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 .
This Office Action is responsive to: Application filed 28 Mar. 2024
Claims 1-8 are pending in this case. Claims 1 and 5 are independent claims
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ford et al. (Pub. No.: US 2015/0310188 A1; Filed: Mar. 10, 2015) (hereinafter “Ford”).
Regarding independent claim 1, Ford disclose a system for sequential signing of documents including a sender of the transaction, a recipient of the transaction, an input device, an output device, documents, a processing unit, a network connection and servers, comprising:
a processing unit that employs a sequential signature feature following a specific
transaction workflow (0070; 0100-0101);
wherein the sender sends a signature workflow transaction to be signed and selects values
for metadata fields using at least one input device, whereby the recipient selects at least one
transaction from a pending workflow transactions list displayed by the sequential signature
feature on the recipient's web screen (0062; 0094; 0110); and
a 2-factor authentication validates the recipient thereby enabling him or her to apply a
signature to the documents and sends a transaction completion conformation email to the sender
and recipient using the output device (0067; 0070; 0076; 0165);
wherein the system facilitates the grouping of documents into transactions using metadata
field mapping, 2-factor authentication of the recipient and employing sequential transaction
workflow for signing multiple pending workflow transactions at the recipient's end (0067; 0070; 0076; 0165; 0116; 0118);
wherein one after the other in a sequential manner as provided by the sequential signature
feature (0279-0280).
Regarding dependent claim 2, Ford disclose the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the processing unit enables segregating the similar documents within relevant groups referred as transactions, pending to be signed where the system applies the values for metadata based on the sender's inputs previously selected from a list of meta data fields including, region, legal entity, business units, document type whether it is vendor contracts, procurement contracts, customer contracts, partner contracts, marketing contracts, IT contracts, non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), value-based contracts, department-based contracts and any additional user specific data, and displays the transactions on the web-screen with workflows for pending transactions, enabling the recipient or signer to sequentially
sign the listed transactions (0118; 0129; 0424).
Regarding dependent claim 3, Ford disclose the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system generates an audit report of the completed transactions displayed using the sequential signing feature on the user's web-screen such that the audit report captures all logs information including IP address of the sender as well as recipient, time stamps, date and time of signing a particular transaction (0062; 0067; 0165-0166; 0190; 0211; 0250; 0288; 0350).
Regarding dependent claim 4, Ford disclose the system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system provides an efficient, time-saving, convenient method for signing multiple transactions pending at the recipients' end in a sequential manner with a 2-factor authentication of the recipient before applying signatures to the transaction and allows the recipient to view all the transaction pending for his or her signature on a single screen enabling the transactions to appear one after the other in sequence assuring that none of the transactions are left unapproved and devoid of signature (0067; 0070; 0076; 0165; 0111).
Regarding independent claim 5, Ford disclose a method for sequential signing of documents, comprising the steps of:
sending a signature workflow transaction in the system by a sender through at least one
input device using a network (0067; 0088);
selecting preferrable values for metadata fields by the sender (0067; 0088; 0094);
receiving a link by a recipient for a transaction to be signed through an email (0067; 0088; 0094);
clicking on the link by the recipient to open a transaction web-screen to review the
transaction (0111; 0124);
applying signature to the transaction using an action button by the recipient (0111; 0282);
displaying a signature or approval process completion web-screen showing the reviewed
and signed documents (0135-0137; 0185);
displaying the web-screen with the list of workflows for pending transactions which are
required to be signed by the recipient (0155; 0280; 0282);
segregating of the documents by a processing unit into relevant groups or transactions
using the metadata field mapping (0167);
2-factor authentication of the recipient by the system before signing the transaction (0067; 0070; 0076; 0165; 0116; 0118);
selecting any one transaction by the recipient from the pending transaction list as
provided by the sequential signature feature (0067; 0070; 0076; 0165; 0116; 0118);
clicking on the action button on the screen for applying signature (0111);
generating an audit report of the completed transactions (0087; 0147; 0175; 0184);
displaying the next pending transaction in sequence on the recipient's web-screen 0067; 0070; 0076; 0165; 0111);
sending a transaction confirmation email to the sender and the recipient (0111; 0203; 0252); and
repeating the signing steps for the remaining pending transactions one by one as they
sequentially provided by the sequential signature feature of the system (0279-0280).
Regarding dependent claim 6, Ford disclose the method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the 2-factor authentication step within the sequential signature workflow to verify the recipient using details including either a mobile number or an email id or both, before proceeding for signing of the transaction where the user or recipient need not authenticate again for the next document to be signed if he or she has authenticated using the same 2-factor authentication details for the previous transaction completed in the same active user session (0096; 0099; 0110; 0115-0117).
Regarding dependent claim 7, Ford disclose the method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the method further comprises the step of generating an audit report of the completed transactions displayed using the sequential signing feature on the user's web-screen such that the audit report captures all logs information such as IP address of the sender as well as recipient, time stamps, date and time of signing a particular transaction (0062; 0067; 0190; 0211; 0250; 0288; 0350).
Regarding dependent claim 8, Ford disclose the method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the method provides an efficient, time-saving, convenient method for signing multiple transactions pending at the recipient's end in a sequential manner with a 2-factor authentication of the recipient before applying signatures to the transaction and allows the recipient to view all the transaction pending for his or her signature on a single screen enabling the transactions to appear one after the other in sequence assuring that none of the transactions are left unapproved and devoid of signature (0067; 0070; 0076; 0165; 0111).
NOTE
It is noted that any citations to specific, pages, columns, lines, or figures in the prior art references and any interpretation of the reference should not be considered to be limiting in any way. A reference is relevant for all it contains and may be relied upon for all that it would have reasonably suggested to one having ordinary skill in the art. See MPEP 2123.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JAMES J DEBROW whose telephone number is (571)272-5768. The examiner can normally be reached on 09:00 - 06:00.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Bashore can be reached on 571-272-4088. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/James J Debrow/
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2174
571-272-5768
Prosecution Insights