DETAILED ACTION
Acknowledgements
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s response/application filed on 12/05/2025.
The Examiner notes that citations to United States Patent Application Publication paragraphs are formatted as [####], #### representing the paragraph number.
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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 3, 18, and 19 have been amended.
No claims have been added or canceled.
Claims 1-20 are currently pending and have been examined.
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.
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(a) 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.
Claim(s) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brown (EP 2306692), in view of Pace (US 20160260031), further in view of Wu (CN 110139261 A).
Regarding claim(s) 1, Brown discloses:
a traveling user device (first device 401 in Fig. 4), and
a validator device (second device 100a in Fig. 4),
wherein said traveling user device comprises an app for generating a QR code and is provided with a screen for displaying said QR code and with a transmission and reception antenna (By disclosing, “At 410, first device 401 encodes Bluetooth pairing data, comprising the PIN code generated at 405, in a barcode. A known barcode encoding technique may be employed. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further encodes the network address of the first device (e.g., MAC address). In at least one embodiment, the barcode comprises a 2-dimensional barcode represented by squares, dots, and/or other geometric patterns (see e.g. barcode 710 in display 700 of FIG. 7).” ([0068] and Fig. 4 of Brown); and “The Bluetooth protocol is a voice and data wireless communication protocol commonly used for short-range communications between electronic devices. Some of the advantages presented by the Bluetooth protocol may comprise low power operation, low cost, device ubiquity and low processing requirements” ([0054] of Brown)),
wherein said validator device is provided with an optical reader capable of reading a QR code, and is provided with a transmission and reception antenna (By disclosing, “At 430, second device 100a receives the image comprising the barcode and extracts the barcode. In at least some embodiments, the image is captured via a camera (e.g. camera unit 148 of FIG. 1) or other optical sensing device associated with second device 100a.” ([0076] of Brown); and “The Bluetooth protocol is a voice and data wireless communication protocol commonly used for short-range communications between electronic devices. Some of the advantages presented by the Bluetooth protocol may comprise low power operation, low cost, device ubiquity and low processing requirements” ([0054] of Brown)),
wherein said QR code generated by said app present on the traveling user device contains therein, in addition to other data, also the MAC Address of said traveling user device (By disclosing, “At 410, first device 401 encodes Bluetooth pairing data, comprising the PIN code generated at 405, in a barcode. A known barcode encoding technique may be employed. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further encodes the network address of the first device (e.g., MAC address). In at least one embodiment, the barcode comprises a 2-dimensional barcode represented by squares, dots, and/or other geometric patterns (see e.g. barcode 710 in display 700 of FIG. 7).” ([0068] and Fig. 4 of Brown)),
wherein said validator device extracts from said QR code, framed by the optical reader, the MAC Address of the traveling user device and uses it to connect in Bluetooth Low Energy mode, by means of the Bluetooth Low Energy transmission and reception antenna, to the traveling user device (By disclosing, “At 440, second device 100a decodes the barcode to obtain the Bluetooth pairing data comprising the PIN code. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further comprises the network address of first device 401. At 450, second device 100a transmits Bluetooth pairing data, which depends in part on the PIN code initially generated by first device 401 and decoded from the barcode received at the second device 100a, to first device 401, and carries out Bluetooth pairing in known manner. Multiple exchanges of data may be required in the pairing process.” ([0077]-[0078] of Brown); and “The Bluetooth protocol is a voice and data wireless communication protocol commonly used for short-range communications between electronic devices. Some of the advantages presented by the Bluetooth protocol may comprise low power operation, low cost, device ubiquity and low processing requirements” ([0054] of Brown)); and
characterized in that:
-said transmission and reception antenna of said traveling user device is a Bluetooth Low Energy antenna, (By disclosing, “The Bluetooth protocol is a voice and data wireless communication protocol commonly used for short-range communications between electronic devices. Some of the advantages presented by the Bluetooth protocol may comprise low power operation, low cost, device ubiquity and low processing requirements” ([0054] of Brown)).
Brown does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
the validator device performs the operation of validating the travel document, which generates a validated document which is returned to the traveling user device. (By disclosing, “The scanning device 24 may scan the ticket on the mobile device 22(a) and verify that the ticket is valid. …. The verification of a ticket may optionally be transmitted to the mobile device associated with a verified ticket 22(b) such that the device retains information that the user's ticket has been verified.” ([0059] of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown in view of Pace to include a validator device performs the operation of validating the travel document, which generates a validated document which is returned to the traveling user device. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would allow the traveling user device retains information that the user’s travel document has been verified.
Brown does not disclose, but Wu teaches:
said transmission and reception antenna of said validator device is another Bluetooth Low Energy antenna, (By disclosing, each of a Bluetooth device 200 and a Bluetooth mobile device 300 has a Bluetooth antenna (Fig. 1 of Wu); and “Because of the low power consumption characteristics of the Bluetooth wireless communication, more and more of the current network communication selection using Bluetooth as a wireless communication device.” ([0002] of Wu)); and
said validator device uses the MAC address of the traveling user device to connect in Bluetooth. (By disclosing, “Typically, Bluetooth device 200 and Bluetooth mobile terminal 300 formed between Bluetooth pairing a Bluetooth communication connection. under the condition specifically, Bluetooth device 200 after starting the Bluetooth function of, for broadcast MAC address of the Bluetooth device 200 within the predetermined distance range from the broadcasting unit 210. the lower case and the Bluetooth mobile terminal 300 after starting the client end unit 330, by the MAC address of the Bluetooth device of the monitoring unit 310 monitoring the predetermined distance range 200. the predetermined distance is the standard distance range under the Bluetooth communication standard. the Bluetooth mobile terminal 300 of the Bluetooth connecting unit 320 for Bluetooth sends to the Bluetooth device 220 based on monitored by monitoring unit 310 of the Bluetooth device 200 of the MAC address of the connection request. the Bluetooth device 200 of the Bluetooth connecting unit 220 after receiving the Bluetooth connection from the Bluetooth unit 320 of the Bluetooth connection request, by matching to connecting unit 320 establishes a Bluetooth communication with a Bluetooth connection.” ([0032] of Wu)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown and Pace, in view of Wu to include techniques of said transmission and reception antenna of said validator device is another Bluetooth Low Energy antenna, and said validator device uses the MAC address of the traveling user device to connect in Bluetooth. Doing so would result in an improved invention because the MAC address servs as a unique device identifier which allows unique and globally identifiable.
Regarding claim(s) 2, the combination of Brown and Wu does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein said operation of validating the travel document occurs in Account Based mode. (By disclosing, the user needs to register an account to access the ticket platform ([0078], [0079] of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown and Wu, in view of Pace to include techniques of wherein said operation of validating the travel document occurs in Account Based mode. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would allow the user to track ticket information in the user’s account.
Regarding claim(s) 3, the combination of Brown and Wu does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein said traveling user device has stored therein a reference to the travel document stored in a database. (By disclosing, “the system may store the associated identification tokens in the ticket database and update the mobile device application display with the associated identification tokens for the ticket” ([0108], [0043] of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown and Wu, in view of Pace to include techniques of wherein said traveling user device has stored therein a reference to the travel document stored in the database at the center. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would allow the user to track ticket information from the database.
Regarding claim(s) 4, the combination of Brown and Wu does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein said reference to the travel document is a unique serial number. (By disclosing, “an identification token may be selected from any one or more of the following non-limiting examples: Quick Response (“QR”) code, bar code, text, photograph, image, icon, password, passkey, data string, sound, etc.” ([0045] of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown and Wu, in view of Pace to include techniques of wherein said reference to the travel document is a unique serial number. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would allow the user to track ticket information from the database by using the serial number.
Regarding claim(s) 5, Brown discloses:
wherein said QR code contains the MAC Address which is used to identify the traveling user device (By disclosing, “At 410, first device 401 encodes Bluetooth pairing data, comprising the PIN code generated at 405, in a barcode. A known barcode encoding technique may be employed. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further encodes the network address of the first device (e.g., MAC address). In at least one embodiment, the barcode comprises a 2-dimensional barcode represented by squares, dots, and/or other geometric patterns (see e.g. barcode 710 in display 700 of FIG. 7).”.
Regarding claim(s) 6, Brown discloses:
wherein said validator device extracts the MAC Address from said QR code and uses it to connect in Bluetooth Low Energy mode to the traveler user device by means of a bidirectional data exchange also in Bluetooth Low Energy mode (By disclosing, “At 440, second device 100a decodes the barcode to obtain the Bluetooth pairing data comprising the PIN code. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further comprises the network address of first device 401. At 450, second device 100a transmits Bluetooth pairing data, which depends in part on the PIN code initially generated by first device 401 and decoded from the barcode received at the second device 100a, to first device 401, and carries out Bluetooth pairing in known manner. Multiple exchanges of data may be required in the pairing process.” ([0077]-[0078] of Brown); and “The Bluetooth protocol is a voice and data wireless communication protocol commonly used for short-range communications between electronic devices. Some of the advantages presented by the Bluetooth protocol may comprise low power operation, low cost, device ubiquity and low processing requirements” ([0054] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 7, Brown discloses:
wherein said validator device and said traveling user device establish a unique transmission in Bluetooth Low Energy mode therebetween. (By disclosing, “The Bluetooth protocol is a voice and data wireless communication protocol commonly used for short-range communications between electronic devices. Some of the advantages presented by the Bluetooth protocol may comprise low power operation, low cost, device ubiquity and low processing requirements” ([0054] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 8, Brown discloses:
wherein said validator device communicates with only one traveling user device at a time (By disclosing, “Generally, a first device may initiate Bluetooth pairing by searching for one or more devices that are within range and in a discoverable mode, in known manner. Upon performing the search, the first device detects any Bluetooth devices that are within range and in a discoverable mode. In addition to announcing its presence, a discoverable device will typically also provide an indication of its type (e.g., headset, phone, etc.). In some situations, there may be many discoverable devices within range, requiring a user to select the desired device from a long list.” ([0056] of Brown); and “the barcode may provide a medium for the transmission of data used to perform Bluetooth™ pairing between the first device and the second device” ([0053] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 9, the combination of Brown and Wu does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein, in said system, an "anti-passback" mechanism of the travel document is adopted which allows to block subsequent attempts to validate the same identical travel document just validated. ([0047] of Pace).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown and Wu, in view of Pace to include techniques of wherein, in said system, an "anti-passback" mechanism of the travel document is adopted which allows to block subsequent attempts to validate the same identical travel document just validated. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would prevent the unauthorized copying, transfer, or reproduction of the ticket.
Regarding claim(s) 10, Brown discloses:
wherein the QR code, in addition to the MAC Address, also contains secure access credentials. (By disclosing, “At 410, first device 401 encodes Bluetooth pairing data, comprising the PIN code generated at 405, in a barcode. A known barcode encoding technique may be employed. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further encodes the network address of the first device (e.g., MAC address). In at least one embodiment, the barcode comprises a 2-dimensional barcode represented by squares, dots, and/or other geometric patterns (see e.g. barcode 710 in display 700 of FIG. 7).” ([0068] and Fig. 4 of Brown))
Regarding claim(s) 12, Brown discloses:
wherein said secure access credentials comprise a key for encryption. (By disclosing, “In order to establish communications for the first time, Bluetooth devices engage in a connection process known as "pairing", a purpose of which is to establish a shared secret, commonly known as the link key. One common form of the link key is a PIN code, which may be an ASCII string up to 16 characters in length, for example.” ([0055] of Brown); and “the PIN code may be encoded in a barcode” ([0060] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 14, Brown discloses:
wherein the same secret key is used in the data exchange between the validator device and the traveling user device and vice versa. (By disclosing, “At 410, first device 401 encodes Bluetooth pairing data, comprising the PIN code generated at 405, in a barcode.” ([0068] and Fig. 4 of Brown); “At 440, second device 100a decodes the barcode to obtain the Bluetooth pairing data comprising the PIN code. In at least some embodiments, the Bluetooth pairing data further comprises the network address of first device 401. At 450, second device 100a transmits Bluetooth pairing data, which depends in part on the PIN code initially generated by first device 401 and decoded from the barcode received at the second device 100a, to first device 401, and carries out Bluetooth pairing in known manner. Multiple exchanges of data may be required in the pairing process.” ([0077]-[0078] of Brown); “In order to establish communications for the first time, Bluetooth devices engage in a connection process known as "pairing", a purpose of which is to establish a shared secret, commonly known as the link key. One common form of the link key is a PIN code, which may be an ASCII string up to 16 characters in length, for example.” ([0055] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 17, Brown discloses:
wherein the validator device, by means of said access credentials obtained by interpreting the QR code, establishes a secure encrypted communication channel with the traveling user device (By disclosing, “Depending on the desired application, different types of data may be transmitted from the first device to the second device. For example, barcodes may be used to facilitate the secure transmittal of security parameters” ([0052] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 19, the combination of Brown and Wu does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein the validator device receives the travel document or the reference to the travel document stored in a database, by means of Bluetooth, validates it locally or in Account Based mode, and returns it validated to the traveling user device. (By disclosing, “The scanning device 24 may scan the ticket on the mobile device 22(a) and verify that the ticket is valid. …. The verification of a ticket may optionally be transmitted to the mobile device associated with a verified ticket 22(b) such that the device retains information that the user's ticket has been verified.” ([0059], [0093], [0112] of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown and Wu that using low energy Bluetooth to transmit data, in view of Pace to include techniques of wherein the validator device receives the travel document or the reference to the travel document stored in a database, by means of Bluetooth, validates it locally or in Account Based mode, and returns it validated to the traveling user device. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would allow the traveling user device retains information that the user’s travel document has been verified.
Claim(s) 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brown (EP 2306692), in view of Pace (US 20160260031), further in view of Wu (CN 110139261 A), and Le Saint (US 20160241389).
Regarding claim(s) 11, the combination of Brown, Pace and Wu does not disclose, but Le Saint teaches:
wherein said secure access credentials comprise a key for symmetric encryption. (By disclosing, “In some cases, an encryption key and a decryption key may be the same (i.e., a “symmetric key”).” ([0040], [0046] of Le Saint)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown, Pace, and Wu, in view of Le Saint to include wherein said secure access credentials comprise a key for symmetric encryption. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would leverage the advantages of using symmetric encryption (e.g. speed and efficiency, etc.).
Regarding claim(s) 13, Brown discloses:
wherein the same secret key is used for both encryption and decryption. (By disclosing, “the PIN code may be encoded in a barcode” ([0060] of Brown); and “At 440, second device 100a decodes the barcode to obtain the Bluetooth pairing data comprising the PIN code.” ([0077] of Brown)).
Regarding claim(s) 15, the combination of Brown, Pace and Wu does not disclose, but Le Saint teaches:
wherein the symmetric key is never exchanged between the validator device and the traveling user device, but only an identifying index of the key to be used is exchanged. (By disclosing, “At block 220, the request message is sent to a server computer. The request message includes the encrypted request data and the protected server key identifier.” ([0092] of Le Saint)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the combination of Brown, Pace, and Wu, in view of Le Saint to include wherein the symmetric key is never exchanged between the validator device and the traveling user device, but only an identifying index of the key to be used is exchanged. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would further protect the encryption key.
Regarding claim(s) 16, the combination of Brown, Pace and Wu does not disclose, but Le Saint teaches:
wherein the validating device and the traveling user device contain therein a set of possible keys to be used. (By disclosing, “one or more identifier encryption keys may be used and/or maintained by a single entity (e.g., a client computer or a server computer) in different situations.” ([0047] of Le Saint)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the combination of Brown, Pace and Wu, in view of Le Saint to include wherein the validating device and the traveling user device contain therein a set of possible keys to be used. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would improve the transmission security by using different keys in different communications.
Regarding claim(s) 18, the combination of Brown, Le Saint and Wu does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein the traveler user device, after verifying the access credentials, sends the travel document or the reference to the travel document stored in a database, to the validator device. (By disclosing, “FIG. 4 is a flowchart representing an embodiment of a log-in method for verifying a user's credentials in accordance with the present disclosure. The method 400 begins at a first step 401 when a user initiates or is otherwise prompted to complete a log-in request by a ticket platform server. The method continues to step 402 when the user is prompted for user credentials. In an embodiment, user credentials may be in the form of a user account, such as a username and associated password. In an embodiment, the prompt may occur through a user interface such as that of a mobile application or web interface. In certain embodiments, credentials may be automatically generated from the user device used to facilitate the prompt; for example, log-in credentials may be kept in the form of cookies, access keys, and the like. In one of said certain embodiments, a prompt may be automatically completed by means of securely authenticating the telephone number or MAC address of a mobile device.” ([0072] of Pace); and “In an embodiment, the scanner device 24 may be able to determine and verify a ticket displayed on the screen of the first mobile device 22. The ticket may be configured as a combination of an identification token and a fraud prevention token such that the operator of the scanner device 24, or the scanner device 24 itself, may determine that the ticket is being displayed via the user interface of an authorized application instead of an unauthorized screenshot.” ([0054] of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the combination of Brown, Le Saint, Wu and Le Saint, in view of Pace to include wherein the traveler user device, after verifying the access credentials, sends the travel document or the reference to the travel document stored in a database, to the validator device. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would improve the security by verifying the access credentials before transmitting the travel document.
Regarding claim(s) 20, the combination of Brown does not disclose, but Pace teaches:
wherein the traveling user device stores therein the validated travel document for a possible control by an inspector. (By disclosing, “The scanning device 24 may scan the ticket on the mobile device 22(a) and verify that the ticket is valid. …. The verification of a ticket may optionally be transmitted to the mobile device associated with a verified ticket 22(b) such that the device retains information that the user's ticket has been verified.” ([0059], of Pace)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Brown, Le Saint and Wu that using low energy Bluetooth to transmit data, in view of Pace to include techniques of wherein the traveling user device stores therein the validated travel document for a possible control by an inspector. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would allow the traveling user device retains information that the user’s travel document has been verified for future reference.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with regard to the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection initiated by applicant’s amendment to the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
EP 3770866 A1 to Grieu for disclosing:
Each terminal carries an optically recognizable distinctive coded image, different from those of the other terminals and encoding a digital identifier of a target terminal. Each terminal includes a memory where information derived from the identifier of the terminal is recorded. The method comprises: c1) by a camera of the portable object, acquisition of the coded image of the terminal physically located near the portable object; c2) decoding the acquired image to produce an optically acquired identifier; d1) establishing a communication with the terminals located within communication range of the portable object; d2) association, in the portable object and / or in a terminal, of the optically acquired identifier and of the representative information corresponding to the respective terminal; e) comparison of the optically acquired identifier and the representative information; and f) if there is a match, determining that the terminal is a target terminal, and continuing to communicate and / or executing a transaction only with that terminal.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUAN ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4642. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 10 AM-5 PM.
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/DUAN ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3699