DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Applicant's amendments filed on 03/19/2026 has been received and entered. Currently Claims 1-4, 8, 21-32 and 35-37 are pending.
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 allowance or after an Office action under Ex Parte Quayle, 25 USPQ 74, 453 O.G. 213 (Comm'r Pat. 1935). 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, prosecution in this application has been reopened pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 03/19/2026 has been entered.
Response to Arguments
Applicant argues on pages 12-15 of applicant’s remarks that Vivek and Rao, either alone or in combination, fail to show or suggest “provide, to a second computing device, a connection invitation and an offer to generate a credential, the connection invitation comprising connection data capable of uniquely identifying the first computing device over a network, and the offer identifying at least one type of credential that can be obtained from the first computing device; receive, from the second computing device, a first packet comprising a secure connection request and request for a credential, wherein the request for the credential corresponds to the offer to generate the credential provided with the connection invitation” as recited in the amended claims.
The examiner respectfully disagrees. The examiner refers to the below 103 rejection of the claims. In particular, Vivek teaches providing a QR code that comprises connection information and a credential offer (Fig. 3B, paragraph [0010], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0082]-[0083]). Vivek further teaches scanning the QR code, extracting information from the QR code such as connection information and credential offer, and sending a request to an issuer based on the extracted information ([0010], [0040], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0083]-[0084]). In an analogous art, Rao teaches issuer receives secure connection request from holder device (Fig. 4, paragraph [0035], [0049], [0054]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Vivek of establishing a connection with an issuer to request a credential with the teachings of Rao to include establishing a secure connection with an issuer and to confirm that the credential has been received in order to establish a secure connection between the requester and the issuer and to provide confirmation that the requester has received the issued credential.
Therefore, the combination of Vivek in view of Rao teaches limitations of the claims.
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 (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 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, 8, 21-23, 26, 28-32, and 35-37 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivek et al. US 2024/0089117 (hereinafter Vivek), in view of Rao et al. US 2023/0259918 (hereinafter Rao).
As per claim 1, Vivek teaches a system, comprising: a first computing device comprising a processor and a memory; and machine-readable instructions stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, cause the first computing device to at least: provide, to a second computing device, a connection invitation and an offer to generate a credential, the connection invitation comprising connection data capable of uniquely identifying the first computing device over a network, and the offer identifying at least one type of credential that can be obtained from the first computing device (Vivek Fig. 3B, paragraph [0010], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0082]-[0083], providing QR code that comprises connection information and a credential offer);
receive, from a second computing device, a first packet comprising a connection request and request for a credential, wherein the request for the credential corresponds to the offer to generate the credential provided with the connection invitation (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0040], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0083]-[0084], scanning QR code, extracting information from the QR code such as connection information and credential offer, and sending a request to an issuer based on the extracted information);
send, to the second computing device, a second packet comprising an acceptance of the connection request; send, to the second computing device in response to establishing a connection with the second computing device, a third packet comprising the credential (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085], issuer sends credential to requester) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that generating and sending the credential implies that the connection is accepted) (Although Vivek does not explicitly disclose sending two separate packets for the acceptance and the credential, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to send separate packets for the acceptance and the credential, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routing skill in the art. It would have also been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try to have separate packets for the acceptance and the credential. There are only two options for sending the acceptance and the credential, sending the information in the same packet or sending the information in different packets. The result will be the same, the acceptance and the credential is sent to the requester.).
Vivek does not explicitly disclose receive a secure connection request;
send an acceptance of the secure connection request;
receive, from second computing device, a fourth packet comprising a connection acknowledgement and a credential acknowledgement.
Rao teaches receive a secure connection request (Rao Fig. 4, paragraph [0035], [0049], [0054], issuer receives secure connection request from holder device);
send an acceptance of the secure connection request (Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0055], [0060], issuer issues/sends credential to holder) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that issuing/sending the credential implies that the connection is accepted);
receive, from second computing device, a fourth packet comprising a connection acknowledgement and a credential acknowledgement (Rao paragraph [0028], issuer issues credential to the holder and confirms with the holder that the credential was received) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that confirming that the credential was received implies that the connection is acknowledged).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Vivek of establishing a connection with an issuer to request a credential with the teachings of Rao to include establishing a secure connection with an issuer and to confirm that the credential has been received in order to establish a secure connection between the requester and the issuer and to provide confirmation that the requester has received the issued credential.
As per claim 2, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the first computing device to at least: generate the connection invitation to establish a secure connection between the first computing device and the second computing device prior to providing the connection invitation and the offer to obtain the credential to the second computing device (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0082]-[0083], generate QR code which includes data to establish connection; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], generate QR code which includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 3, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 1, wherein: the first computing device further comprises a display; the connection invitation is at least one of a Quick Response (QR) code or a barcode; and the machine-readable instructions that provide the connection invitation and the offer to generate the credential, when executed by the processor, further cause the first computing device to at least display the at least one of the QR code or the barcode on the display (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052], [0082]-[0083], generate and display QR code which includes data to establish connection; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], generate and display QR code which includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 8, Vivek teaches a system, comprising: a computing device comprising a processor and a memory; and machine-readable instructions stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to at least: obtain a connection invitation and an offer to generate a credential, the connection invitation comprising connection data capable of uniquely identifying an issuer agent over a network, and the offer identifying at least one type of credential that can be obtained from the issuer agent (Vivek Fig. 3B, paragraph [0010], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0082]-[0084], scanning QR code, extracting information from the QR code such as connection information and credential offer);
send, to an issuer agent, a first packet comprising a request to establish a connection and a request for a credential in response to obtaining the connection invitation and the offer to generate the credential, wherein the request for the credential corresponds to the offer to generate the credential provided with the connection invitation (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0040], [0050], [0052]-[0053], [0083]-[0084], scanning QR code, extracting information from the QR code such as connection information and credential offer, and sending a request to an issuer based on the extracted information);
receive, from the issuer agent, a second packet comprising an acceptance of the request to establish the connection; receive, from the issuer agent in response to establishing the connection with the issuer agent, a third packet comprising the credential (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085], issuer sends credential to requester) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that generating and sending the credential implies that the connection is accepted) (Although Vivek does not explicitly disclose sending two separate packets for the acceptance and the credential, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to send separate packets for the acceptance and the credential, since it has been held that constructing a formerly integral structure in various elements involves only routing skill in the art. It would have also been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to try to have separate packets for the acceptance and the credential. There are only two options for sending the acceptance and the credential, sending the information in the same packet or sending the information in different packets. The result will be the same, the acceptance and the credential is sent to the requester.).
Vivek does not explicitly disclose send a secure connection request;
receive an acceptance of the request to establish the secure connection;
send, to issuer agent, a fourth packet that acknowledges that the secure connection has been established and credential has been received over the secure connection.
Rao teaches send a secure connection request (Rao Fig. 4, paragraph [0035], [0049], [0054], issuer receives secure connection request from holder device);
receive an acceptance of the request to establish the secure connection (Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0055], [0060], issuer issues/sends credential to holder) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that issuing/sending the credential implies that the connection is accepted);
send, to issuer agent, a fourth packet that acknowledges that the secure connection has been established and credential has been received over the secure connection (Rao paragraph [0028], issuer issues credential to the holder and confirms with the holder that the credential was received) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that confirming that the credential was received implies that the connection is acknowledged).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Vivek of establishing a connection with an issuer to request a credential with the teachings of Rao to include establishing a secure connection with an issuer and to confirm that the credential has been received in order to establish a secure connection between the requester and the issuer and to provide confirmation that the requester has received the issued credential.
As per claims 21-23, the claims claim a method essentially corresponding to the system claims 1-3 above, and they are rejected, at least for the same reasons.
As per claim 26, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the second packet comprises an acknowledgement that the secure connection has been established (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085], issuer sends credential to requester; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0055], [0060], issuer issues/sends credential to holder) (One of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that issuing and sending the credential implies that the secure connection is accepted).
As per claim 28, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the third packet comprises a decentralized identifier (DID) based at least in part on the issuer agent (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085], issuer sends credential to requester; Rao paragraph [0019], [0028], [0035], [0055], [0060], [0063], issuer issues/sends credential to holder. Credential includes DID of issuer).
As per claim 29, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the first computing device to send, to the second computing device, the second packet further cause the first computing device to at least prepare the credential (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085], issuer sends credential to requester; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0055], [0060], issuer issues/sends credential to holder).
As per claim 30, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 2, wherein the connection invitation includes a decentralized identifier (DID) or an address (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0030]-[0031], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052], [0082]-[0083], QR code includes data to establish connection; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], QR code includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 31, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the connection invitation comprises a decentralized identifier (DID) associated with the issuer agent (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0030]-[0031], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052], [0082]-[0083], QR code includes data to establish connection; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], QR code includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 32, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 31, wherein the machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to obtain the connection invitation and the offer to obtain the credential further cause the computing device to at least identify the issuer agent based at least in part on the DID associated with the issuer agent (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0030]-[0031], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052], [0082]-[0083], QR code includes data to establish connection. Extract connection information; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], QR code includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 35, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 1, wherein the connection invitation is a network accessible document that can be identified by a link, and the machine- readable instructions that provide the connection invitation and the offer to generate the credential, when executed by the processor, further cause the first computing device to at least store the connection invitation on a distributed ledger as a DID document identified by a DID (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0030]-[0031], [0038], [0040], [0047], [0052], [0082]-[0083], [0094], QR code includes data such as DID to establish connection. Storing DID documents.; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], QR code includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 36, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the connection invitation is a network accessible document that can be identified by a link, and the machine- readable instructions that obtain the connection invitation and the offer to generate the credential, when executed by the processor, further cause the computing device to at least identify the connection invitation from a distributed ledger based at least in part on a DID associated with the connection invitation (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0030]-[0031], [0038], [0040], [0047], [0052], [0082]-[0083], [0094], QR code includes data such as DID to establish connection. obtain DID document; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], QR code includes data to establish secure connection).
As per claim 37, the claims claim a method essentially corresponding to the system claim 35 above, and is rejected, at least for the same reasons.
Claims 4 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivek in view of Rao, and further in view of Dorsey US 2025/0173801.
As per claim 4, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 1, wherein: the connection invitation is a network accessible document that can be identified by a link; and the machine-readable instructions that provide the connection invitation and the offer to generate the credential, when executed by the processor (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0030]-[0031], [0040], [0047], [0050], [0052], [0082]-[0083], QR code includes data such as DID to establish connection; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], QR code includes data to establish secure connection).
Vivek in view of Rao does not explicitly disclose further cause first computing device to at least send link to second computing device.
Dorsey teaches further cause first computing device to at least send link to second computing device (Dorsey paragraph [0015], [0020], [0023]-[0024], send connection invitation).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to substitute the displaying of the connection information of the invention of Vivek in view of Rao with the teachings of Dorsey of sending the connection invitation because the results would have been predictable and resulted in sending the connection information instead of displaying the connection information.
As per claim 24, the claim claims a method essentially corresponding to the system claim 4 above, and is rejected, at least for the same reasons.
Claims 25 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vivek in view of Rao, and further in view of Meng US 2019/0253249.
As per claim 25, Vivek in view of Rao teaches the system of claim 8, wherein the first packet comprises a cryptographic key and the machine-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the computing device to receive the second packet comprising the acceptance of the request (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0040], [0054], [0084], sending request, which includes a key, to an issuer, paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085], issuer sends credential to requester; Rao Fig. 4, paragraph [0028], [0035], [0049], [0054]-[0055], [0060]).
Vivek in view of Rao does not explicitly disclose further cause computing device to at least derive a shared secret based at least in part on cryptographic key.
Meng teaches further cause computing device to at least derive a shared secret based at least in part on cryptographic key (Meng Fig. 1B, Fig. 7, paragraph [0048]-[0049], [0158]-[0159], generate shared key).
Thus it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Vivek in view of Rao of establishing a secure connection with an issuer with the teachings of Meng to include establishing a shared secret for encryption and decryption because the results would have been predictable and resulted in establishing a shared secret for encrypting and decrypting messages in the secure connection.
As per claim 27, Vivek in view of Rao and Meng teaches the system of claim 25, wherein the shared secret is configured for encrypting or decrypting one or more messages in the secure connection (Vivek paragraph [0010], [0041], [0055], [0085]; Rao paragraph [0028], [0035], [0055], [0060]; Meng paragraph [0046], [0049], [0156], [0159], shared key is used to encrypt and decrypt data).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HENRY TSANG whose telephone number is (571)270-7959. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9am - 5pm EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Farid Homayounmehr can be reached at (571) 272-3739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/HENRY TSANG/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2495
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