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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This action is responsive to amendment filed March 5, 2026.
Status of Claims
Applicant amended the claims in the filed amendment.
Claims 1-3 remain pending.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, filed 3/5/26, have been fully considered and are persuasive. However a new grounds of rejection is made under 103 based on Hallin in view of Frederick, as presented below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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.
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 1-3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hallin et al (US Publication 20030182549) in view of Frederick et al (US Publication 20180262345).
In reference to claim 1, Hallin teaches a computer network security method comprising:
configuring a web browser with a capability of determining whether a root certificate authority appears in a first list of trusted root certificate authorities that is maintained by an operating system of a host computer that hosts the web browser; (see at least ¶s 27,28, which teaches a web browser determining a trusted root certificate authority appears in a list maintained by the host computer system that hosts the browser)
configuring the web browser with a capability of determining whether the root certificate authority was included in the first list at the time that the operating system was installed on the host computer; (see at least ¶ 29, which teaches determining the root certificate was included in the list at the time the operating system was created by a manufacturer and inherently installed on the computer)
configuring the web browser with a capability of determining whether the root certificate authority was included in the first list by the operating system after the time that the operating system was installed on the host computer; (see at least ¶s 36,37, which teaches determining if the certificate authority was included in the list by the operating system after the operating system was installed)
configuring the web browser with a capability of determining whether the root certificate authority appears in a second list of trusted root certificate authorities that is provided to the web browser by an administrator; (see at least ¶ 38, which teaches determining if the certificate authority appears in a second list of authorities that is provided to the browser by server/administrator)
configuring the web browser to determine whether a certificate meets predefined invalidation criteria associated with the certificate's root certificate authority by determining that the certificate's root certificate authority appears in the first list but was not included in the first list at the time that the operating system was installed on the host computer; (see at least ¶ 45, which teaches periodically determining the validity of the certificate authority and determining to include a new certificate authority in the list when the new certificate authority was not initially included in the list at the time of operating system installation)
configuring the web browser to determine whether the certificate meets the predefined invalidation criteria by determining that the certificate's root certificate authority appears in the first list but was not included in the first list by the operating system after the operating system was installed on the host computer; (see at least ¶ 43, which teaches determining the validity of the certificate authority and appears in the list but was not included in the list after the operating system was installed)
configuring the web browser to cease to communicate with a party that provided the certificate to the web browser responsive to the web browser determining that the certificate meets the predefined invalidation criteria (see at least ¶s 40,42, which teaches responsive to determining the certificate is invalid/untrustworthy, then terminating communications).
Hallin fails to explicitly teach determine whether a certificate meets predefined invalidation criteria associated with the certificate's root certificate. However, Frederick teaches an improved secure certificate system that checks if a certificate authority information appears in a list, and discloses determining if a certificate meets predefined invalidation criteria and thresholds associated with the certificate (see Frederick, at least Abstract and ¶s 106-108). It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Hallin based on the teachings of Frederick for the purpose of mitigating risks by ensuring the validity of the certificate and avoiding compromised certificate authorities.
In reference to claim 2, this is taught by Hallin, at least ¶s 36-38, which teaches certificate validation, and Frederick, at least ¶s 106-108, which teaches determining if the certificate meets invalidity criteria. It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify Hallin based on the teachings of Frederick for the reasons as presented in claim 1.
In reference to claim 3, this is taught by Hallin, at least ¶s 37-39,42, which teaches determining the certificate authority does not appear in the first list or the second list.
Conclusion
For any subsequent response that contains new/amended claims, Applicant is required to cite its corresponding support in the specification. (See MPEP chapter 2163.03 section (I.) and chapter 2163.04 section (I.) and chapter 2163.06) Applicant may not introduce any new matter to the claims or to the specification.
In formulating a response/amendment, Applicant is encouraged to take into consideration the prior art made of record but not relied upon, as it is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. See previous Form 892.
Contact & Status
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to RAMY M OSMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4008. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri, 9AM-5PM.
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/RAMY M OSMAN/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457
August 20, 2026
