DETAILED ACTION
In a communication received on 12 March 2026, applicants amended claim 9.
Claims 9-16 are pending.
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 claim(s) 9, 15, and 16 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
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) 9-13 and 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Griffin (US 11,153,097) in view of Schwend et al. (US 2013/0198680 A1), and further in view of Biernat et al. (US 2019/0340269 A1).
With respect to claim 9, Griffin discloses: a method for enabling storing of genealogically related data within a blockchain network configured to generate one or more blockchains (i.e., extensible blockchain implemented with a parent blockchain with pointers indicating external blockchains or sidechains in Griffin, col. 2 lines 38-60), the method comprising:
enabling a data structure of a transaction of a given blockchain to include a data field being a genealogical data field (i.e., data container within blocks with links to external blockchains, thus objects can be linked to the parent blockchain; signed value as a data type that includes a hash of the parent block and pointer to the parent block in Griffin, col. 3 lines 21-43, col. 4 lines 1-20); and
configuring the genealogical data field to include a set of directed links to one or more other blockchains foreseen to be in a genealogical relationship with the given blockchain (i.e., binding a blockchain with a sidechain or parallel blockchain by including a signed hash in a block that provides a link to the sidechain creating a hierarchical relationship, associated blockchain field in fig. 5 in Griffin, fig. 5, col. 18 lines 56-67); and
Griffin discloses a series of connected blockchains connected via pointers suggesting hierarchical relationships; an ownership blockchain pointing to and recording transactions to several external blockchains as ownership changes (col. 9 lines 47-65). Griffin do(es) not explicitly disclose indicating graphically the number of linked blockchains. Schwend, in order to improve efficient management of a linked contact record that is linked to widely disparate sources of contact information such as social network sites (¶0002, ¶0008), discloses:
indicating, with a chain symbol associated with the given blockchain, a presence of one or more links to the one or more other blockchains foreseen to be in a genealogical relationship with the given blockchain (i.e., symbol with corresponding number indicating the number of sources linked to the displayed person/contact in fig. 4, 460 and 470; providing a visual indicator that indicates the number of linked sources that make up the contact record displayed; for example, the person's contact record is indicated by displaying "4" corresponding to the number of linked sources of information in Schwend, fig. 4, ¶0030, ¶0034, ¶0035), and
graphically displaying, adjacent to the chain symbol at least one numeric character representing a numerical quantity of the one or more links to the one or more other blockchains foreseen to be in a genealogical relationship with the given blockchain associated with the adjacent chain symbol (i.e., numerically representing the number of links corresponding to the link icon; links represent the number of data sources that correspond to the current record; represents a link to records from multiple sources in Schwend, fig. 4, ¶0002, ¶0008, ¶0034).
Based on Griffin in view of Schwend, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Schwend to improve upon those of Griffin in order to improve efficient management of a linked contact record that is linked to widely disparate sources of contact information such as social network sites.
Griffin discloses binding a blockchain with a sidechain or parallel blockchain by including a signed hash in a block that provides a link to the sidechain creating a hierarchical relationship, associated blockchain field in fig. 5 (fig. 5, col. 18 lines 56-67). Griffin and Schwend do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Biernat, in order to improve verification in a supply-chain context including genealogy, provenance, and assembly (¶0121), discloses:
each blockchain of the one or more other blockchains recording at least one transaction or action taking place for a specific physical or logical item in a supply chain during a production process (i.e., producing a bottle, cap, label and synchronize and link respective blockchains, “any new transactions performed on the product at the next entity are added to the existing blockchain data associated with the product … including synchronized blockchain data … of the sub-assemblies or component parts” in Biernat, ¶0121, ¶0123)
Based on Griffin in view of Schwend, and further in view of Biernat, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Biernat to improve upon those of Griffin in order to improve verification in a supply-chain context including genealogy, provenance, and assembly.
With respect to claim 10, Griffin discloses: the method according to claim 9, which further comprises
providing a directed link as a forward link connecting the given blockchain to a child blockchain (i.e., a parent blockchain includes blocks with pointers indicating locations of external blockchains or sidechains linked back to the parent blockchain in Griffin, col. 2 lines 51-59)
or a backward link connecting the given blockchain to a parent blockchain (i.e., each side chain or child chain references back to the parent in a two-way linkage in Griffin, col. 4 lines 1-20).
With respect to claim 11, Griffin discloses: the method according to claim 9, which further comprises:
for a specific blockchain, receiving a request for a transaction (i.e., initiating a new block in a sidechain to store content items in Griffin, col. 12 lines 55-67)
in which the genealogical data field includes a directed link connecting to a pre-existing blockchain (i.e., signed data can be added to the block that references a parent blockchain in Griffin, col. 4 lines 1-20); and
for the pre-existing blockchain, generating a transaction which adds, within its genealogical data field, a new reciprocally directed link connecting to the specific blockchain (i.e., a new block in the parent blockchain can be added with links to the external blockchain ensuring a cryptographic bond between the two chains in Griffin, col. 4 lines 1-20).
With respect to claim 12, Griffin discloses: the method according to claim 9, which further comprises:
providing the network as a local network (i.e., arrangements where embodied on a local server or computing system in Griffin, col. 22 lines 53-60);
receiving external blockchain data on an external blockchain belonging to an external blockchain network different than the local network (i.e., addition, modification, and deletion of blocks that may be in different physical locations in Griffin, col. 5 lines 46-58);
generating a local placeholder blockchain including the external blockchain data (i.e., a new block on the parent blockchain has a pointer included that indicates location of the SignedData container of the side chain in Griffin, fig. 6a, fig. 6b, col. 19 lines 53-49)
for a specific blockchain of the local network, receiving a request for a transaction in which the genealogical data field includes a directed link connecting to the local placeholder blockchain (i.e., signing the transaction that adds the attributes to the parent SignedData container including the pointers to the sidechain content in Griffin, col. 19 lines 50-64); and
for the placeholder blockchain, generating a transaction which adds, within its own genealogical data field, a new reciprocally directed link connecting to the specific blockchain. (i.e., each parent and sidechain blockchain add respective pointers such that they are cryptographically bound in Griffin, col. 4 lines 1-20).
With respect to claim 13, Griffin discloses: the method according to claim 9, which further comprises including in the genealogical data field for each directed link, a link type characterizing the directed link (i.e., unique object identifier and attribute type to indicate the type of attribute to be expected such as an associated blockchain or database, or IoT device in Griffin, col. 9 lines 20-29) and being selected from a group consisting of at least one of:
transportation type;
transformation type;
containment type;
movement type;
link direction type;
external chain type (i.e., attribute name or type indicating an associated blockchain, "associatedBlockchain" element in Griffin, col. 9 lines 20-34);
label type (i.e., attribute types include IoT, blocks, and or databases in Griffin, col. 9 lines 20-34).
With respect to claim 16, the limitation(s) of claim 16 are similar to those of claim(s) 9. Therefore, claim 16 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 9. Griffin further discloses: a data processing system for enabling storing of genealogically related data within a blockchain network, the system comprising:
a processor; and an accessible memory (i.e., processor for executing code in memory in Griffin, col. 22 lines 9-39).
Claim(s) 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Griffin (US 11,153,097) in view of Schwend et al. (US 2013/0198680 A1) and Biernat et al. (US 2019/0340269 A1), and further in view of Dasari et al. (US 2020/0051011 A1).
With respect to claim 14, Griffin discloses binding a blockchain with a sidechain or parallel blockchain by including a signed hash in a block that provides a link to the sidechain creating a hierarchical relationship, associated blockchain field in fig. 5 (fig. 5, col. 18 lines 56-67). Griffin, Schwend, and Biernat do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Dasari, in order to improve delivery of food and drink specifically in tracking the flavor profile of the consumable item to adjust the monetary value or routing of the item (¶0029), discloses: the method according to claim 9, which further comprises:
receiving a tracking request for a specific blockchain (i.e., control engine tracking the delivery of the food as well as the flavor profile in Dasari, ¶0053),
the specific blockchain being in a relationship with a related blockchain via a corresponding directed link (i.e., associating information from the analytics database and the delivery blockchain to determine information about the food in Dasari, ¶0053); and
extending the received tracking request by generating a tracking request for the related blockchain (i.e., retrieving information from the analytics database to correlate with the delivery information from the blockchain in Dasari, ¶0053).
Based on Griffin in view of Schwend and Biernat, and further in view of Dasari, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Dasari to improve upon those of Griffin in order to improve delivery of food and drink specifically in tracking the flavor profile of the consumable item to adjust the monetary value or routing of the item.
Claim(s) 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Griffin (US 11,153,097) in view of Schwend et al. (US 2013/0198680 A1) and Biernat et al. (US 2019/0340269 A1), and further in view of Dayon et al. (US 2015/003268 A1)
With respect to claim 15, the limitation(s) of claim 15 are similar to those of claim(s) 9. Therefore, claim 15 is rejected with the same reasoning as claim(s) 9.
Griffin further discloses: a method for enabling a GUI screen to display a graphical representation of genealogically related data within a blockchain network (i.e., a screen to communicate and display information corresponding to the blockchain system in Griffin, col. 5 lines 23-32), the method comprising:
enabling data storing according to claim 9 (i.e., extensible blockchain implemented with a parent blockchain with pointers indicating external blockchains or sidechains in Griffin, col. 2 lines 38-60).
Griffin discloses binding a blockchain with a sidechain or parallel blockchain by including a signed hash in a block that provides a link to the sidechain creating a hierarchical relationship, associated blockchain field in fig. 5 (fig. 5, col. 18 lines 56-67). Griffin, Schwend, and Biernat do(es) not explicitly disclose the following. Dayon, in order to improve the presentation of information in terms of summary and relevance to make an interface more usable (¶0032), discloses: providing graphical controls to enable at least one of expanding or collapsing of one of more graphical representations of genealogically linked blockchains upon receiving a corresponding input of a user interaction (i.e., graphical representation of a feed with objects that have associated subordinate elements such as tasks assigned to a feed item, user can expand to display more details about a particular item in Dayon, ¶0036).
Based on Griffin in view of Schwend and Biernat, and further in view of Dayon, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to utilize the teachings of Dayon to improve upon those of Griffin in order to improve the presentation of information in terms of summary and relevance to make an interface more usable.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SHERMAN L LIN whose telephone number is (571)270-7446. The examiner can normally be reached Monday through Friday 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (Eastern).
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Joon Hwang can be reached on 571-272-4036. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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Sherman Lin
4/4/2026
/S. L./Examiner, Art Unit 2447
/JOON H HWANG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2447