disassociating a client device phone number with the first phone number [Para. 0053-55].
5. Regarding Claim 5, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Rule further discloses of receiving, from the application running on the client device, an initial authentication credential comprising at least one of: a username, a password, a biometric authentication credential, a geolocation data item, or a caller line identifier [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0038. 0050, 0053]; and
authenticating the client device using the initial authentication credential [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; 0051-53].
6. Regarding Claim 6, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Rule further discloses that the declaring the client device authenticated further comprises:
comparing a caller line identifier with a stored phone number associated with the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para .0053-55].
7. Regarding Claim 8, Rule discloses a system [Figs. 2A-2E and 10] comprising:
a memory [Figs. 9 and 10; Para. 0105-110]; and
a processing device operatively coupled to the memory [Figs. 9 and 10; Para. 0105-110], the processing device to:
receive, from a client device, a request for a phone number for initiating a voice call [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101];
generate a first short-living authentication token [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0102; session ID];
transmit, to the client device, the first short-living authentication token [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0102; session ID];
receive the voice call from the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0103];
receive a second short-living authentication token from the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0103]; and
responsive to determining that the first short-living authentication token matches the second short-living authentication token, declare the client device authenticated [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0103], wherein, to declare the client device authenticated, the processing device is to:
identify a user account associated with an application running on the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-102]; and
generate, for display on a computing device different from the client device, a notice of authentication indicating that the user account has been authenticated, wherein the notice of authentication comprises one or more identifying data items associated with the user account [Figs. 5 and 9; Para. 0071, 0103; GUI of call center application receives one or more attributes of the authenticated account].
8. Regarding Claim 9, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 8. Rule further discloses of receiv[ing], from the client device, an initial authentication credential comprising at least one of: a username, a password, a biometric authentication credential, a geolocation data item, or a caller line identifier [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0038. 0050, 0053]; and
authenticate the client device using the initial authentication credential F[igs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0038. 0050, 0053].
9. Regarding Claim 10, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 8. Rule further discloses of compar[ing] a caller line identifier with a stored phone number associated with the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0053-55].
10. Regarding Claim 11, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 8. Rule further discloses that, upon expiration of a predetermined time period, generat[ing] a third short-living authentication token [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-103];
transmit, to the client device, the third short-living authentication token [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-103];
receive, from the client device, a fourth short-living authentication token [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-103];
responsive to determining that the third short-living authentication token matches the fourth short-living authentication token, declaring the client device authenticated [Figs. 2A-2E, and 9; Para. 0101-103].
11. Regarding Claim 13, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 8. Rule further discloses of transmit[ing], to the client device, the phone number for initiating the voice call [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0102].
12. Regarding Claim 14, Rule discloses a non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed, cause a processing device to perform operations [Figs. 9 and 10; Para. 0105-110] comprising:
associating a first authentication token with a client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0102; session ID (first authentication token)];
receiving a voice call from the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0103];
receiving a second authentication token from the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0103]; and
responsive to determining that the first authentication token matches the second authentication token, declaring the client device authenticated [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0103], wherein declaring the client device authenticated comprises:
identifying a user account associated with an application running on the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-102]; and
generating, for display on a computing device different from the client device, a notice of authentication indicating that the user account has been authenticated, wherein the notice of authentication comprises one or more identifying data items associated with the user account [Figs. 5 and 9; Para. 0071- 0103; GUI of call center application receives one or more attributes of the authenticated account].
13. Regarding Claim 15, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 14. Rule further discloses that the first authentication token is associated with the client device responsive to receiving, from the client device, a request for a phone number for initiating the voice call [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-102].
14. Regarding Claim 16, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 14. Rule further discloses of receiving, from the client device, an initial authentication credential comprising at least one: a username, a password, a biometric authentication credential, a geolocation data time, or a phone number [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0038, 0050, 0053]; and authenticating the client device using the initial authentication credential [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0038. 0050, 0053].
15. Regarding Claim 17, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 16. Rule further discloses of responsive to receiving, from the client device, the initial authentication credential, generating the first authentication token [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-102; session ID].
16. Regarding Claim 18, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 14. Rule further discloses that declaring the client device authenticated further comprises: comparing a caller line identifier with a stored phone number associated with the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0053-55].
17. Regarding Claim 20, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 14. Rule further discloses of transmitting, to the client device, a phone number for initiating the voice call [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0053-55, 0102].
18. Regarding Claim 21, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 1. Rule further discloses that the computing device is in communication with the client device via a network, and wherein the computing device receives the voice call from the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-103; server receives voice call from client device].
19. Regarding Claim 22, Rule discloses the limitations of Claim 21. Rule further discloses that the first phone number is associated with a second computing device; and the method further comprising:
receiving, by the second computing device, the voice call from the client device [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-103; server receives voice call from client device]; and
sending, from the second computing device to the computing device, the notice of authentication [Figs. 2A-2E and 9; Para. 0101-103; server receives voice call from client device].
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. 3.
Contacts
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Tae K. Kim, whose telephone number is (571) 270-1979. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday (10:00 AM - 6:30 PM EST).
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner's supervisor, Jorge Ortiz-Criado, can be reached on (571) 272-7624. The fax phone number for submitting all Official communications is (703) 872-9306. The fax phone number for submitting informal communications such as drafts, proposed amendments, etc., may be faxed directly to the examiner at (571) 270-2979.
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/TAE K KIM/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2496