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 .
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 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter (see the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure section 2106). Claim 1 recites a “machine readable medium”. In Applicant's Specification paragraph ¶0044, the definition of "machine readable medium" includes signals: “[n]on-limiting machine readable medium examples can include solid-state memories, optical media, magnetic media, and signals (e.g., radio frequency signals, other photon based signals, sound signals, etc.)”. It is noted that signals, carrier waves and other transmission media are non-statutory. It is suggested to amend the “machine readable medium" of claim 1 to read “non-transitory machine readable medium” or similar to direct the claim to only statutory subject matter.
Dependent claims incorporate all of the limitations of their respective independent or intervening claim(s) and are rejected on the same basis.
Prior Art
Listed herein below are the prior art references relied upon in this Office Action:
Premkrishna et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2024/0303094), referred to as Premkrishna herein.
Feldman (US Patent Application Publication 2002/0152212), referred to as Feldman herein.
Sanders et al. (US Patent Number 11,140,061), referred to as Sanders herein.
Beckman et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2015/0089673), referred to as Beckman herein.
Examiner’s Note
Strikethrough notation in the pending claims has been added by the Examiner.
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, 2, 5-7, 9, 11, 12, 15-17, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldman in view of Premkrishna.
Regarding claim 1, Feldman discloses a machine readable medium including instructions for use-constrained user interface component distribution, the instructions, when executed by processing circuitry of a system, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising (Feldman, Abstract, ¶0004 – web page access entitlement based on requestor membership. ¶0035, ¶0065-¶0068 – processor executing programming instructions stored in hardware memory):
receiving, at the system, a request for a user interface component (UIC), the UIC being one of multiple UICs hosted by the system,
the request corresponding to a call context with a first element for an application making the request, the first element including a first field name and a first field value (Feldman, ¶0044 – request including identifiers for accessor name and resource ID. ¶0075 – web browser application. ¶0034 – software application access);
retrieving, based on receipt of the request for the UIC, a use context corresponding to the UIC, the use context including a second element, the second element including a second field name and a second field value; locating the first element from the call context based on locating the first field name using the second field name (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – object names are keys within a registry including corresponding to values of entitlement expression descriptions. The object registry is queried using the object name to determine the corresponding entitlement expression field value. The entitlement expression field value corresponds to an accessor field);
comparing the first field value to the second field value to determine that the first field value does not meet the second field value; and
However, Feldman appears not to expressly disclose the limitations shown in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Premkrishna discloses network-based resource access control (Premkrishna, Abstract with ¶0035), including
receiving, at the system, a request for a user interface component (UIC), the UIC being one of multiple UICs hosted by the system, individual UICs being composable with other UICs into a user interface (Premkrishna, Figs. 2 and 4 with ¶0059-¶0060, and ¶0066 – user request to launch an application. The request for access to the application corresponds to a function set and corresponding micro frontend fragments for the first application)
comparing the first value to the second value to determine that the first value does not meet the second value; and transmitting a failure message in response to the request based on the first value not meeting the second value (Premkrishna, ¶0037, ¶0069 – APIs are not authorized when the API is inconsistent with the governance protocol. An error message is transmitted).
Therefore, 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 the objects and denial of Feldman to include micro frontend fragments and error message transmission based on the teachings of Premkrishna. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable access to independent pieces of software, such as micro frontends, which are not under direct control, while maintaining clear structure in the user interface along particular guidelines (Premkrishna, ¶0041).
Regarding claim 2, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the second field value is a range, and wherein the first field value is not within the range (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – entitlement expressions include a range of accessors entitled to access the object. Accessors outside of the range are denied access to the object).
Regarding claim 5, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the first element is a list of other elements in the user interface (Feldman, ¶0044 – request including identifiers for accessor name and resource ID. Premkrishna, ¶0038, ¶0063-¶0066, ¶0071 – first function set corresponds to a variety of requested functions and corresponding graphical elements, icons, or libraries to be fetched in implementing the corresponding function).
Regarding claim 6, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 5 above, and further discloses wherein the second element is a list of elements that are composable with the UIC (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – object/entitlement registry is a list of elements that can be composed or not composed within the UIC depending on the accessor. For example, from Table 2, for a Medical Doctor that is not a Physical Therapist or US Subscriber, the registry is a list of objects (Web Pages 1-4), that are composable).
Regarding claim 7, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 5 above, and further discloses wherein the second element is a list of elements that cannot be composed with the UIC (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – object/entitlement registry is a list of elements that can be composed or not composed within the UIC depending on the accessor. For example, from Table 2, for a US Subscriber that is a Physical Therapist and not a Medical Doctor, the registry is a list of objects (Web Pages 2-4), that are not composable).
Regarding claim 9, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above, and further discloses wherein the operations comprise: receiving a registration request for the UIC, the registration request including the use context (Feldman, Fig. 9 with ¶0062 – request for adding an object to the registry requires object name and E-expression (use context));
comparing elements of the use context with a deployment standard to determine that a third element of the use context does not meet a deployment standard (Feldman, Fig. 9 with ¶0063 – determining whether the E-expression is valid can result in determining that it is not valid); and
communicating a failure to register the UIC message based on the third element not meeting the deployment standard (Feldman, Fig. 9 with ¶0062-¶0063 – an error signal is generated to indicate the E-expression is not valid).
Regarding claim 11, Feldman discloses a method for use-constrained user interface component distribution, the method comprising (Feldman, Abstract, ¶0004 – web page access entitlement based on requestor membership. ¶0035, ¶0065-¶0068 – processor executing programming instructions stored in hardware memory):
receiving, at a system, a request for a user interface component (UIC), the UIC being one of multiple UICs hosted by the system,
the request corresponding to a call context with a first element for an application making the request, the first element including a first field name and a first field value (Feldman, ¶0044 – request including identifiers for accessor name and resource ID. ¶0075 – web browser application. ¶0034 – software application access);
retrieving, based on receipt of the request for the UIC, a use context corresponding to the UIC, the use context including a second element, the second element including a second field name and a second field value; locating the first element from the call context based on locating the first field name using the second field name (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – object names are
keys within a registry including corresponding to values of entitlement expression descriptions. The object registry is queried using the object name to determine the corresponding entitlement expression field value. The entitlement expression field value corresponds to an accessor field);
comparing the first field value to the second field value to determine that the first field value does not meet the second field value; and
However, Feldman appears not to expressly disclose the limitations shown in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Premkrishna discloses network-based resource access control (Premkrishna, Abstract with ¶0035), including
receiving, at the system, a request for a user interface component (UIC), the UIC being one of multiple UICs hosted by the system, individual UICs being composable with other UICs into a user interface (Premkrishn
a, Figs. 2 and 4 with ¶0059-¶0060, and ¶0066 – user request to launch an application. The request for access to the application corresponds to a function set and corresponding micro frontend fragments for the first application)
comparing the first value to the second value to determine that the first value does not meet the second value; and transmitting a failure message in response to the request based on the first value not meeting the second value (Premkrishna, ¶0037, ¶0069 – APIs are not authorized when the API is inconsistent with the governance protocol. An error message is transmitted).
Therefore, 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 the objects and denial of Feldman to include micro frontend fragments and error message transmission based on the teachings of Premkrishna. The motivation for doing so would have been to enable access to independent pieces of software, such as micro frontends, which are not under direct control, while maintaining clear structure in the user interface along particular guidelines (Premkrishna, ¶0041).
Regarding claim 12, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 11 above, and further discloses wherein the second field value is a range, and wherein the first field value is not within the range (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – entitlement expressions include a range of accessors entitled to access the object. Accessors outside of the range are denied access to the object).
Regarding claim 15, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 11 above, and further discloses wherein the first element is a list of other elements in the user interface (Feldman, ¶0044 – request including identifiers for accessor name and resource ID. Premkrishna, ¶0038, ¶0063-¶0066, ¶0071 – first function set corresponds to a variety of requested functions and corresponding graphical elements, icons, or libraries to be fetched in implementing the corresponding function).
Regarding claim 16, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 15 above, and further discloses wherein the second element is a list of elements that are composable with the UIC (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – object/entitlement registry is a list of elements that can be composed or not composed within the UIC depending on the accessor. For example, from Table 2, for a Medical Doctor that is not a Physical Therapist or US Subscriber, the registry is a list of objects (Web Pages 1-4), that are composable).
Regarding claim 17, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 15 above, and further discloses wherein the second element is a list of elements that cannot be composed with the UIC (Feldman, Fig. 4 with ¶0041-¶0050 and Tables 1 and 2 – object/entitlement registry is a list of elements that can be composed or not composed within the UIC depending on the accessor. For example, from Table 2, for a US Subscriber that is a Physical Therapist and not a Medical Doctor, the registry is a list of objects (Web Pages 2-3), that are not composable).
Regarding claim 19, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 11 above, and further discloses receiving a registration request for the UIC, the registration request including the use context (Feldman, Fig. 9 with ¶0062 – request for adding an object to the registry requires object name and E-expression (use context));
comparing elements of the use context with a deployment standard to determine that a third element of the use context does not meet a deployment standard (Feldman, Fig. 9 with ¶0063 – determining whether the E-expression is valid can result in determining that it is not valid); and
communicating a failure to register the UIC message based on the third element not meeting the deployment standard (Feldman, Fig. 9 with ¶0062-¶0063 – an error signal is generated to indicate the E-expression is not valid).
Claim(s) 3-4, 8, 13-14, and 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldman in view of Premkrishna in further view of Beckman.
Regarding claim 3, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above. However, Feldman as modified does not appear to expressly disclose wherein the second field value is an alphanumeric value, and wherein the first field value has a degree of difference to the alphanumeric value that is beyond a predetermined threshold.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Beckman discloses a container with restricted or denied access to content, including website content form the internet (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0042-¶0043, ¶0071),
wherein the second field value is an alphanumeric value, and wherein the first field value has a degree of difference to the alphanumeric value that is beyond a predetermined threshold (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0105-¶0112 – the device geographical location is checked against geolocking or geofencing rules to determine whether access to the container is permitted. Geofencing rules can include a location with a predetermined threshold distance from the location that is allowed (in the example, the distance is within 10km of city boundaries). ¶0100-¶0111 – device location can be GPS coordinates and geocodes).
Therefore, 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 the entitlement field of Feldman to include geofencing or geolocking rules based on the teachings of Beckman. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase flexibility over content restrictions and control, to prevent unwanted access (Beckman, ¶0004), including in circumstances where users are in authorized locations or the device has been stolen or lost (Beckman, ¶0009).
Regarding claim 4, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above. However, Feldman as modified does not appear to expressly disclose wherein the first element and the second element correspond to a physical location.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Beckman discloses a container with restricted or denied access to content, including website content form the internet (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0042-¶0043, ¶0071),
wherein the first element and the second element correspond to a physical location (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0105-¶0113 – the device geographical location is checked against geolocking or geofencing rules to determine whether access to the container is permitted. Geofencing rules can include a location with a predetermined threshold distance from the location that is allowed (in the example, the distance is within 10km of city boundaries)).
Therefore, 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 the entitlement field of Feldman to include geofencing or geolocking rules based on the teachings of Beckman. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase flexibility over content restrictions and control, to prevent unwanted access (Beckman, ¶0004), including in circumstances where users are in authorized locations or the device has been stolen or lost (Beckman, ¶0009).
Regarding claim 8, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 1 above. However, Feldman as modified does not appear to expressly disclose wherein the operations comprise recording telemetry of requests for the UIC.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Beckman discloses a container with restricted or denied access to content, including website content form the internet (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0042-¶0043, ¶0071),
wherein the operations comprise recording telemetry of requests for the UIC (Beckman, Fig. 9 with ¶0100-¶0101 – client information, including GPS coordinates, are tracked and stored, including at the client and server. See also ¶0110 – tracking of request timing and corresponding location).
Therefore, 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 the entitlement field of Feldman to include tracking of clients accessing the content based on the teachings of Beckman. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase flexibility over content restrictions and control, to prevent unwanted access (Beckman, ¶0004), including in circumstances where users are in authorized locations or the device has been stolen or lost (Beckman, ¶0009).
Regarding claim 13, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 11 above. However, Feldman as modified does not appear to expressly disclose wherein the second field value is an alphanumeric value, and wherein the first field value has a degree of difference to the alphanumeric value that is beyond a predetermined threshold.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Beckman discloses a container with restricted or denied access to content, including website content form the internet (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0042-¶0043, ¶0071),
wherein the second field value is an alphanumeric value, and wherein the first field value has a degree of difference to the alphanumeric value that is beyond a predetermined threshold (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0105-¶0112 – the device geographical location is checked against geolocking or geofencing rules to determine whether access to the container is permitted. Geofencing rules can include a location with a predetermined threshold distance from the location that is allowed (in the example, the distance is within 10km of city boundaries). ¶0100-¶0111 – device location can be GPS coordinates and geocodes).
Therefore, 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 the entitlement field of Feldman to include geofencing or geolocking rules based on the teachings of Beckman. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase flexibility over content restrictions and control, to prevent unwanted access (Beckman, ¶0004), including in circumstances where users are in authorized locations or the device has been stolen or lost (Beckman, ¶0009).
Regarding claim 14, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 11 above. However, Feldman as modified does not appear to expressly disclose wherein the first element and the second element correspond to a physical location.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Beckman discloses a container with restricted or denied access to content, including website content form the internet (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0042-¶0043, ¶0071),
wherein the first element and the second element correspond to a physical location (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0105-¶0112 – the device geographical location is checked against geolocking or geofencing rules to determine whether access to the container is permitted. Geofencing rules can include a location with a predetermined threshold distance from the location that is allowed (in the example, the distance is within 10km of city boundaries)).
Therefore, 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 the entitlement field of Feldman to include geofencing or geolocking rules based on the teachings of Beckman. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase flexibility over content restrictions and control, to prevent unwanted access (Beckman, ¶0004), including in circumstances where users are in authorized locations or the device has been stolen or lost (Beckman, ¶0009).
Regarding claim 18, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 11 above. However, Feldman as modified does not appear to expressly disclose comprising recording telemetry of requests for the UIC.
However, in the same field of endeavor, Beckman discloses a container with restricted or denied access to content, including website content form the internet (Beckman, Abstract with ¶0042-¶0043, ¶0071),
wherein the operations comprise recording telemetry of requests for the UIC (Beckman, Fig. 9 with ¶0100-¶0101 – client information, including GPS coordinates, are tracked and stored, including at the client and server. See also ¶0110 – tracking of request timing and corresponding location).
Therefore, 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 the entitlement field of Feldman to include tracking of clients accessing the content based on the teachings of Beckman. The motivation for doing so would have been to increase flexibility over content restrictions and control, to prevent unwanted access (Beckman, ¶0004), including in circumstances where users are in authorized locations or the device has been stolen or lost (Beckman, ¶0009).
Claim(s) 10 and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Feldman in view of Premkrishna in further view of Sanders.
Regarding claim 10, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 9 above, and further discloses wherein the registration request includes source code for a portion of the UIC
However, Feldman as modified appears not to expressly disclose the limitations in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Sanders discloses network application access control techniques, including application of governing policies (Sanders, Abstract with 1:10-22), including
wherein the registration request includes source code for a portion of the UIC, and wherein communication of the failure is also based on the source code deviating from the deployment standard (Sanders, Figs. 3-4 with 5:49-6:12, 8:15-35, 8:46-9:26 – new source code added to the repository is monitored for compliance with policies. Source code which violates the policies is rejected from the repository).
Therefore, 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 the registry of Feldman as modified to include source code standards based on the teachings of Sanders. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce the likelihood that the applications and services are used in an unintended manner, and to restrict access to user accounts with certain characteristics (Sanders, 1:10-22), reducing threats and enhancing security.
Regarding claim 20, Feldman as modified discloses the elements of claim 19 above, and further discloses wherein the registration request includes source code for a portion of the UIC, and
However, Feldman as modified appears not to expressly disclose the limitations in strikethrough above. However, in the same field of endeavor, Sanders discloses network application access control techniques, including application of governing policies (Sanders, Abstract with 1:10-22), including
wherein the registration request includes source code for a portion of the UIC, and wherein communication of the failure is also based on the source code deviating from the deployment standard (Sanders, Figs. 3-4 with 5:49-6:12, 8:15-35, 8:46-9:26 – new source code added to the repository is monitored for compliance with policies. Source code which violates the policies is rejected from the repository).
Therefore, 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 the registry of Feldman as modified to include source code standards based on the teachings of Sanders. The motivation for doing so would have been to reduce the likelihood that the applications and services are used in an unintended manner, and to restrict access to user accounts with certain characteristics (Sanders, 1:10-22), reducing threats and enhancing security.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. References are at least relevant as indicated in the corresponding summary.
Fellows et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2022/0301016) – restricting advertisement interfaces to certain geographical locations.
Satish et al. (US Patent Number 11,895,126) – field-value pair indexing for stored events for data sources including container/docker elements.
Yang et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2024/0168859) – source code registration requirements.
Park et al. (US Patent Application Publication 2010/0318601) – widget registry and functional context.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DANIEL W PARCHER whose telephone number is (303)297-4281. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday, 9:00am - 5:00pm, Mountain Time.
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/DANIEL W PARCHER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2174