DETAILED ACTION
This Non Final Office Action is in response to Application filed on 11/29/2023.
Claims 1-9 filed on 11/29/2023 are being considered on the merits.
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 .
Drawings
The drawings filed on 11/29/2023 are accepted.
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 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.
The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
Claims 1-4, and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LOERA (US 20150227897 A1) in view of Gross (US 20150164192 A1).
Regarding claim 1, LOERA teaches a physical cryptocurrency object (STRONG Abstract “a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet, wherein the tangible Cryptocurrency wallet is a printable medium that displays a public key that is in visible ink and that conceals a private key in invisible ink.”), comprising:
a tangible public object on which a public key is written, in which the public key on the tangible public object is exposed for viewing (LOERA [0012] “…the method of making, securing, and using a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet comprises the steps of… print the public key on the printable medium in visible ink…print the private key on the printable medium in invisible ink”, [0014] “An object of the present invention is to provide a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet that manifests a public key in visible ink and conceals a private key in invisible ink.”);
a tangible private object on which a private key is written, in which the private key on the tangible object is hidden for viewing (LOERA [0012] “…the method of making, securing, and using a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet comprises the steps of… print the public key on the printable medium in visible ink…print the private key on the printable medium in invisible ink”, [0013] “…the method further comprises of providing a light source that illuminates the private key so that it is readable to a human.”, [0014] “An object of the present invention is to provide a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet that manifests a public key in visible ink and conceals a private key in invisible ink.”, where the private key is concealed and is visible only by the owner by using a specific wavelength of the light source as disclosed in the abstract); and
a object , wherein the tangible public object and the tangible private object are positioned and sealed within the object (LOERA [0014] “An object of the present invention is to provide a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet that manifests a public key in visible ink and conceals a private key in invisible ink.”, where the keys are sealed within the tangible Cryptocurrency wallet/object, where the wallet can be made of a paper or of any material as disclosed in the abstract).
While LOERA discloses the cryptocurrency wallet made of any material as disclosed in the abstract, which would make it obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art to conceive of any material as a choice, however, LOERA does not explicitly disclose glass object. Emphasis in italic below.
Gross discloses a glass object having at least a partially hollow interior, …positioned and sealed within the glass object (Gross [0023] “(h) to provide a sealed object for securely storing a cryptocurrency private key with a public key that allows the user to view the amount of cryptocurrency deposited in the account linked to the private key”, “[0025] (j) to provide a sealed object for securely storing a cryptocurrency private key comprising sealed objects such as: figurines, ornaments, decorations, adornments, glass pieces, sculptures, statuettes, porcelains, breakables, ceramics, potteries and the like; and [0026] (k) to provide a sealed object for securely storing a cryptocurrency private key comprising sealed objects that are promotional objects for companies, artists, and cryptocurrencies that may be themselves; or feature on them: logos, trademarks, signage, slogans, or other identifying information.”, [0034] “10 A sealed object [0035] 12 A glass Christmas ornament [0036] 14 A ceramic dog figurine with a removable head [0037] 16 A plastic dog toy [0038] 18 A squirrel stuffed animal [0039] 20 A sealed cavity [0040] 30 A private key [0041] 40 A record of the date on which the money or cryptocurrency was deposited in the account [0042] 50 A record of the amount of money or cryptocurrency in the account [0043] 60 A record of the amount of money or cryptocurrency in the account in relation to one or more currencies on the date the money or cryptocurrency was deposited in the account [0044] 70 Instructions for use of the private and/or public key and account [0045] 80 A public key that allows the user to view the amount of money or cryptocurrency deposited in the account [0046] 90 A series name, date, number of objects in the series, and number that the sealed object is in the series").
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA to incorporate the teaching of Gross to utilize the above feature of keeping a cryptocurrency safe, where the design and material is used as a choice by the user as indicated by different embodiments in Figures 1-4 by Gross, as recognized by (Gross and throughout).
Regarding claim 2, LOERA in view of Gross teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 1, wherein the tangible public object is paper (LOERA Abstract “The tangible Cryptocurrency wallet is a wallet that can be made of paper or of any material in which visible and invisible ink can be recorded.”, [0012] “…sending a first print instruction to the inkjet printer, wherein the print instruction is to print the public key on the printable medium in visible ink; and sending a second print instruction to the inkjet printer, wherein the print instruction is to print the private key on the printable medium in invisible ink.”).
Regarding claim 3, LOERA in view of Gross teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 2, wherein the tangible private object is paper (LOERA Abstract “The tangible Cryptocurrency wallet is a wallet that can be made of paper or of any material in which visible and invisible ink can be recorded.”, [0012] “…sending a first print instruction to the inkjet printer, wherein the print instruction is to print the public key on the printable medium in visible ink; and sending a second print instruction to the inkjet printer, wherein the print instruction is to print the private key on the printable medium in invisible ink.”).
Regarding claim 4, LOERA in view of Gross teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 3.
LOERA does not explicitly disclose the below limitation.
Gross discloses wherein the glass object is a sphere (Gross [0023] “(h) to provide a sealed object for securely storing a cryptocurrency private key with a public key that allows the user to view the amount of cryptocurrency deposited in the account linked to the private key”, “[0025] (j) to provide a sealed object for securely storing a cryptocurrency private key comprising sealed objects such as: figurines, ornaments, decorations, adornments, glass pieces, sculptures, statuettes, porcelains, breakables, ceramics, potteries and the like; and [0026] (k) to provide a sealed object for securely storing a cryptocurrency private key comprising sealed objects that are promotional objects for companies, artists, and cryptocurrencies that may be themselves; or feature on them: logos, trademarks, signage, slogans, or other identifying information.”, [0034] “10 A sealed object [0035] 12 A glass Christmas ornament [0036] 14 A ceramic dog figurine with a removable head [0037] 16 A plastic dog toy [0038] 18 A squirrel stuffed animal [0039] 20 A sealed cavity [0040] 30 A private key [0041] 40 A record of the date on which the money or cryptocurrency was deposited in the account [0042] 50 A record of the amount of money or cryptocurrency in the account [0043] 60 A record of the amount of money or cryptocurrency in the account in relation to one or more currencies on the date the money or cryptocurrency was deposited in the account [0044] 70 Instructions for use of the private and/or public key and account [0045] 80 A public key that allows the user to view the amount of money or cryptocurrency deposited in the account [0046] 90 A series name, date, number of objects in the series, and number that the sealed object is in the series", where the glass ornament is of a spherical shape).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA to incorporate the teaching of Gross to utilize the above feature of keeping a cryptocurrency safe, where the design and material is used as a choice by the user as indicated by different embodiments in Figures 1-4 by Gross, as recognized by (Gross and throughout).
Regarding claim 6, LOERA in view of Gross teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 5.
LOERA does not explicitly disclose the below limitation.
Gross discloses wherein the tangible private object is encapsulated by another object inside the glass object to prevent its private key from being viewed ([0039] 20 A sealed cavity [0040] 30 A private key).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA to incorporate the teaching of Gross to utilize the above feature of keeping a cryptocurrency safe, where the design and material is used as a choice by the user as indicated by different embodiments in Figures 1-4 by Gross, as recognized by (Gross and throughout).
Regarding claim 7, LOERA in view of Gross teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 6.
LOERA does not explicitly disclose the below limitation.
Gross discloses wherein the glass object’s exterior has a unique pattern ([0035] “glass Christmas ornament”, where an ornament is an object designed for decoration as it have a certain design, i.e. unique pattern, for decoration purpose).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA to incorporate the teaching of Gross to utilize the above feature of keeping a cryptocurrency safe, where the design and material is used as a choice by the user as indicated by different embodiments in Figures 1-4 by Gross, as recognized by (Gross and throughout).
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LOERA (US 20150227897 A1) in view of Gross (US 20150164192 A1) and Lee (US 20230121749 A1).
Regarding claim 5, LOERA in view of Gross teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 4.
While it is obvious to conceive of alphanumeric characters of cryptographic keys in the field before the filing date of the claimed invention, however, LOERA in view of Gross does not explicitly disclose alphanumeric characters.
Lee wherein the public key and the private key are alphanumeric characters (Lee Figure 1 [0078] alpha-numeric portion 129).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA in view of ROBERTSON to incorporate the teaching of Lee to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of determining balance information of a card, as recognized by (Lee and throughout).
Claims 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LOERA (US 20150227897 A1) in view of Gross and ROBERTSON (AU 2020237499 A1).
Regarding claim 8, LOERA teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 7.
LOERA discloses the aforementioned limitations and further discloses public key and the private key on their respective tangible printed area, printed with visible and invisible ink, respectively. However, LOERA do not disclose that the public and private keys are linked to a database associated with a cryptocurrency service.
ROBERTSON discloses wherein the public key and the private key on their respective tangible public object and tangible private object are linked to a database associated with a cryptocurrency service to enable users to verify the authenticity of the physical cryptocurrency object (ROBERTSON illustrates in Figure 1 physical cryptocurrency [44] “…physical cryptocurrency may comprise a physical medium 101, such a bill 121, prepaid card 122, coin 123, or other physical formats including credit cards, gift cards, paper tickets, or other stores of value. Physical medium 101 may comprise, for example, paper, plastic, fabric, metal, or other materials.”, [55] “…Computer device 301 may be used to query the smart contract 305 and verify that it is associated with public key 222 and private key 221 of processor 110 and determine and verify the existence of the asset 307 that is associated with the smart contract 305.”, further in [61]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA to incorporate the teaching of ROBERTSON to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of “…enable execution of a smart contract on a blockchain to transfer an asset from a starting address to a destination address on the blockchain.”, as recognized by (ROBERTSON Abstract and throughout).
Claim 9 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over LOERA (US 20150227897 A1) in view of Gross, ROBERTSON (AU 2020237499 A1), and Lee (US 20230121749 A1).
Regarding claim 9, LOERA in view of ROBERTSON teaches the physical cryptocurrency object of claim 8.
LOERA discloses [0015] “Another object of the present invention is to provide a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet that can be shown to third parties so that the amount of currency on the wallet can be verified and yet the private key is not visibly displayed.”, [0026] “Another advantage of the present invention is that it provides a tangible Cryptocurrency wallet that can be shown to third parties so that the amount of currency on the wallet can be verified…”.
Gross discloses [0045] “80 A public key that allows the user to view the amount of money or cryptocurrency deposited in the account”.
However, LOERA in view of Gross and ROBERTSON does not explicitly disclose the below limitation where the website is publicly accessible. Emphasis in italic.
Lee discloses wherein the cryptocurrency service hosts a website publicly accessible by user computing devices, wherein the cryptocurrency service receives a user-input public key at a user computing device and checks its database for a corresponding public key and its associated monetary value, and wherein the cryptocurrency service transmits at least the monetary value to the user computing device (Lee discloses in e.g. [0181] physical cryptocurrency, and further discloses in [0077-0078, 0145, 0160] visible public key which is used to determine balance information from a web service).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified LOERA in view of ROBERTSON to incorporate the teaching of Lee to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of determining balance information of a card, as recognized by (Lee and throughout).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
STRONG (US 20190362340 A1) discloses secure multiple cryptocurrency wallet and methods of use thereof.
Lowe (US 20240054460 A1) discloses “Cryptocurrency cold storage device 110 is depicted in FIG. 1 in the form of a transaction card, such as a luxury card comprising metal, ceramic, glass, or a combination thereof”.
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/BASSAM A NOAMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2497