DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to a non-provisional utility patent application filed by Applicant on 11/27/2023.
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 PTO-1449
The Information Disclosure Statement submitted by applicant on 11/27/2023 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR § 1.97. Form PTO-1449 signed and attached hereto.
Double Patenting
No conflicting application or issued patent was identified that would require a rejection under double patenting.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
The present application, as claimed, satisfies the requirements for patent-eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. 101.
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.
Claims 1, 4–7 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Krovatkina (US 2023/0412423 A1, published Dec. 21, 2023) in view of Schiffman (US 2021/0391992 A1, published Dec. 16, 2021).
Regarding claims 1, 6, and 7, Krovatkina discloses: an information processing system comprising: a first interface; a second interface; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured to: connect the first interface to a first network allowing any terminal to connect (providing zero-trust traffic segmentation and network configuration for southbound data communications interface. Krovatkina Figures 3–4 and ¶ 56.); connect the second interface to a second network allowing a specific terminal to connect (northbound data communications interface providing firewall-like secure isolated conduit to local devices. Krovatkina Figures 3–4 and ¶ 56.).
Krovatkina does not disclose: make identification information available for acquisition by a terminal connected to the first network, the identification information being used to identify an executing device that executes a predetermined process as the specific terminal connected to the second network; and transmit, upon accepting the identification information and an execution instruction to execute the process from a terminal connected to the first network, the execution instruction over the second network to the executing device pertaining to the identification information.
However, Schiffman does disclose: make identification information available for acquisition by a terminal connected to the first network, the identification information being used to identify an executing device that executes a predetermined process as the specific terminal connected to the second network (issuing a cryptographic authorization token (interpreted as the recited identification information) to a client upon receiving a request, allowing the client to access a particular service (interpreted as the recited executes a predetermined process) from a protected service provider (interpreted as the recited specific terminal connected to the second network). Schiffman ¶¶ 40 and 43–44.); and transmit, upon accepting the identification information and an execution instruction to execute the process from a terminal connected to the first network, the execution instruction over the second network to the executing device pertaining to the identification information (issuing the authorization token associated with a particular service, to the client allowing the requesting client to access a service at a service provider, and is accepted to allow the client to access the requested service. Schiffman Figure 3 and ¶¶ 37–39.).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the dual interface network gateway device of Krovatkina with the issuing of cryptographic blockchain-based access tokens to facilitate protected network resources based upon the teachings of Schiffman. The motivation being to verify that a client is authorized to access a particular service from a service provider. Schiffman ¶ 1.
Regarding claims 4, Krovatkina in view of Schiffman discloses the limitations of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to: make a list of tokens available for acquisition by a terminal connected to the first network, the tokens being the identification information associated with each executing device connected to the second network (the token issuer uses the policy defined on the blockchain or smart contract to evaluate if the client request is valid or not, where the policies are defined and maintained by a policy maintainer determining how and when tokens are issued and have policies that are stored in a centralized record listing permissions of members of a group and conditions requires for access to different services. Schiffman ¶¶ 32–34.); and transmit, upon accepting a token and the execution instruction from a terminal connected to the first network, the execution instruction over the second network to the executing device associated with the token (the code associated with the issued token can be executed automatically or based on user input. Schiffman ¶ 38.).
Regarding claims 5, Krovatkina in view of Schiffman discloses the limitations of claim 4, wherein the processor is configured to make a list of tokens, in which usage restrictions on the executing device are set, available for acquisition by a terminal connected to the first network (the token issuer uses the policy defined on the blockchain or smart contract to evaluate if the client request is valid or not, where the policies are defined and maintained by a policy maintainer determining how and when tokens are issued and have policies that are stored in a centralized record listing permissions of members of a group and conditions requires for access to different services. Schiffman ¶¶ 32–34.).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2–3 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.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Chern (US 2011/0239283 A1, published Sep. 29, 2011), issuing security tokens in response to a service request by a printer or copier; Costa (US 10,248,783 B2, issued Apr. 2, 2019), generating an identity token incorporating identity information based upon blockchain structure to access restricted network resources; Harrer (US 2019/0182231 A1, published Jun. 13, 2019), creating a blockchain token for verification a granting access; Parla (US 2024/0146718 A1, published May 2, 2024), secured tunneled communication using an interface to manage zero-trust communication traffic between separate network architectures.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to VANCE M LITTLE whose telephone number is (571) 270-0408. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday - Friday 9:30am - 5:30pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jung (Jay) Kim can be reached on (571) 272-3804. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VANCE M LITTLE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493
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