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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This office action is in response to the application filed on or reply to the remarks of 4/29/2024. The instant application has claims 1-5, 7-15pending. The system and method for using authentication protocols at different nodes for authenticating an device. There a total of 20 claims.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the claims recites different authentication protocols(claim 7) and expiry time(Claim 14) must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
The following title is suggested: The distributed ledger nodes that authenticate the device based on different authentication protocols.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement filed 4/29/2024 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2), which requires a legible copy of each cited foreign patent document; each non-patent literature publication or that portion which caused it to be listed; and all other information or that portion which caused it to be listed. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
The information disclosure statement filed 4/29/2024 fails to comply with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97, 1.98 and MPEP § 609 because the NPL 1 & NPL 3 is missing as well as explanation of relevance of NPL 3 with cited portions. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered as to the merits. Applicant is advised that the date of any re-submission of any item of information contained in this information disclosure statement or the submission of any missing element(s) will be the date of submission for purposes of determining compliance with the requirements based on the time of filing the statement, including all certification requirements for statements under 37 CFR 1.97(e). See MPEP § 609.05(a).
The information disclosure statement filed 4/29/2024 fails to comply with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(3)(i) because it does not include a concise explanation of the relevance, as it is presently understood by the individual designated in 37 CFR 1.56(c) most knowledgeable about the content of the information, of each reference listed that is not in the English language. It has been placed in the application file, but the information referred to therein has not been considered.
-- The Chinese Patent CN 10868364 is cited but no concise explanation is provided.
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 1-5, 7-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more. The steps can be performed by an human on an generic computer. The claim recites authenticating an device based on credentials being verified by different nodes using authentication protocol. The steps can be performed by an human with different persons sitting at different nodes, i..e. device presents an SIM identifier and the representative checks whether the SIM identifier is registered and check other parties as well.
The limitation of “receiving, at a plurality of nodes of a distributed ledger, from the device an authentication request, the authentication request including data indicating one or more steps of an authentication method”, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components. That is, other than reciting “by a processor,” nothing in the claim element precludes the step from practically being performed in the mind. For example, but for the “by a processor” language, “receiving, at a plurality of nodes of a distributed ledger, from the device an authentication request, the authentication request including data indicating one or more steps of an authentication method” in the context of this claim encompasses the user manually making an request via device to include credentials like SIM identifier or identifier information. Similarly, the limitation of “authenticating the device across a plurality of nodes of the distributed ledger, wherein each of the plurality of nodes follows the one or more steps of the authentication method indicated by the data received from the device, wherein the data indicating the one or more steps of the authentication method indicate an authentication protocol of a plurality of authentication protocols”, as drafted, is a process that, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation done in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (“2019 PEG”) Federal Register January 7, 2019. For example, but for the “by a processor” language, “authenticating the device across a plurality of nodes of the distributed ledger, wherein each of the plurality of nodes follows the one or more steps of the authentication method indicated by the data received from the device, wherein the data indicating the one or more steps of the authentication method indicate an authentication protocol of a plurality of authentication protocols” in the context of this claim encompasses the user thinking that confirming upon receiving the identifier is registered from other parties/members that the user’s device is authentic. If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation in the mind but for the recitation of generic computer components, then it falls within the “Mental Processes” & “Certain methods of organizing human activity” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claim only recites one additional element – using a processor to perform both the “receiving, at a plurality of nodes of a distributed ledger, from the device an authentication request, the authentication request including data indicating one or more steps of an authentication method” and “authenticating the device across a plurality of nodes of the distributed ledger, wherein each of the plurality of nodes follows the one or more steps of the authentication method indicated by the data received from the device, wherein the data indicating the one or more steps of the authentication method indicate an authentication protocol of a plurality of authentication protocols “steps. The processor in both steps is recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function of receiving an request and checking the credentials with other parties) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Accordingly, this additional element does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea. The claim is directed to an abstract idea.
The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a processor to perform receiving an request and checking the credentials with other parties steps amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. The claim is not patent eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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 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)(2) 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) 1-5, 7-15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticiapted US Patent 11601426 to Fan.
Regarding claim 1, 9, A method for authenticating a device, the method comprising the steps of: receiving, at a plurality of nodes of a distributed ledger, from the device an authentication request, the authentication request including data indicating one or more steps of an authentication method(Fig. 1 item 11 & Col 2 LN 18-40, the authentication method for device); and authenticating the device across a plurality of nodes of the distributed ledger, wherein each of the plurality of nodes follows the one or more steps of the authentication method indicated by the data received from the device, wherein the data indicating the one or more steps of the authentication method indicate an authentication protocol of a plurality of authentication protocols(Col 8 Ln 26-40, the second device receives that authentication request & Fig. 4 & Col 13 LN 15-37).
Regarding claim 2. Fan discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the request further includes credentials and the step of authenticating the device across the plurality of nodes of the distributed ledger further includes authenticating the credentials(Col 6 Ln 31-60, the identifiers used for authentication) .
Regarding claim 3. Fan discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein authentication of the device is unsuccessful unless more than one node of the plurality of nodes authenticate the device according to the one or more steps indicated by the data received from the device(Col 9 Ln 7-53, the parties record the successful authentication).
Regarding claim 4. Fan discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein authentication of the device is unsuccessful unless a majority of the plurality of nodes involved in the authentication authenticate the device(Fig. 4 & Fig. 7).
Regarding claim 5. Fan discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the data indicating one or more steps of an authentication method are included in a header of the request(Col 6 Ln 28-40).
Regarding claim 7. Fan discloses the method of claim 1,wherein the plurality of authentication protocols include: symmetric encryption; asymmetric encryption; public key infrastructure, PKI;SIM Trust; IoT SAFE; TLS; DTLS; and Generic Bootstrapping Architecture, GBA(Col 9 Ln 17-53, the public key is used).
Regarding claim 8. Fan discloses the method according to claim 1 further comprising the step of the device selecting the authentication method from a plurality of authentication methods available to the device before generating the request including data indicating the one or more steps of the selected authentication method(Col 10 Ln 33-55).
Regarding claim 10. Fan discloses the authentication system of claim 9, wherein a further device of the one or more devices is configured to generate a further authentication request indicating further one or more steps of a second authentication method different to the one or more steps of the authentication method(Col 10 Ln 33-55)..
Regarding claim 11. The authentication system of claim 9, wherein authentication of the device is unsuccessful unless more than one node of the plurality of nodes authenticate the device according to the one or more steps indicated by the data received from the device(Fig. 4 & Fig. 7). .
Regarding claim 12. Fan discloses the authentication system according Claim 9, wherein each of the one or more devices is further configured to select the authentication method from a plurality of authentication methods available to the device before generating the request including data indicating the one or more steps of the selected authentication method(Col 10 Ln 33-55).
Regarding claim 13. Fan discloses the authentication system according to claim 9,where each of the one or more devices is further configured to receive data defining a new authentication method for use in further authentication requests(Col 10 Ln 33-55).
Regarding claim 14. Fan discloses the authentication system of claim 13, wherein the original and/or new authentication method has an expiry time(Col 12 LN 1-7, time interval).
Regarding claim 15. Fan discloses the authentication system according to claim 9,wherein the one or more devices further comprises a UICC or SIM configured to secure the request(Col 1 LN 54-60, SIM is used).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent Pub 2020/0235921 to La Rocha, which discloses the registry of user that is authenticated for transactions.
US Patent Pub 2022/0343319 to Murao, which discloses the public ledger being used for accessing secure content.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Venkat Perungavoor whose telephone number is (571)272-7213. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Rupal Dharia can be reached at 571-272-3880. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/VENKAT PERUNGAVOOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2492 Email: venkatanarayan.perungavoor@uspto.gov
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