DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the Amendments filed on 03/18/2026.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claims 1 & 11 have been considered but are moot in view of the new ground and/or interpretations of the reference as detailed below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1, 3-11 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Montemurro et al. (US 2021/0219353 A1-hereinafter Monte).
Regarding claim 1, Monte discloses an electronic apparatus (at least figure 1, IoT device 102 & configurator device 112 collectively corresponds to the recited ‘electronic apparatus’) comprising:
a communication interface (figure 1, at least component 102, i.e: component of IoT device & the configurator device 112 that enables data exchange); and
a processor, including circuitry (figure 1, at least component of the IoT & configurator device that process information) configured to:
based on the electronic apparatus being identified as having no wireless network connection through available wireless routers (at least [0070]-[0071] [0081][0090], based on the IoT having no wireless network connectivity/not yet connected through available wireless area networks (WLANs), is essentially similar to having no wireless connection through wireless routers/access points),
randomly obtain identification information and a password, for connection with a wireless network connected through a wireless router among the available wireless routers, through the communication interface and control guide User Interface (UI) to provide the randomly obtained identification information and the password (at least [0040][0052][0054]-[0055][0071]-[0073][0094]-[0095][0102], service identifier & credential/public key are obtained and provided via communication link/interface and a display to gain connectivity with a WLAN among available WLANs, the connectivity is possible through a wireless router/access point among available access points);
determine whether the wireless network is identifiable through a search of the available wireless routers based on the randomly obtained identification and the password provided through the guide UI (at least figures 5 & 8, [0076] [0081]-[0084][0090]-[0093], network identifier is obtained and created on the AP, and the network identifier as well as the wireless access point/router is identifiable based on the service identifier and key provided),
based on the wireless network being identified according to the randomly obtained identification information, transmit, through the communication interface, a first signal requesting the wireless network connection and the password to the wireless router of the wireless network (at least [0094]-[0096] [0102], IoT transmits credential which includes the service identifier that’s been signed with private key of the key pair to the AP); and
based on a second signal generated according to the transmitted password being received from the wireless router through the communication interface, connect to the wireless network provided by the wireless router (at least [0042][0103]-[0106][0108]-[0109], when AP sends a matching access point credential to the IoT/ wireless device, the wireless device associates with the AP, and is able to transmit traffic to wireless local area network (WLAN)).
wherein the guide UI includes information corresponding to set the identification and the password as identification information as identification and a password of the wireless network provided by the wireless router (at least [0052][0054][0063][0065]-[0067][0075], the user/output interface includes service identifier & key to guide user that Iot/wireless device credential is to be used for authenticating with the AP), and
wherein the second signal is corresponding to a signal generated based on the transmitted password being consistent with the password of the wireless network (at least [0103]-[0106], i.e.: when it is verified that device’s signing key matches with that of AP’s)
Regarding claim 3, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Monte also discloses the password of the wireless network is changed the guide UI through which the randomly obtained identification information and the password is provided (at least figure 5, [0083]-[0084][0117], i.e.: after provisioning of the IoT/wireless device & the AP, key pair used to sign messages is inherently changed).
Regarding claim 4, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Monte also discloses the password of the wireless network is transmitted to the wireless router from an external input device connected to the wireless router (at least figure 1, [0084], i.e.: credential is transmitted to the wireless AP from external input (i.e.: (smartphone), the smartphone is connected to the wireless AP).
Regarding claim 5, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Monte also discloses the processor searches among wireless networks around the electronic apparatus to identify at least one wireless network identifiable according to the randomly obtained identification information (at least [0042][0073][0081][0094], i.e.: IoT/wireless device searches at least one wireless networks to identify the WLAN that supports the service provided according to the service identifier).
Regarding claim 6, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Monte also discloses the guide UI (at least [0054], i.e.: a display); and
wherein the processor is configured to, based on a third signal generated when the transmitted password is inconsistent with the identification information of the wireless network from the wireless router through the communication interface, control to provide a second guide UI including information guiding a user to reset the password (at least figure 7, [0117], Monte inherently teaches this when value of the network identifier changes).
Regarding claim 7, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Monte also discloses a memory configured to store a first group including at least one wireless network pre-connected to the electronic apparatus (at least [0101], i.e.: waterheater@regionAenergysupplier.com, wireless network of vendor/service provider), wherein the processor is configured to:
based on there being at least one public wireless network connectable to the electronic apparatus, store information of the at least one public wireless network in the memory as a second group (at least [0101], i.e.: waterheater@ regionBenergy supplier.com);
based on the wireless network corresponding to the identification information, store information of wireless network corresponding to the identification information in the memory as a third group (at least [0084][0092]-[0093][0101][0108], i.e.: information such as BSSID is stored); and
identify a connectable wireless network based on at least one of the first group, the second group, or the third group (at least [0081][0094][0108], i.e.: WLAN is identified as connectable).
Regarding claim 8, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 7. Monte also discloses based on there not being a connectable wireless network in the first group, identify a connectable wireless network in the second group; and based on there not being a connectable wireless network in the second group, identify a connectable wireless network in the third group (at least [0081][0094][0108], WLAN is identified as connectable)).
Regarding claim 9, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1. Monte also discloses based on there being at least one wireless network, obtain a similarity between the identification information and identification information of the at least one wireless network (at least [0081], network identifier corresponding to network identifier of WLAN);
based on the similarity being equal to or greater than a threshold value, control a another guide UI to provide identification information of a wireless network having a similarity equal to or greater than a threshold value (at least [0081], i.e.: network identifier of WLAN is displayed); and
based on a user input for selecting a wireless network being received according to the provided other guide UI, transmit the first signal and the password to a wireless router corresponding to the selected wireless network through the communication interface (at least [0081][0094]-[0096][0102], transmits message which include credential to AP).
Regarding claim 10, Monte discloses the electronic apparatus as claimed in claim 9. Monte also discloses the processor is configured to, based on there being a plurality of wireless networks having the similarity equal to greater than the threshold value, control the other guide UI to provide identification information of each of the plurality of wireless networks based on a similarity corresponding to each of the plurality of wireless networks (at least [0081], a list of network identifiers of WLANs that are associated with the AP is displayed).
Claim 11 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 1 above.
Claim 13 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 3 above.
Claim 14 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 4 above.
Claim 15 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 5 above.
Conclusion
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 PHY ANH TRAN VU whose telephone number is (571)270-7317. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7 am-1 pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taghi T Arani can be reached at (571) 272-3787. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/PHY ANH T VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2438