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 .
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 7/28/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
The applicant argues that the combination does not teach “encrypting the digital asset using the private…and the first hash”. As can be seen in Jackson [0097], the NFT is created by generating a cryptographic hash of a portion of the asset information. [0058] further the asset information being pixel values in the image. Hence, it is clear that the NFTs in Jackson are generated using cryptographic hashes of the asset.
The applicant also argues that the combination does not teach “copying the encrypted …secure file space”. As can be seen in Jackson [0030] teaches transferring data and preventing fraudulent use, [0054] teaches granting access to requested data and [0102] teaches providing a cryptographic key to a user device upon verifying identity and allowing access to unabridged instance of the digital asset. Hence we see that Jackson teaches allowing an electronic device access to a previously encrypted asset using a cryptographic key.
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.
Claim(s) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Reineke, publication number: US 2023/0334488 in view of Jackson, publication number: US 2022/0329446.
As per claim 1, Reineke teaches a method comprising:
receiving a digital asset (asset 105, [0027]);
generating a first hash of the digital asset (Hash 445, [0045]);
minting a non-fungible token (NFT) by tokenizing the digital asset and the first hash (minting, [0004][0017][0027]); and
forming, by recording the NFT in a block of a plurality of blocks on a blockchain, the block configured as a digital asset vault of a plurality of digital asset vaults of an electronic storage vault residing on the blockchain, (NFT on blockchain, [0017][0045]).
Reineke does not teach
Generating, by a central key repository, a private key for the digital asset;
storing the private key in the central key repository;
encrypting the digital asset using the private key to generate an encrypted digital asset;
the digital asset vault being configured to be accessed using the private key that is obtained from the central key repository, the central key repository being separate from the blockchain.
In an analogous art, Jackson teaches Generating, by a central key repository, a private key for the digital asset (generating and retrieving key, [0035][0044]);
storing the private key in the central key repository (retrieving key, [0035]);
encrypting the digital asset using the private key to generate an encrypted digital asset (encrypting assets, [0026][0090]);
the digital asset vault being configured to be accessed using the private key that is obtained from the central key repository, the central key repository being separate from the blockchain (accessing NFT using cryptographic key, [0035], key distribution module 112 being different from ledger 106, Fig. 1 [0035]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Reineke’s NFT system to include asset encryption as described Jackson’s asset management system for the advantage of providing an extra layer of protection for the system.
As per claim 2, the combination teaches comprising storing a location of the digital asset vault in a central database (Reineke: URL, [0005-0006][0030]).
As per claim 3, the combination teaches comprising accessing the encrypted digital asset from the digital asset vault using the private key (Reineke: repository 410, [045]).
As per claim 4, the combination teaches comprising:
copying the encrypted digital asset from the digital asset vault to a secure file space;
decrypting the encrypted digital asset using the private key to generate a decrypted digital asset in the secure file space; and
displaying the decrypted digital asset to an authenticated user (Jackson: decrypting, [0038]).
As per claim 5, the combination teaches comprising
generating a second hash of the decrypted digital asset; and
comparing the second hash with the first hash (Reineke: comparing hashes, [0039][0055][0077]).
As per claim 6, the combination teaches comprising deleting one or more of the encrypted digital asset or the decrypted digital asset from the secure file space (Jackson: destroying asset, [0084]).
As per claim 7, the combination teaches wherein the central key repository is separate from a blockchain network where the blockchain resides (Jackson: key, [0035]).
As per claim 8, the combination teaches comprising validating the digital asset received before generating the first hash (Reineke: validating, [0034]).
As per claim 9, the combination teaches comprising storing one or more of the first hash or the encrypted digital asset in an off-chain file storage space (Reineke: repository 210, [0033]).
Claims 10-17 are rejected based on claims 1-2 and 4-9
Claims 18-20 are rejected based on claims 1 and 4-5
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 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.
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/OLUGBENGA O IDOWU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494
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