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 § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b): The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 11, Claim 15 and Claim 17 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claim 11 recites :
“ The method according to claim 10,
wherein the consent information of the target user comprises at least one of the following:
fifteenth information for indicating whether the target user agrees or disagrees
with data processing,
wherein the data processing comprises at least one of data obtaining, data usage, data storage, or data sharing;
sixteenth information for indicating a consent usage range;
seventeenth information for indicating a consent usage time; or
eighteenth information for indicating a consent storage time.
The above term “fifteenth information, sixteenth information, seventeenth, information, eighteenth information” lack antecedent from its independent claim 10 where no previous information was described.
Claim 15 and Claim 17 comprise similar features and are subjected to the same rejection.
But for compact prosecution the above 112th(b) rejected claims will be treated as per examiner own interpretation.
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 the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-11 and 14-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Kunzmann (US 2023/0297717 A1).
Regarding Claim 1, 10, 18
Kunzmann discloses a consent data scheduling method (See [Abstract]; method for supporting user consent management, tracking of user specific data and UE specific data requiring user consent), comprising:
receiving, by a first network element (Fig.1a(101-1)), a data request message (See [0026-0027]; DCCF send data request to URDCF) sent by a second network element (Fig.1a(103)),
wherein the data request message is used for requesting target data (See [0026-0027]; requesting data to data source), and the target data is related data of a target user (See [0026-0027]; user related data), stored in the first network element (Fig.1a(101-2); URDCF), or in a data warehouse (Fig.1a(105)); and
performing, by the first network element (Fig.1a(101-1)), a first operation (See [0026-0027]; a URDCF 101-2 may be placed as a proxy on the data collection/data response path between the data source 105 and the data consumer 103) based on consent information of the target user (See [0027-0028]; the response of the request depend on the user consent),
wherein the first operation comprises
refusing to provide the target data to the second network element (See [0027-0028]; the revocation response of the request depend on the user consent),
or
sending the target data to the second network element (See [0027-0028]; the acceptance response of the request depend on the user consent).
Regarding Claim 2,
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kunzmann further teaches
sending, by the first network element (Fig.1a(101-1)), a consent request message (See [0032]; need to check with the unified data management (UDM) to learn about the user consent information available in the subscription information (e.g., subscription data stored in the UDR)) to a third network element (Fig.2(UDM)) based on the data request message (See [0026-0027]; DCCF send data request to URDCF),
wherein the consent request message is used for obtaining the consent information of the target user (See [0032]; the URDCF check for user subscription with the UDM).
Regarding Claim 3,
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 2 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the consent request message comprises at least one of
the following:
at least one piece of identification information for indicating obtaining of the consent information of the target user corresponding to identification information;
requested user consent type information (See [0037]; the user consent has different details or conditions, such as user consent to use the data for network optimization and/or user consent to for marketing-related analytics),
wherein the user consent type comprises at least data sharing (See [0037-0038]; use the data for network optimization and/or user consent to for marketing-related analytics);
first time for indicating that the target data is data generated within the first time;
purpose information of obtaining the target data by the second network element (See [0020]; [0037]; user consent can only be collected for a certain purpose and the user consent would need to be obtained again if the user data is to be used for another purpose);
first information for indicating a consent usage range (See [0036]; the URDCF may also maintain a "validity time" value indicating a duration over which user consent is valid);
second information for indicating a consent usage time (See [0021]; [0034]; entities that store and/or process the data may need to periodically check whether the user consent is still valid for any of the stored data or analytics);
or
third information for indicating a consent storage time (See [0039]; A further embodiment may provide enhanced user consent revocation procedures to include information about "maximum storage time").
(The term “or” is used providing option in the claim analysis)
Regarding Claim 4,
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 2 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the consent information of the target user (See [0027-0028]; the response of the request depend on the user consent) comprises at least one of the following:
fourth information for indicating whether the target user agrees or disagrees with data sharing (See [0037-0038]; consent revocation data);
fifth information for indicating a consent usage range (See [0036]; the URDCF may also maintain a "validity time" value indicating a duration over which user consent is valid);
sixth information for indicating a consent usage time (See [0021]; [0034]; entities that store and/or process the data may need to periodically check whether the user consent is still valid for any of the stored data or analytics); or
seventh information for indicating a consent storage time (See [0034]; At the expiry of this validity time, the data source and/or data consumer may stop/delete corresponding data/analytics).
Regarding Claim 5, 14, 19
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, 10, 18 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the performing, by the first network element based on the consent information of the target user, refusing to provide the target data to the second network element (See [0037-0038]; refusal to shared data with the consumer entity) comprises:
in a case that the consent information of the target user indicates that the target user disagrees with data sharing for the target data (See [0037-0038]; refusal to shared data with the consumer entity),
sending, by the first network element, a first response message to the second network element (See [0037-0038]; consumer element is notified by URDCF);
wherein the first response message is used to at least indicate to the second network element that the first network element refuses or stops provision of the target data (See [0037-0038]; based on its records of data/ analytics exchanged between the different data consumers and data sources, the URDCF may determine the data consumers to be notified as they had received some data that is affected by the revoked user consent).
Regarding Claim 6, 15
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 5, 14 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the first response message (See [0027-0028]; the response of the request depend on the user consent) comprises at least one of the following:
eighth information for indicating that the first network element refuses or stops provision of the target data to the second network element (See [0038]; URDCF does not transmit data to data consumer element because of the revocation consent);
ninth information for indicating a reason why the first network element refuses or stops provision of the target data (See [0038]; the URDCF may update the validity time to indicate its expiry and communicates the same to the data consumer and/or analytics consumer, thus indicating a lack of user consent to the corresponding data/analytics);
tenth information for indicating the second network element to cancel or delete a subscription request for the target data (See [0038]; the URDCF may request and/or notify to the data consumers determined at 6 to delete any UE data and/ or analytics related to the user that has revoked their consent);
or
eleventh information for indicating a waiting time before the second network element requests for the target data from the first network element again.
(The term “or” is used providing option in the claim analysis)
Regarding Claim 7, 16
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, 10 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the sending, by the first network element (Fig.3b(URDCF)), the target data to the second network element (Fig.3b(Data consumer)) based on the consent information of the target user (See Fig.3b(4); [0042]; data source(s) may provide the requested data/ events to the NWDAF (e.g., as data response or as notifications related to the requested subscription). The response/ notify messages may also include a validity time indicating the duration over which the data may be stored / processed) comprises:
in a case that the consent information of the target user indicates that the target user agrees with data sharing for the target data (See Fig.3b(4); [0042]; data source(s) may provide the requested data/ events to the NWDAF (e.g., as data response or as notifications related to the requested subscription). The response/ notify messages may also include a validity time indicating the duration over which the data may be stored / processed),
sending, by the first network element, a second response message to the second network element (See Fig.3b(7); [0043]; if the user consent is available and valid, the data source may provide the requested data to the data consume);
wherein the second response message comprises at least the target data (See Fig.3b(7); [0043]; target data is provided to data consumer).
Regarding Claim 8, 17
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 7, 16 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the second response message further comprises at least one of the following:
twelfth information for indicating a consent usage range (See [0043]; The response / notify message may also include a validity time indicating the duration over which the user consent is valid);
thirteenth information for indicating a consent usage time (See [0021]; [0034]; entities that store and/or process the data may need to periodically check whether the user consent is still valid for any of the stored data or analytics); or
fourteenth information for indicating a consent storage time (See [0039]; A further embodiment may provide enhanced user consent revocation procedures to include information about "maximum storage time").
Regarding Claim 9,
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 1 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the method further comprises:
in a case that the target data is related data, of the target user, stored in the data warehouse (See [0041]; the URDCF may already know about the user consent ( e.g., from a previous request) or may check with the UDM to learn about the user consent information available in the UDR subscription information), obtaining, by the first network element, the target data stored in the data warehouse (See [0041];
if the user consent is available and valid, the NWDAF may send data collection requests / event subscriptions to one or multiple data source(s)).
Regarding Claim 11,
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 10 and Kunzmann further teaches
wherein the consent information of the target user (See [0027-0028]; the response of the request depend on the user consent), comprises at least one of the following:
fifteenth information for indicating whether the target user agrees or disagrees with data processing (See [0027-0028]; the revocation or agreement response to the requested message data),
wherein the data processing comprises at least one of data obtaining, data usage (See [0036]; the URDCF may also maintain a "validity time" value indicating a duration over which user consent is valid), data storage (See [0039]; A further embodiment may provide enhanced user consent revocation procedures to include information about "maximum storage time"),
or data sharing (See [0037-0038]; use the data for network optimization and/or user consent to for marketing-related analytics);
sixteenth information for indicating a consent usage range (See [0036]; the URDCF may also maintain a "validity time" value indicating a duration over which user consent is valid);
seventeenth information for indicating a consent usage time (See [0021]; [0034]; entities that store and/or process the data may need to periodically check whether the user consent is still valid for any of the stored data or analytics);
or
eighteenth information for indicating a consent storage time (See [0039]; A further embodiment may provide enhanced user consent revocation procedures to include information about "maximum storage time").
Regarding Claim 20,
Kunzmann teaches all the features with respect to claim 10 and Kunzmann further teaches
A non-transitory readable storage medium (See [0085]; memory) ,
wherein a program or instructions are stored (See [0079]; Apparatus 20 may further include or be coupled to a memory 24 (internal or external), which may be coupled to processor 22, for storing information and instructions that may be executed by processor 22) in the non-transitory readable storage medium (See [0085]; memory), and
when the program or instructions are executed by a processor (See [0085]; processor), the steps of the consent data scheduling method (See [0085-0086]; apparatus may be configured to perform a procedure relating to user/UE related data control and/or management, e.g., for data subject to user consent, for instance).
Note: Kim (US 12445841 B2) is one of the reference that could be used as prior art but not used for claim analysis
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 12 and 13 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in statutory independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY LAFONTANT whose telephone number is (571)272-3037. The examiner can normally be reached 10:00AM -6:00PM.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeanette Parker can be reached at 571-2703647. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/GARY LAFONTANT/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2646
Prosecution Insights