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 .
The Application number 18/721,918 filed on 6/20/2024 has been considered. Claims 1-10, 12, and 15-23 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/24/2024, 11/13/2024 and 5/23/2025 are being considered by the examiner.
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.
(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 1-5, 10, 12, 15-18 and 23 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Gupta et al. (US 9,307,408 hereinafter Gupta).
Regarding claim 1, Gupta discloses a network access method, comprising:
determining, according to a selected target network, by a terminal, an auxiliary network associated with the target network (FIG. 1-5, col. 2 line 49-col. 3, line 30, col. 5, line 54-col.6, line 44; i.e. determining according to the hotspot the OSU server to start signup and provisioning process);
connecting to the auxiliary network, and obtaining a digital certificate from the auxiliary network, wherein the digital certificate is used for accessing the target network (FIG. 1-5, col. 2 line 49-col. 3, line 30, col. 5, line 54-col.6, line 44; i.e. connecting to the OSU server to obtain a certificate);
installing the digital certificate (FIG. 1-5, col. lines; i.e. downloading the certificate); and
accessing the target network by using the digital certificate (FIG. 1-5, col. 2 line 49-col. 3, line 30, col. 5, line 54-col.6, line 44; i.e. using the certificate to connect to the hotspot).
Regarding claim 2, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the determining, according to the selected target network, by the terminal, the auxiliary network associated with the target network, comprises: obtaining, according to a selected first service set identifier, SSID, by the terminal, a second SSID associated with the first SSID; wherein the first SSID is an SSID of the target network, and the second SSID is an SSID of the auxiliary network (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22).
Regarding claim 3, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the obtaining, according to the selected first SSID, by the terminal, the second SSID associated with the first SSID, comprises: based on a preset network name derivation rule and according to the selected first SSID, deriving the second SSID associated with the first SSID (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22); wherein the network name derivation rule is pre-agreed by the terminal and an access device (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22).
Regarding claim 4, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 2, wherein the obtaining, according to the selected first SSID, by the terminal, the second SSID associated with the first SSID, comprises: obtaining, by the terminal, the second SSID associated with the first SSID from an access device by active scanning or passive scanning (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22).
Regarding claim 5, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network comprises: obtaining a domain name of a certificate server in connection with the auxiliary network(FIG. 2 & 4, col. 2, lines 11-21, col. 3, lines 21-30); obtaining an address of the certificate server according to the domain name of the certificate server (FIG. 2 & 4, col. 2, lines 11-21, col. 3, lines 21-30); and downloading the digital certificate from the certificate server according to the address of the certificate server (FIG. 2 & 4, col. 2, lines 11-21, col. 3, lines 21-30).
Regarding claim 10, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein the digital certificate comprises at least one of a user certificate, an issuer certificate, or a user private key (col. 4, lines 19-26).
Regarding claim 12, Gupta discloses a communication device, comprising:
a processor, and a memory (FIG. 10, col. 12, lines 34-67);
wherein the memory stores computer instructions (FIG. 10, col. 12, lines 34-67); and
the processor is configured to read the computer instructions to execute (FIG. 10, col. 12, lines 34-67):
determining, according to a selected target network, an auxiliary network associated with the target network (FIG. 1-5, col. 2 line 49-col. 3, line 30, col. 5, line 54-col.6, line 44; i.e. determining according to the hotspot the OSU server to start signup and provisioning process);
connecting to the auxiliary network, and obtaining a digital certificate from the auxiliary network, wherein the digital certificate is used for accessing the target network (FIG. 1-5, col. 2 line 49-col. 3, line 30, col. 5, line 54-col.6, line 44; i.e. connecting to the OSU server to obtain a certificate);
installing the digital certificate (FIG. 1-5, col. lines; i.e. downloading the certificate); and
accessing the target network by using the digital certificate the method (FIG. 1-5, col. 2 line 49-col. 3, line 30, col. 5, line 54-col.6, line 44; i.e. using the certificate to connect to the hotspot).
Regarding claim 15, Gupta discloses the communication device according to claim 12, wherein the determining, according to the selected target network, the auxiliary network associated with the target network, comprises: obtaining, according to a selected first service set identifier, SSID, a second SSID associated with the first SSID; wherein the first SSID is an SSID of the target network, and the second SSID is an SSID of the auxiliary network (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22).
Regarding claim 16, Gupta discloses the communication device according to claim 15, wherein the obtaining, according to the selected first SSID, the second SSID associated with the first SSID, comprises: based on a preset network name derivation rule and according to the selected first SSID, deriving the second SSID associated with the first SSID (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22); wherein the network name derivation rule is pre-agreed by the terminal and an access device (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22).
Regarding claim 17, Gupta discloses the communication device according to claim 15, wherein the obtaining, according to the selected first SSID, the second SSID associated with the first SSID, comprises: obtaining, by the terminal, the second SSID associated with the first SSID from an access device by active scanning or passive scanning (col. 4, line 49-col. 5, line 22).
Regarding claim 18, Gupta discloses the communication device according to claim 12, wherein the obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network comprises: obtaining a domain name of a certificate server in connection with the auxiliary network (FIG. 2 & 4, col. 2, lines 11-21, col. 3, lines 21-30); obtaining an address of the certificate server according to the domain name of the certificate server (FIG. 2 & 4, col. 2, lines 11-21, col. 3, lines 21-30); and downloading the digital certificate from the certificate server according to the address of the certificate server (FIG. 2 & 4, col. 2, lines 11-21, col. 3, lines 21-30).
Regarding claim 23, Gupta discloses the communication device according to claim 12, wherein the digital certificate comprises at least one of a user certificate, an issuer certificate, or a user private key (col. 4, lines 19-26).
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.
Claims 6 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gupta et al. (US 9,307,408 hereinafter Gupta) in view of Gervais et al. (US 2017/0071015 hereinafter Gervais).
Regarding claim 6, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1.
Gupta does not explicitly disclose wherein the auxiliary network is isolated from the Internet.
However, Gervais discloses wherein the auxiliary network is isolated from the Internet (¶ [0083]-[0084]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Gupta and Gervais in order to prevent a user terminal from gaining access to the protected data transmitted over a Wi-Fi hotspot (Gervais, ¶ [0083]-[0084]).
Regarding claim 19, see claim 6 above for the same reasons of rejections.
Claims 7 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gupta et al. (US 9,307,408 hereinafter Gupta) in view of Huxham et al. (US 2016/0149710 hereinafter Huxham)
Regarding claim 7, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1.
Gupta does not explicitly disclose wherein the obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, comprises: based on that a type of the auxiliary network is a pre-shared key type, popping up a password dialog; obtaining a password entered in the password dialog; and based on that a verification of the password is successful, obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network.
However, Huxham discloses wherein the obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, comprises: based on that a type of the auxiliary network is a pre-shared key type, popping up a password dialog; obtaining a password entered in the password dialog; and based on that a verification of the password is successful, obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network (¶ [0083]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Gupta and Huxham in order to protect stored digital certificates from attacking and/or fraudulent usage (Huxham, ¶ [0003]-[0011]).
Regarding claim 20, see claim 7 above for the same reasons of rejections.
Claims 8-9 and 21-22 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Gupta et al. (US 9,307,408 hereinafter Gupta) in view of Tian et al. (US 2020/0008062 hereinafter Tian).
Regarding claim 8, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1.
Gupta does not explicitly disclose wherein, after obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, further comprising: popping up a certificate naming dialog; obtaining a certificate alias set for the digital certificate entered in the certificate naming dialog; naming the digital certificate according to the certificate alias; and storing the digital certificate after naming.
However, Tian discloses wherein, after obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, further comprising: popping up a certificate naming dialog; obtaining a certificate alias set for the digital certificate entered in the certificate naming dialog; naming the digital certificate according to the certificate alias; and storing the digital certificate after naming (¶ [0075]-[0078]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Gupta and Tian in order to allow a user device obtaining credential information of a wireless network without manual inputting by a user to connect to the network (Tian, ¶ [0003]-[0005]).
Regarding claim 9, Gupta discloses the method according to claim 1, wherein, after obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, further comprising: naming the digital certificate according to a default name.
Gupta does not explicitly disclose wherein, after obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, further comprising: naming the digital certificate according to a default name.
However, Tian discloses wherein, after obtaining the digital certificate from the auxiliary network, further comprising: naming the digital certificate according to a default name (¶ [0075]-[0078]).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Gupta and Tian in order to allow a user device obtaining credential information of a wireless network without manual inputting by a user to connect to the network (Tian, ¶ [0003]-[0005]).
Regarding claim 21, see claim 8 above for the same reasons of rejections.
Regarding claim 22, see claim 9 above for the same reasons of rejections.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to CHI D NGUY whose telephone number is (571)270-7311. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9-5 ET.
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/C.D.N/Examiner, Art Unit 2435
/JOSEPH P HIRL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2435