DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2/3/2026 and 6/3/2026 were filed after the mailing date of the non-final rejection on 11/10/2025. The submissions are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Amendment
This Office action is in response to Applicant’s Arguments filed 2/10/2026.
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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claims 1-5, 8, 16-25 and 27 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vaish et al. (US 2020/0134139 A1, hereinafter Vaish) in view of Mayalil et al. (US 2024/0314549 A1, hereinafter Mayalil).
Regarding claim 1, Vaish discloses a system as shown in figure 1, comprising: a device registry (figure 1, 110) storing: data from a plurality of manufacturer systems indicating device capabilities supported by a plurality of particular devices identified by a respective unique device hardware identifier ([0037], device registry includes a plurality of device identifiers corresponding to registered devices, and device transaction information includes information about transactions that take place with respect to registered devices, such as when a device is manufactured, when software products are installed, read as device capabilities, on a registered device, when ownership of a registered device changes); and data from a plurality of communication service providers (CSP) indicating device entitlements for a set of the plurality of particular devices that have been activated on a respective radio-based network ([0038], software registry that includes information about licenses for software products that have been registered with the distributed ledger system, and software registry includes a plurality of software license IDs corresponding to registered software licenses); and a device ordering system (figure 2) configured to at least: receive a selection of a device via an interface ([0060] and [0102], the distributed ledger system may provide one or more application programming interfaces corresponding to the distributed ledger system, and one or more user interfaces for selection). Vaish differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching to receive a selection of a CSP that supports the device via the interface; and generate, based at least in part on the device capabilities and the device entitlements in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by the device and the CSP. However, Mayalil teaches to provision a wireless device having a provisioning server dynamically selecting an eSIM profile to download to and install on the wireless device based at least in part on the provided additional device capabilities information, and provide a device-compatible eSIM profile tailored to the wireless device based on the additional device capabilities information provided by the wireless device such that the provisioning server provisions a release eSIM profile for installation on the eUICC of the wireless device with optional features and/or optional EFs included of the release wireless communication standard, when the wireless device supports use of the optional features ([0029]-[0030], reads on to receive a selection of a CSP that supports the device via the interface; and generate, based at least in part on the device capabilities and the device entitlements in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by the device and the CSP) in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile ([0004]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vaish to receive a selection of a CSP that supports the device via the interface; and generate, based at least in part on the device capabilities and the device entitlements in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by the device and the CSP, as per teaching of Mayalil, in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile.
Regarding claim 2, Mayalil teaches wireless communication standards are progressively updated via different numbered release versions ([0003]) such that the device registry is configured to receive periodic data feeds from the plurality of manufacturer systems and the plurality of CSPs in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile.
Regarding claim 3, Vaish discloses that the device registry further stores data regarding the device from an external device registry operated by the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA) ([0032], global registry, read as an external device registry, may be a reliable source of information for all of the devices that are being tracked).
Regarding claim 4, Vaish teaches that the device registry is configured to receive updated data from the plurality of manufacturer systems indicating that additional device capabilities are supported by the device due to a software or firmware update ([0091]-[0092], contract state may be updated to indicate that the account corresponding to the customer's device on which the software is installed has a non-zero balance).
Regarding claim 5, Mayalil teaches that new features introduced in new releases may be incompatible with wireless devices configured for earlier releases ([0003] such that the device registry is configured to receive updated data from the plurality of manufacturer systems indicating that a device capability previously supported for the device is no longer supported by the device due to a software or firmware update in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile.
Regarding claim 8, Vaish teaches that the device registry comprises a transaction ledger that is immutable and cryptographically verifiable ([0004], a distributed ledger system may utilize a cryptographic algorithm to ensure that updates and modifications to the system are appended to existing data).
Regarding claim 16, Vaish discloses a A computer-implemented method, comprising: storing, in a device registry, data from a plurality of manufacturer systems indicating device capabilities supported by a plurality of particular devices identified by a respective unique device hardware identifier ([0037]-[0038], device registry includes a plurality of device identifiers corresponding to registered devices, and device transaction information includes information about transactions that take place with respect to registered devices, such as when a device is manufactured, when software products are installed, read as device capabilities, on a registered device, when ownership of a registered device changes and software registry that includes information about licenses for software products that have been registered with the distributed ledger system, and software registry includes a plurality of software license IDs corresponding to registered software licenses); and receiving a selection of a device via an interface ([0060] and [0102], the distributed ledger system may provide one or more application programming interfaces corresponding to the distributed ledger system, and one or more user interfaces for selection). Vaish differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching the steps of determining, based at least in part on the device capabilities in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by a communication service provider (CSP) for the device. Mayalil teaches to provision a wireless device having a provisioning server dynamically selecting an eSIM profile to download to and install on the wireless device based at least in part on the provided additional device capabilities information, and provide a device-compatible eSIM profile tailored to the wireless device based on the additional device capabilities information provided by the wireless device such that the provisioning server provisions a release eSIM profile for installation on the eUICC of the wireless device with optional features and/or optional EFs included of the release wireless communication standard, when the wireless device supports use of the optional features ([0029]-[0030], reads on the steps of determining, based at least in part on the device capabilities in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by a communication service provider (CSP) for the device). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vaish in having the steps of determining, based at least in part on the device capabilities in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by a communication service provider (CSP) for the device, as per teaching of Mayalil, in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile.
Regarding claim 17, Vaish differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching that the list of entitlements comprises at least one of: a mobile hotspot entitlement, a visual voicemail entitlement, or a video calling entitlement. However, Mayalil teaches eUICC can be configured to enable the wireless device to communicate with an MNO and provide useful features to a user of the wireless device ([0025]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vaish in having the list of entitlements comprising useful features, i.e., a mobile hotspot entitlement, a visual voicemail entitlement, or a video calling entitlement, as per teaching of Mayalil, in order to enhance the system for providing various features.
Regarding claim 18, Mayalil teaches the steps of facilitating an order for the device and a service plan that supports a selected subset of the list of entitlements; and automatically provisioning an electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) profile on the device that authorizes the selected subset of the list of entitlements ([0004] and [0019], provisioning server can select an eSIM profile with optional features when the wireless device indicates support for such features or an eSIM profile without optional features when the wireless device indicates such features are not supported) in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile.
Regarding claim 19, Vaish teaches the steps of storing, in the device registry, data from a plurality of communication service providers (CSP) indicating device entitlements for a set of the plurality of particular devices that have been activated on a respective radio-based network; and wherein the list of entitlements is based at least in part on the device entitlements activated for the CSP ([0037]-[0038], registry includes a device registry that includes information about devices that have been registered with the distributed ledger system, and a software registry that includes information about licenses for software products that have been registered with the distributed ledger system).
Regarding claim 20, Vaish teaches the steps of requesting an account creation with the CSP; receiving an identification of an Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC) manufacturer system from the CSP; and requesting that the eUICC manufacturer system create the eSIM profile ([0023], [0032], and [0057]-[0058], instructions cause one or more processors to perform operations including registering a plurality of devices with a distributed ledger system and creating a plurality of device identifiers for the plurality of devices, and creating a plurality of software license identifiers for the plurality of software licenses).
Regarding claim 21, Vaish teaches the steps of receiving the data from the plurality of manufacturer systems indicating the device capabilities; and wherein storing the data indicating the device capabilities further comprises storing the data indicating the device capabilities in a transaction ledger ([0041]-[0043], device registry includes a plurality of device tokens represents corresponding devices that have been registered with the distributed ledger system, and device token may include information about software license non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that have been linked or associated with the device token).
Regarding claim 22, Vaish teaches storing the data indicating the device entitlements in a transaction ledger ([0037], device registry that includes information about devices that have been registered with the distributed ledger system Vaish differs from the claimed invention in not specifically teaching the step of receiving data from a plurality of communication service providers (CSP) indicating device entitlements for a set of the plurality of particular devices that have been activated on a respective radio-based network. However, Mayalil teaches device processing circuitry and eUICC perform a card reset procedure with successful activation of the eUICC when a device-incompatible eSIM profile is downloaded to and installed on an eUICC of the wireless device ([0034]). Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Vaish in receiving data from a plurality of communication service providers (CSP) indicating device entitlements for a set of the plurality of particular devices that have been activated on a respective radio-based network, as per teaching of Mayalil, in order to avoid downloading a device-incompatible eSIM profile.
Regarding claim 23, Vaish teaches that the device entitlements correspond to a subset of the device capabilities that have been subscribed to for the set of the plurality of particular devices with a corresponding CSP and are supported by the corresponding CSP ([0006], transaction management components may be executable by the one or more processors to record, in a distributed ledger that is maintained by the distributed ledger system, device transaction information associated with the plurality of devices and software transaction information associated with the plurality of software licenses).
Regarding claim 24, Vaish teaches the steps of receiving a search query regarding a device history for a particular device identified by a particular unique device hardware identifier; executing a search on a transaction ledger for the device history associated with the particular unique device hardware identifier; and returning the device history for the particular unique device hardware identifier, the device history including transactions respecting at least two of the plurality of CSPs ([0023] and [0073], facilitating device management through use of a distributed ledger system to include recording device transaction information associated with the plurality of devices in a device registry, recording software transaction information associated with the plurality of software licenses in a software registry and allowing users who are authorized to perform actions such as modifying attributes of the device tokens, recording transactions associated with the device tokens, modifying attributes of the software license NFTs, and/or recording transactions associated with the software license).
Regarding claim 25, the limitations of the claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 8.
Regarding claim 27, the limitations of the claim are rejected as the same reasons as set forth in claim 16.
Claim 26 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Vaish et al. (US 2020/0134139 A1, hereinafter Vaish) in view of Mayalil et al. (US 2024/0314549 A1, hereinafter Mayalil) as applied in claim 24 above, and further in view of Throckmorton et al. (US 2022/0147982 A1, hereinafter Throckmorton).
Regarding claim 26, Vaish discloses a distributed ledger system (figure 14, 100). The combination of Vaish and Mayalil differs from the claimed invention in not specifically disclosing that the ledger system comprises a plurality of CSP-specific transaction ledgers, and data from individual ones of the plurality of CSPs are recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of CSP-specific transaction ledgers. However, Throckmorton teaches to enable CSP to operate as one of many notes in the distributed ledger, which provides an immutable record of transaction history to create an auditable log of transactions and synchronize network data in near real-time ([0048]) such that ledger system comprises a plurality of CSP-specific transaction ledgers, and data from individual ones of the plurality of CSPs are recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of CSP-specific transaction ledgers in order to secure sharing of information among parties to a financial transaction. Therefore, 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 combination of Vaish and Mayalil in having that the ledger system comprises a plurality of CSP-specific transaction ledgers, and data from individual ones of the plurality of CSPs are recorded in a corresponding one of the plurality of CSP-specific transaction ledgers, as per teaching of Throckmorton, in order to secure sharing of information among parties to a financial transaction.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 6-7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 2/10/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
In response to applicant's argument that the references fail to teach “a device ordering system configured to at least: receive a selection of a device via an interface; receive a selection of a CSP that supports the device via the interface; and generate, based at least in part on the device capabilities and the device entitlements in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by the device and the CSP” as recited in claim 1, Examiner respectfully disagreed.
Mayalil discloses a wireless device (figure 2, 102) comprising an embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (eUICC) configured to manage eSIMs, which each eSIM is associated with Mobile Network Operator ([0023]-[0024]). Mayalil teaches to download and install a release eSIM profile on the eUICC of the wireless device ([0028], which obviously teaches to receive a selection of a CSP that supports the device via an interface because each eSIM is associated with Mobile Network Operator, read as Communication Service Provider). Mayalil further teaches to provide to the SM-DP+ additional device capabilities information in indicating the wireless device supports one or more optional features of a wireless communication standard in an authenticate client request message ([0029], which teaches to receive a selection of a device via an interface). Mayalil also teaches the SM-DP+ 302 provisions a release 16 eSIM profile 208 for installation on the eUICC 108 of the wireless device 102 with optional features and/or optional EFs included of the release 16 wireless communication standard, when the wireless device 102 supports use of the optional features based on the additional device capabilities information provided by the wireless device 102 ([0030], which reads on generate, based at least in part on the device capabilities and the device entitlements in the device registry, a list of entitlements supported by the device and the CSP). Note Mayalil teaches that the MNOs 114 can represent different wireless service providers that provide specific cellular wireless services to which a user of the wireless device 102 can subscribe, such as via a subscription account, and access using credentials provided by the MNOs 114 ([0023]), thus one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that Mayalil teaches the broad claimed limitations.
For at least these reasons, the rejection of claim 1 is maintained. Claims 16 and 27 recite the similar features as claim 1 such that the rejections of claims 16 and 27 are maintained for at least the same reasons
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Kang et al. (US 2022/0046408 A1) discloses a method and apparatus for remotely downloading and installing a profile in a terminal, and managing a plurality of installed profiles (abstract and figure 5).
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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 GEORGE ENG whose telephone number is (571)272-7495. The examiner can normally be reached Flex M to F, 7 am to 3 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Gregory Toatley can be reached at (571) 272-4650. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GEORGE ENG/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2699
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