DETAILED ACTION
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and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114.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 07/06/2026 has been entered.
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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim 1 have been considered but are moot due to the new interpretation/explanation below.
Regarding claim 1, Applicant argues that the combination of Alameh and Kincaid does not disclose the newly added limitation “..whether to grant access to the computing device based at least on the position of the wearable device being in front of the computing device..”
In response, Examiner respectfully disagrees and submits that Alameh and Kincaid do not explicitly disclose the granting access to the computing device is based on the position of the wearable device being in front of the computing device. However, since Kincaid discloses granting access based on the position of the device ([0049]-[0050]) and Alameh discloses determines directions of incoming signals of a second device ([0037][0051]). As such, 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 computing device of Alameh to include the UWB device discloses by Kincaid and modify the condition in which access is granted to arrive at the claimed limitation. Therefore, the Applicant’s arguments are not persuasive, and the combination of Alameh and Kincaid still discloses the newly added limitation.
Regarding claims 8 & 15, see response to claim 1 above.
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 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Alameh et al. (US 2020/0342144 A1hereinafter Alameh) and Kincaid et al. (US 2021/0158637 A1-hereinafter Kincaid).
Regarding claim 1, Alameh discloses a computing device (a least figure 1, i.e. computing device) comprising:
one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media (at least figure 15, [0143]-[0144], i.e.: ROM, flash memory and etc.);
one or more hardware processors operatively coupled with the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media (at least figure 15, [0144], i.e.: microprocessors); and
program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that (at least [0144], computer executable instructions), when executed by the one or more hardware processors, direct the computing device to at least:
exchange wireless communications with a wearable device in proximity to the computing device (at least figures 2-5, [0015][0025][0052][0055], the computing device exchanges communications with wearable device in proximity via i.e.: Bluetooth or wi-fi signals);
process the wireless communications to determine a position of the wearable device relative to the computing device (at least [0053]-[0057][0064]-[0065], location/position of wearable relative to the computing device is determined), and to determine an authentication status of the wearable device with respect to a user (at least [0027][0058]-[0060], authentication of user to the wearable device is determined); and
determine whether to grant access to the computing device based at least on the position and the authentication status of the wearable device (at least [0049]-[0050], computing device is unlocked/granted access when the position/location and authentication status of the wearable device is determined).
Alameh does not explicitly disclose determine whether the wearable device is in front of or behind the computing device, to calculate a motion vector describing a direction of motion of the wearable device and that determine whether to grant access to the computing device based at least on the position of the wearable device being in front of the computing device and the direction of motion of the wearable device being towards the computing device.
However, Kincaid discloses an ultra-wide band device (UWB) that includes a plurality of antennas, which permits the UWB device to determine angle of arrival of signals from a second device relative to the UWB device (at least [0037][0051]). In other words, through the antennas, the UWB device is able to determine directions of incoming signals (i.e.: in front of, behind or from the sides and etc.) from the second device.
Alameh and Kincaid do not explicitly disclose the granting access to the computing device is based on the position of the wearable device being in front of the computing device.
However, since Kincaid discloses granting access based on the position of the device ([0049]-[0050]) and Alameh discloses determines directions of incoming signals of a second device ([0037][0051]). 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 computing device of Alameh to include the UWB device discloses by Kincaid and modify the condition in which access is granted to provide stable connectivity with little to no interference and offers high precision positioning, even in congested multi-path signal environments (at least [0002]).
Regarding claim 2, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the computing device of claim 1. Alameh and Kincaid also disclose the program instructions direct the computing device to grant access to the computing device if the position of the wearable device relative to the computing device and the motion vector describing the direction of motion of the wearable device satisfy distance and direction criteria, and if the authentication status of the wearable device is authenticated (Alameh-at least [0027][0049]-[0050][0053]-[0057], the computing device is directed to unlocks/grants access to the wearable device if the location/GPS coordinates, signal of beacons/motions and successful authentication of the wearable device are satisfied; Kincaid-at least [0037][0051], angle of arrival of incoming signals).
Regarding claim 3, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the computing device of claim 2. Alameh and Kincaid also disclose to exchange the wireless communications with the wearable device (Alameh-at least figures 2-5, [0015][0025][0052][0055], the computing device exchanges communications with wearable device in proximity via i.e.: Bluetooth or wi-fi signals), program instruction direct a first computing device to transmit and receive ultra-wideband (UWB) signals to and from the second computing device (Kincaid-at least [0004][0059], waking the UWB communication circuitry of the second computing device, and received at least one UB communication signals from the second computing device).
Regarding claim 4, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the computing device of claim 3. Alameh and Kincaid also disclose to determine the position of the wearable device relative to the computing device (Alameh-at least [0053]-[0057][0064]-[0065], location/position of wearable relative to the computing device is determined), and to calculate the motion vector describing the direction of motion of the wearable device (Alameh-at least [0030], wearable device is in proximity; Kincaid-at least [0037], angle of arrival of incoming signals), the program instructions direct the computing device to determine the position of the wearable device relative to the computing device and calculate the motion vector describing the direction of motion of the wearable device based on one or more characteristics of the UWB signals (Alameh-at least [0053]-[0057][0064]-[0065], location/position of wearable relative to the computing device is determined; Kincaid-[0004]-[0007][0013][0037][0051][0054]-[0055], determines direction from which a signal is coming).
Regarding claim 5, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the computing device of claim 1. Alameh and Kincaid also disclose program instructions direct the computing device to exchange UWB signals with the wearable device in response to the detecting presence of the wearable device via other wireless signals that differ from the UWB signals (Alameh-at least [0025][0052], i.e.: Bluetooth and Wi-fi; Kincaid-at least [0004][0059], waking the UWB communication circuitry of the second computing device, and received at least one UWB communication signals from the second computing device).
Regarding claim 6, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the computing device of claim 5. Alameh and Kincaid also disclose the other wireless signals comprise Bluetooth Low-Energy (BTLE) signals (Alameh-[0052][0113], Bluetooth Low Energy; Kincaid-[0013], BLE).
Regarding claim 7, Alameh discloses the computing device of claim 1. Alameh also discloses the wearable device has a bracelet form factor to be worn by the user (at least [0021], i.e.: smartwatch, bracelet and etc.).
Regarding claim 8, Alameh discloses a wearable computing device (at least figure 1, [0021], wearable device) comprising:
one or more hardware processors operatively coupled with the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media (at least figure 15, [0143]-[0144], microprocessors coupled to memory); and
program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media that (at least [0144], computer executable instructions), when executed by the one or more hardware processors, direct the wearable computing device to:
authenticate a user associated with the wearable computing device (at least [0027][0058], authenticate user to wearable device); and
exchange wireless communications with a user computing device to enable the user computing device to determine a position of the wearable computing device relative to the user computing device (at least figures 2-5, [0015][0025] [0052]-[0053][0055][0057][0064]-[0065], the computing device exchanges communications with wearable device in proximity via i.e.: Bluetooth or wi-fi signals to determine location/position of the wearable device relative to the computing device), and to enable the user computing device to determine an authentication status of the wearable computing device with respect to the user (at least [0027][0058]-[0060], authentication of user to the wearable device is determined), and to enable the user computing device to determine whether to grant access to the user computing device based on the position and the authentication status of the wearable computing device (at least [0049]-[0050], computing device is unlocked/granted access when the position/location and authentication status of the wearable device is determined).
Alameh does not explicitly disclose determine whether the wearable device is in front of or behind the computing device, and to calculate a motion vector describing a direction of motion of the wearable device and enable the user computing device to determine whether to grant access to the user computing device based at least on the position of the wearable computing device being in front of the user computing device, the direction of the motion of the wearable computing device being towards the user computing device.
However, Kincaid discloses an ultra-wide band device (UWB) that includes a plurality of antennas, which permits the UWB device to determine angle of arrival of signals from a second device relative to the UWB device (at least [0037][0051]). In other words, through the antennas, the UWB device is able to determine directions (i.e.: in front of, behind or sides and etc.) of incoming signals from the second device.
Alameh and Kincaid do not explicitly disclose the granting access to the computing device is based on the position of the wearable device being in front of the computing device.
However, since Kincaid discloses granting access based on the position of the device ([0049]-[0050]) and Alameh discloses determines directions of incoming signals of a second device ([0037][0051]). 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 computing device of Alameh to include the UWB device discloses by Kincaid and modify the condition in which access is granted to provide stable connectivity with little to no interference and offers high precision positioning, even in congested multi-path signal environments (at least [0002]).
Regarding claim 9, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the wearable computing device of claim 8. Alameh also discloses the program instructions further direct the wearable computing device to detect a presence of the user based on one or more physiological factors, to authenticate the user in response to detecting the presence of the user (at least [0058]-[0059], authenticate presence of the user using heart rate, temperature and etc.), and to de-authenticate the user in response to detecting an absence of the user (at least [0059]-[0060], if user presence is not detected, then the user needs to be re-authenticated, which means that the user has been de-authenticated).
Claim 10 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 3 above.
Claim 11 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 5 above.
Claim 12 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 6 above.
Claim 13 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 7 above.
Regarding claim 14, Alameh discloses the wearable computing device of claim 13. Alameh also discloses the program instructions further direct the wearable computing device to de-authenticate the user when not being worn by the user (at least [0059]-[0060], if user presence is not detected, then the user needs to be re-authenticated, which means that the user has been de-authenticated).
Claim 15 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 16, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the method of claim 15. Alameh also discloses, by the wearable device:
detecting a presence of the user based on one or more physiological factors (at least [0059], user’s presence is determined using i.e.: heart rate);
authenticating the user in response to detecting the presence of the user (at least [0058]-[0059], user is authenticated when wearable device is worn); and
de-authenticating the user in response to detecting an absence of the user (at least [0059][0060], if wearable device ceases to be detected as worn, then user needs to be re-authenticated, which means the user was de-authenticated).
Regarding claim 17, Alameh and Kincaid disclose the method of claim 16. Alameh also discloses by the wearable device, engaging in an authentication process with a mobile device to authenticate the user, and communicating a result of the authentication process to the computing device (at least [0049][0058], result of user authentication is communicated to the computing device).
Claim 18 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 4 above.
Claim 19 is rejected for the same rationale as claim 3 above.
Claim 20 is rejected for the same rationale as claims 5 & 6 above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PHY ANH TRAN VU whose telephone number is (571)270-7317. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7 am-1 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Taghi T Arani can be reached at (571) 272-3787. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PHY ANH T VU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2438
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