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 .
Status of Claims
The amendment filed 5/4/2026 has been entered. Claims 1, 7, 11, 16, 20 are currently amended. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application.
Response to Amendment
The objection to claims 7, 16 due to informalities has been withdrawn in light of applicant’s amendment to the claims.
The rejections of claims 1-20 under 35 USC 112(b) has been withdrawn in lights of applicant’s amendment to the claims. See the updated Claim Rejections under 35 USC 112(b) below.
The rejection of claims 1-10 under 35 USC 101 as being directed to non-statutory subject matter is maintained. See below.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see pages 9-10 of the Remarks filed 5/4/2026 with respect to claims rejected under 35 USC 103 over prior arts of record has been fully considered and persuasive in light of applicant amendment to claims 1, 11 and 20. Upon updated search, the claims are identified as allowable subject matters over prior arts. Therefore, the claim rejections of claims 1-20 under 35 USC 103 has been withdrawn.
Regarding Claim Rejections under 35 USC 101, previous office action (see the Non-Final Rejection mailed 11/6/2025) clearly indicated claims 1-10 are rejected due to non-statutory subject matter, NOT due to Abstract idea (judicial exception) without significantly more. Applicant’s argument, see pages 7-9 of the Remarks filed 5/4/2026, remains in the same argument. For this reason, the rejections of claims 1-10 under 35 USC 101 is maintained as shown below.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 USC § 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claims are not statutory as they are drawn as a whole to a software per se.
Claim 1 recites a system, comprising “a data verifier”, “a data tokenizer”, “a data accessor”. The claim does not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because the claim is directed to software(s). To overcome the above concern, applicant is suggested to include at least one hardware component in the system claim.
Claims 2-10 depend on claim 1, therefore are also rejected for the same reason set forth above.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-10 are objected to as being allowable subject matter over prior arts but would be allowable if rewritten in form resolving of the rejections under 35 USC 101 as presented in this office action.
Claims 11-20 are allowed.
As allowable subject matter has been indicated, applicant's reply must either comply with all formal requirements or specifically traverse each requirement not complied with. See 37 CFR 1.111(b) and MPEP § 707.07(a).
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter:
Claim 1 (similarly claims 11, 20) recites unique features “validating user identification data associated with a user, wherein the user identification data is stored and retained exclusively on a user device; generating a token based on the user identification data; storing the token on a blockchain stored outside of the user device; and receiving a request from a requestor user for the user identification data, alerting the user via multi-factor authentication methods, and, if authorized by the user, returning the token being used to encrypt the user identification data to the requestor user following grant of the request by the user, wherein the method encrypts the user identification data at rest on the user device using client-side encryption, encrypts data in transit using an additional encryption layer separate from HTTPS/TLS, and prevents access to a client application on the user device until a user identity is verified”, in combination with all other limitations in the claims as defined by applicant.
The prior arts of records, either singularly or in combination fails to anticipate or render obvious the claimed limitations of independent claims 1, 11, 20 shown above.
Citation of References
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. The following references are cited but not been replied upon for this office action:
Wang (US20250337579) discloses system and method for multi-device assistive identity verification by comparing tokens.
Conclusion
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 extension fee 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 MICHAEL M LEE whose telephone number is (571)272-1975. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F: 8:30AM - 5:30PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, Applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shewaye Gelagay can be reached on (571) 272-4219. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MICHAEL M LEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2436
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