DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Arguments /Remarks and RCE filed on 03/04/2026.
As per instant Amendment, claims 1, 9 and 15 are independent and amended claims; claims 3, 5-8, 11, 13-14, 17, and 19-20 have been cancelled. Claims 1-2, 4, 9-10, 12, 15-16 and 18 have been examined and are pending. This Action is made non-FINAL.
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 03/04/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments in the instant Amendment, filed on 03/04/2026, with respect to limitations listed below, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant’s arguments: “Applicant submits that the description by Hart of the event counter does not teach or suggest "a personal identity code generated based on a transaction history of an owner of a user device associated with the user device application," as recited by claim 1. Moreover, Applicant submits that Hart does not teach or suggest to "determine whether the personal identity code matches at least one of one or more stored personal identity codes" and "upon a successful match, identify a URL associated with the personal identity code, wherein the URL is associated with the URL after a predetermined number of visits by the user device application to the URL," as further recited by claim 1.”
The Examiner disagrees with the Applicants. The Examiner respectfully submits
that:
a personal identity code generated based on a transaction history of an owner of a user device associated with the user device application (para. 0064, step 502, the user touches their smartcard on the mobile device; para. 0065, step 504; para. 0067, step 508; para. 0068, step 510; para. 0069, step 512; para. 0070-0077, step 516 and figs. 5-6);
determine whether the personal identity code matches at least one of one or more stored personal identity codes (para. 0064, fig. 5, step 502, the user touches their smartcard on the mobile device/ personal identity codes stored in the mobile device);
upon a successful match, identify a URL associated with the personal identity code, wherein the URL is associated with the URL after a predetermined number of visits by the user device application to the URl does disclose (paras. 0057-0060 and fig. 2, the OTP is associated with the username, and linked with a URL which is fed to the browser on the smartphone. The username and OTP is embedded within the URL and the whole URL is passed to transmitter 212).
Examiner, however, in light of the above submission maintains the previous rejections while considering the amendments to the claims as follows:
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-11, 13-20 and 22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102 (a) (1) as being anticipated by Hart et al. (hereinafter Hart), Pub. No.: US 2013/0318575.
Referring to claim 1, Hart teaches a system for dynamic direction of a user device to a Uniform resource locator (URL) (paras. 0001, 0057, URL is received and figs. 1-4), the system comprising:
a card (para. 0043 and figs. 1-4, smartcard); and
a server (para. 0045 and figs. 1-4, remote server 108), the server further comprising:
a memory (para. 0045 and figs. 1-4), and
a processor (para. 0045 and figs. 1-4) configured to:
open a communication field (para. 0065, step 504, and figs. 5-6, 503 smart cards presented…),
receive, from the card via the communication field, a request to direct a user device application to the server, the request comprising a personal identity code generated based on a transaction history of an owner of a user device associated with the user device application (para. 0064, step 502; para. 0065, step 504; para. 0067, step 508; para. 0068, step 510; para. 0069, step 512; para. 0070-0077, step 516 and figs. 5-6),
determine whether the personal identity code matches at least one of one or more stored personal identity codes (para. 0064, fig. 5, step 502, the user touches their smartcard on the mobile device/ personal identity codes stored in the mobile device), upon a successful match, identify a URL associated with the personal identity code, wherein the URL is associated with the URL after a predetermined number of visits by the user device application to the URL (paras. 0057-0060 and fig. 2, the OTP is associated with the username, and linked with a URL which is fed to the browser on the smartphone. The username and OTP is embedded within the URL and the whole URL is passed to transmitter 212).
receive, from the server, an authentication request (para. 0075),
transmit, to the server, an authentication credential (para. 0076),
validate the authentication credential (para. 0077), and
direct the user device application to the website associated with the URL (para. 0057 and fig. 5-6, “When the smartphone is energized by the NFC field generated by chip inside the smartphone, the URL is received and passed to the browser, which opens up the secure website for the user.).
Referring to claim 2, Hart further teaches wherein the processor is further configured to: open, upon receiving an authentication request from the server, a second communication field (para. 0074), and perform a diversified key exchange between the card and the server, the card further configured with a private key and the server further configured with a public key (paras. 0054-0055 and figs. 5-6, PKI Public Key Infrastructure).
Referring to claim 3, Hart further teaches wherein the user device associated with the user device application is at least one selected from the group of a smart phone, tablet, smart watch or computer (para. 0046 and figs. 1-4).
Referring to claim 4, Hart further teaches wherein the authentication credential is a password or personal identification number (PIN) number (paras. 0074-0075 and fig. 6, security data. i.e., password, PIN).
Referring to claim 5, Hart further teaches wherein the authentication credential is a biometric fingerprint scan, facial scan, or voice recognition (para. 0074-0075 and figs. 5-6, biometric info.).
Referring to claim 6, Hart further teaches wherein the predetermined URL can be changed manually by the user on the user device (para. 0016).
Referring to claim 7, Hart further teaches wherein the personal identity code is associated with an email, phone number, or card information (para. 0069-0071 and figs. 6-7, mobile device).
Referring to claim 8, Hart further teaches wherein the card is further configured with a private key and the server is further configured with a public key (paras. 0054-0055 and figs. 5-6).
Referring to claim 9, Hart further teaches wherein the card is a contactless card associated with an account holder at a banking institution (para. 0043, 0080 and figs. 1-4).
Referring to claim 10, This claim is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 11, This claim is similar in scope to claim 2, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 13, Hart further teaches wherein the personal identity code is a driver's license number, passport number, or birth date (paras. 0018, 0052, additional authentication info.).
Referring to claim 14, Hart further teaches wherein the communication field is Bluetooth, a near field communication (NFC) field, or a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-compatible field (para. 0063 and figs. 5-6).
Referring to claim 15, This claim is similar in scope to claim 9, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 16, Hart further teaches wherein the steps further comprise transmitting the authentication request by a short message service (SMS) or a multimedia message service (MS) (paras. 0062, 0069, transmitted to the mobile device, i.e., SMS, MS).
Referring to claim 17, Hart further teaches wherein the steps further comprise directing the user device to a mobile application associated with the URL (paras. 0057-0058).
Referring to claim 18, Hart further teaches wherein the authentication credential is a digital signature from the card (para. 0059, PKI certificate).
Referring to claim 19, This claim is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 20, Hart further teaches wherein a copy of the personal identity code is stored in a memory associated with the server (paras. 0003, 0052).
Referring to claim 22, Hart further teaches wherein the personal identity code is associated with the URL after the user device application has visited the URL for a predetermined time period (paras. 0057-0060 and fig. 2, The username and OTP is embedded within the URL and the whole URL is passed to transmitter 212).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the attached PTO-892.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to YONAS A BAYOU whose telephone number is (571)272-7610. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7AM-4PM.
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/YONAS A BAYOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2499 03/17/2026