DETAILED ACTION
Status of Claims:
Claims 1 – 33 are pending.
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 § 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.
Claim(s) 2, 13, and 14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Triola (US 20190319948).
As per claim 2, a method for journalizing, by a computing device, an e-notary, the method comprising:
verifying, by the computing device, the identity of a witness (FIG. 4E illustrates a single stage ID verification 800. At 801, the system accepts ID credentials. At 802, the ID credentials are verified, See ¶45);
conducting, by the computing device, a video conference between the witness and a notary (At 1202, the system may enable the video conference, or a notary may enable the conference. At 1203, the signatory may automatically join the video conference or manually join at 1203, See ¶49);
recording, by the computing device, a screen comprising the video conference for a swearing in of the witness, the swearing in conducted by the notary over the video conference (The application code may include one or more components to run webRTC to enable real-time video/audio interactions. Other audio and/or video protocols may also be used, See ¶30 … The remote notary 20 may include audio and video technology to record any or all of a remote notary session, See ¶32); and
generating, by the computing device, an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the screen comprising the video conference (The remote notary may also include an electronic notary journal, that tracks payment, IP address of the signatory, name of the signatory, recording, identity information, date and time, document description, completed document, blockchain/distributed ledger, and other identification information, See ¶24 … the results of step 204 may be stored in an electronic notary journal of system 20. In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session. In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶34).
As per claim 13, a system for journalizing an e-notary, the system comprising a computing device configured to:
verify the identity of a witness (FIG. 4E illustrates a single stage ID verification 800. At 801, the system accepts ID credentials. At 802, the ID credentials are verified, See ¶45);
conduct a video conference between the witness and a notary (At 1202, the system may enable the video conference, or a notary may enable the conference. At 1203, the signatory may automatically join the video conference or manually join at 1203, See ¶49);
record a screen comprising the video conference for a swearing in of the witness, the swearing in conducted by the notary over the video conference (The application code may include one or more components to run webRTC to enable real-time video/audio interactions. Other audio and/or video protocols may also be used, See ¶30 … The remote notary 20 may include audio and video technology to record any or all of a remote notary session, See ¶32); and
generate an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the screen comprising the video conference (The remote notary may also include an electronic notary journal, that tracks payment, IP address of the signatory, name of the signatory, recording, identity information, date and time, document description, completed document, blockchain/distributed ledger, and other identification information, See ¶24 … the results of step 204 may be stored in an electronic notary journal of system 20. In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session. In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶34).
As per claim 24, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for journalizing an e-notary, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on a computing device causes the computing device to:
verify the identity of a witness (FIG. 4E illustrates a single stage ID verification 800. At 801, the system accepts ID credentials. At 802, the ID credentials are verified, See ¶45);
conduct a video conference between the witness and a notary (At 1202, the system may enable the video conference, or a notary may enable the conference. At 1203, the signatory may automatically join the video conference or manually join at 1203, See ¶49);
record a screen comprising the video conference for a swearing in of the witness, the swearing in conducted by the notary over the video conference (The application code may include one or more components to run webRTC to enable real-time video/audio interactions. Other audio and/or video protocols may also be used, See ¶30 … The remote notary 20 may include audio and video technology to record any or all of a remote notary session, See ¶32); and
generate an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the screen comprising the video conference (The remote notary may also include an electronic notary journal, that tracks payment, IP address of the signatory, name of the signatory, recording, identity information, date and time, document description, completed document, blockchain/distributed ledger, and other identification information, See ¶24 … the results of step 204 may be stored in an electronic notary journal of system 20. In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session. In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶34).
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 for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 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, 3 – 12, 14 – 23, and15 – 33 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Triola (US 20190319948) and in view of Okeurland (US 20230273945).
As per claim 1, Triola discloses a method for journalizing, by a computing device, an e-notary, the method comprising:
verifying, by the computing device, the identity of a witness (As shown in FIG. 3A, the speech of each of deponents 103A-103C is captured by a microphone 105 associated with a user interface 109 (e.g., a computing device such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet computer). According to such an embodiment, speaker identification module 232 identifies based on speech characteristics an identity of respective speakers in the recorded audio, See ¶93);
merging, by the computing device, a first audio track of the witness and a second audio track of a notary to form a system audio track (For example, in the case of multiple audio files, with different time stamps or lengths or start and end times, where the system 200 is able to identify a sound (a door closing, a horn), or a noise with a unique or semi-unique data profile, and that sound occurs across multiple data files, the system 200 will be able to identify that point in both (or across several) recordings (or files), and then work backward and/or forwards to synchronize the remainder of the files, thus “zippering” those disparate files, and the speech events that occurred on them, together, See ¶118);
recording, by the computing device, the system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness, the swearing in conducted by the notary over the video conference (ALPA 100 may enable the participants, for example deponents, attorneys, judges, and the like, to swear-in, automatically record testimony, generate transcripts using speech to text technology, and provide a smooth and seamless process to enable resolution of ambiguities in generated transcripts to create a final, official transcript of the legal proceeding sufficient to serve as evidence, See ¶58 … In one embodiment the system is equipped with both microphone means for capturing the speech of a participant as well as video means for capturing a deponent or witness as they are testifying. In one embodiment, the system is configured to link the speech data with video data, See ¶176 … Notices may … be administered by a notary public, See ¶165); and
Triola however does not expressly disclose:
generating, by the computing device, an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the system audio track and the video.
Okerlund discloses:
generating, by the computing device, an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the system audio track and the video (The remote notary may also include an electronic notary journal, that tracks payment, IP address of the signatory, name of the signatory, recording, identity information, date and time, document description, completed document, blockchain/distributed ledger, and other identification information, See ¶24 … the results of step 204 may be stored in an electronic notary journal of system 20. In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session. In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶34).
It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Okerlund’s teaching of generating an e-notary journal data file, along with recording a system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness to improve Triola’s system. Both Triola and Okerlund disclose systems for performing notary services via a video conference. Okerlund’s system includes storing a recording session in an e-notary journal system. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because a system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness can be recorded, as taught by Okerlund, where the recording can be used to generate an e-notary journal file, as taught by Triola, to allow a seamless system for providing notary services via the internet and storing the session for later access and use.
As per claim 3, the method of claim 1, wherein verifying, by the computing device, the identity of the witness comprises:
inputting, by the computing device, a primary contact information of the witness (Triola, In one embodiment, contact information may be received at 1901 and an access code may be generated at 1902, See ¶57);
sending, by the computing device, a prompt to the primary contact information of the witness to upload, or otherwise transmit, a photograph of an identification of the witness (Triola, The remote notary may include scanning technology that may be used to authenticate an uploaded form of identification, such as a driver's license or a passport or other similar issued identification, See ¶21);
receiving, by the computing device, the photograph of the identification of the witness (Triola, Blockchain may also be used for authentication in some embodiments. “Blockchain” may refer to a decentralized, distributed, digital ledger that is used to immutably record transactions and events across and among many computers, See ¶21); and
storing, by the computing device, the identification of the witness in an encrypted format (Triola, A record in the ledger and its authenticity may be verified by using the blockchain. A blockchain hash may be added to a document for verification, See ¶21).
As per claim 4, the method of claim 1, wherein the verifying, by the computing device, the identity of the witness comprises:
inputting, by the computing device, a primary contact information of an attorney of the witness (Okerlund, Prompt a participant (often an attorney) to input (or select an existing) case or case caption, participant contact information, email addresses, etc., See ¶114);
sending, by the computing device, a prompt to the primary contact information of the attorney to provide an affirmation from the attorney of the identity of the witness (Okerlund, Information solicited by the initialization procedure of ALPA 200 will be input prior to the deposition though user interface, See ¶73); and
receiving, by the computing device, the affirmation from the attorney of the identity of the witness (Okerlund, In advance of the deposition, a legal assistant or other user may pre-enter information, including the names of the participants, the firms or companies they represent, link the participants with them any pre-existing voice profiles if one or more deposition participants have previously used system 200, input the location of the deposition, the case name and caption, the deponent name, etc., See ¶73).
As per claim 5, the method of claim 4, further comprising:
sending, by the computing device, a prompt to the primary contact information of the attorney to upload, or otherwise transmit, a photograph of an identification of the attorney (Triola, In one embodiment, the remote notary may be configured to provide a unique digital notarization identification (NID) to an individual, See ¶22);
receiving, by the computing device, the photograph of the identification of the attorney (Triola, When the remote notary receives NID, the remote notary may have configured to compare the received NID with the stored NID to authenticate and/or identify an individual, See ¶22); and
storing, by the computing device, the identification of the attorney in an encrypted format (Triola, In one embodiment, the NID may include a token, photo, or digital identifier that may be stored in a database, See ¶22).
As per claim 6, the method of claim 1, wherein the merging, by the computing device, the first audio track of the witness and the second audio track of the notary to form the system audio track comprises:
matching, by the computing device, an audio tempo of each of the first audio track and the second audio track such that the first audio track and the second audio track are in sync (Okerlund, For example, in the case of multiple audio files, with different time stamps or lengths or start and end times, where the system 200 is able to identify a sound (a door closing, a horn), or a noise with a unique or semi-unique data profile, and that sound occurs across multiple data files, the system 200 will be able to identify that point in both (or across several) recordings (or files), and then work backward and/or forwards to synchronize the remainder of the files, thus “zippering” those disparate files, and the speech events that occurred on them, together, See ¶118).
As per claim 7, the method of claim 1, wherein the recording, by the computing device, the system audio track and the video of the video conference for the swearing in of the witness comprises:
prompting, by the computing device, the notary to record via a web browser (Triola, The application code may include one or more components to run webRTC to enable real-time video/audio interactions, See ¶30);
prompting, by the computing device, the notary to select a screen comprising the video conference (Triola, In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session, See ¶35);
recording, by the computing device, the screen comprising the video conference (Triola, In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶35); and
prompting, by the computing device, the notary to stop recording via the web browser (Triola, In step 212, the document is available for download, See ¶35 … The remote notary 20 may include audio and video technology to record any or all of a remote notary session. The session may be stored and accessed for later use. The session may be recorded in real time or substantially real-time, See ¶32).
As per claim 8, the method of claim 1, wherein the recording of the system audio track and the video of the video conference for the swearing in of the witness is conducted on a user device of the notary (Okerlund, ALPA 100 may enable the participants, for example deponents, attorneys, judges, and the like, to swear-in, automatically record testimony, generate transcripts using speech to text technology, and provide a smooth and seamless process to enable resolution of ambiguities in generated transcripts to create a final, official transcript of the legal proceeding sufficient to serve as evidence, See ¶58 … Triola, The client computer 10 and notary computer 30 may be a desktop computer, a PDA, a mobile device, a laptop, or a tablet. The computers 10, 20 and 50 may include audio and video equipment that may be used to provide a virtual, real-time remote notary session, See ¶29).
As per claim 9, the method of claim 1, wherein the generating, by the computing device, the e-notary journal data file for the e-notary comprises:
associating, by the computing device, an encryption key with the e-notary journal data file (Triola, The digital signature may include a private and public key. The private key may be used to apply the digital signature to the document. The public key may include encrypted code that verifies an identity of a signatory, ¶18 … the document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27); and
storing, by the computing device, the e-notary journal data file in an encrypted format (Triola, The digital signature may include a private and public key. The private key may be used to apply the digital signature to the document. The public key may include encrypted code that verifies an identity of a signatory, ¶18 … the document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27).
As per claim 10, the method of claim 9, further comprising:
storing, by the computing device, time and date data associated with the e-notary journal data file (Triola, The document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27); and
providing, by the computing device, a token to the notary to access the encrypted format to retrieve the e-notary journal data file (Triola, One or more tokens may be generated for each user to the notary session, and a user may be found and authenticated in 1004 and 1005, respectively. At 1006-1008, the meeting time may be inserted into a calendar, the document to be executed found, and the journal entry for the document found, respectively, See ¶47).
As per claim 11, the method of claim 1, further comprising:
receiving, by the computing device, information about the witness, wherein the information about the witness comprises at least one of a first name, a last name, and a witness type, and wherein the e-notary journal data file comprises the information about the witness (Triola, A client account is created via client computer 10 accessing remote notary 20, including first name, last name, email address, password, and a password confirmation … a document to be executed is provided to the remote notary system 20, See ¶34).
As per claim 12, Triola discloses a system for journalizing an e-notary, the system comprising a computing device configured to:
verify the identity of a witness (As shown in FIG. 3A, the speech of each of deponents 103A-103C is captured by a microphone 105 associated with a user interface 109 (e.g., a computing device such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet computer). According to such an embodiment, speaker identification module 232 identifies based on speech characteristics an identity of respective speakers in the recorded audio, See ¶93);;
merge a first audio track of the witness and a second audio track of a notary to form a system audio track (For example, in the case of multiple audio files, with different time stamps or lengths or start and end times, where the system 200 is able to identify a sound (a door closing, a horn), or a noise with a unique or semi-unique data profile, and that sound occurs across multiple data files, the system 200 will be able to identify that point in both (or across several) recordings (or files), and then work backward and/or forwards to synchronize the remainder of the files, thus “zippering” those disparate files, and the speech events that occurred on them, together, See ¶118);
record the system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness, the swearing in conducted by the notary over the video conference (ALPA 100 may enable the participants, for example deponents, attorneys, judges, and the like, to swear-in, automatically record testimony, generate transcripts using speech to text technology, and provide a smooth and seamless process to enable resolution of ambiguities in generated transcripts to create a final, official transcript of the legal proceeding sufficient to serve as evidence, See ¶58 … In one embodiment the system is equipped with both microphone means for capturing the speech of a participant as well as video means for capturing a deponent or witness as they are testifying. In one embodiment, the system is configured to link the speech data with video data, See ¶176 … Notices may … be administered by a notary public, See ¶165); and
Triola however does not expressly disclose:
generate an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the system audio track and the video.
Okerlund discloses:
generate an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the system audio track and the video (The remote notary may also include an electronic notary journal, that tracks payment, IP address of the signatory, name of the signatory, recording, identity information, date and time, document description, completed document, blockchain/distributed ledger, and other identification information, See ¶24 … the results of step 204 may be stored in an electronic notary journal of system 20. In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session. In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶34).
It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Okerlund’s teaching of generating an e-notary journal data file, along with recording a system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness to improve Triola’s system. Both Triola and Okerlund disclose systems for performing notary services via a video conference. Okerlund’s system includes storing a recording session in an e-notary journal system. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because a system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness can be recorded, as taught by Okerlund, where the recording can be used to generate an e-notary journal file, as taught by Triola, to allow a seamless system for providing notary services via the internet and storing the session for later access and use.
As per claim 14, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device configured to verify the identity of a witness is further configured to:
input a primary contact information of the witness (Triola, In one embodiment, contact information may be received at 1901 and an access code may be generated at 1902, See ¶57);
send a prompt to the primary contact information of the witness to upload, or otherwise transmit, a photograph of an identification of the witness (Triola, The remote notary may include scanning technology that may be used to authenticate an uploaded form of identification, such as a driver's license or a passport or other similar issued identification, See ¶21);
receive the photograph of the identification of the witness (Triola, Blockchain may also be used for authentication in some embodiments. “Blockchain” may refer to a decentralized, distributed, digital ledger that is used to immutably record transactions and events across and among many computers, See ¶21); and
store the identification of the witness in an encrypted format (Triola, A record in the ledger and its authenticity may be verified by using the blockchain. A blockchain hash may be added to a document for verification, See ¶21).
As per claim 15, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device configured to verify the identity of a witness is further configured to:
input a primary contact information of an attorney of the witness (Okerlund, Prompt a participant (often an attorney) to input (or select an existing) case or case caption, participant contact information, email addresses, etc., See ¶114);
send a prompt to the primary contact information of the attorney to provide an affirmation from the attorney of the identity of the witness (Okerlund, Information solicited by the initialization procedure of ALPA 200 will be input prior to the deposition though user interface, See ¶73); and
receive the affirmation from the attorney of the identity of the witness (Okerlund, In advance of the deposition, a legal assistant or other user may pre-enter information, including the names of the participants, the firms or companies they represent, link the participants with them any pre-existing voice profiles if one or more deposition participants have previously used system 200, input the location of the deposition, the case name and caption, the deponent name, etc., See ¶73).
As per claim 16, the system of claim 15, wherein the computing device is further configured to:
send a prompt to the primary contact information of the attorney to upload, or otherwise transmit, a photograph of an identification of the attorney (Triola, In one embodiment, the remote notary may be configured to provide a unique digital notarization identification (NID) to an individual, See ¶22);
receive the photograph of the identification of the attorney (Triola, When the remote notary receives NID, the remote notary may have configured to compare the received NID with the stored NID to authenticate and/or identify an individual, See ¶22); and
store the identification of the attorney in an encrypted format (Triola, In one embodiment, the NID may include a token, photo, or digital identifier that may be stored in a database, See ¶22).
As per claim 17, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device configured to merge the first audio track of the witness and the second audio track of the notary to form the system audio track is further configured to:
match an audio tempo of each of the first audio track and the second audio track such that the first audio track and the second audio track are in sync (Okerlund, For example, in the case of multiple audio files, with different time stamps or lengths or start and end times, where the system 200 is able to identify a sound (a door closing, a horn), or a noise with a unique or semi-unique data profile, and that sound occurs across multiple data files, the system 200 will be able to identify that point in both (or across several) recordings (or files), and then work backward and/or forwards to synchronize the remainder of the files, thus “zippering” those disparate files, and the speech events that occurred on them, together, See ¶118).
As per claim 18, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device configured to record the system audio track and the video of the video conference for the swearing in of the witness is further configured to:
prompt the notary to record via a web browser (Triola, The application code may include one or more components to run webRTC to enable real-time video/audio interactions, See ¶30);
prompt the notary to select a screen comprising the video conference (Triola, In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session, See ¶35);
record the screen comprising the video conference (Triola, In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶35); and
prompt the notary to stop recording via the web browser (Triola, In step 212, the document is available for download, See ¶35 … The remote notary 20 may include audio and video technology to record any or all of a remote notary session. The session may be stored and accessed for later use. The session may be recorded in real time or substantially real-time, See ¶32).
As per claim 19, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device is on a user device of the notary (Triola, The client computer 10 and notary computer 30 may be a desktop computer, a PDA, a mobile device, a laptop, or a tablet. The computers 10, 20 and 50 may include audio and video equipment that may be used to provide a virtual, real-time remote notary session, See ¶29).
As per claim 20, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device configured to generate the e-notary journal data file for the e-notary is further configured to:
associate an encryption key with the e-notary journal data file (Triola, The digital signature may include a private and public key. The private key may be used to apply the digital signature to the document. The public key may include encrypted code that verifies an identity of a signatory, ¶18 … the document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27); and
store the e-notary journal data file in an encrypted format (Triola, The digital signature may include a private and public key. The private key may be used to apply the digital signature to the document. The public key may include encrypted code that verifies an identity of a signatory, ¶18 … the document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27).
As per claim 21, the system of claim 20, wherein the computing device is further configured to:
store time and date data associated with the e-notary journal data file (Triola, The document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27); and
provide a token to the notary to access the encrypted format to retrieve the e-notary journal data file (Triola, One or more tokens may be generated for each user to the notary session, and a user may be found and authenticated in 1004 and 1005, respectively. At 1006-1008, the meeting time may be inserted into a calendar, the document to be executed found, and the journal entry for the document found, respectively, See ¶47).
As per claim 22, the system of claim 12, wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive information about the witness, wherein the information about the witness comprises at least one of a first name, a last name, and a witness type, and wherein the e-notary journal data file comprises the information about the witness (Triola, A client account is created via client computer 10 accessing remote notary 20, including first name, last name, email address, password, and a password confirmation … a document to be executed is provided to the remote notary system 20, See ¶34).
As per claim 23, Triola discloses a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions stored thereon for journalizing an e-notary, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on a computing device causes the computing device to:
verify the identity of a witness (As shown in FIG. 3A, the speech of each of deponents 103A-103C is captured by a microphone 105 associated with a user interface 109 (e.g., a computing device such as a laptop, smartphone, tablet computer). According to such an embodiment, speaker identification module 232 identifies based on speech characteristics an identity of respective speakers in the recorded audio, See ¶93);;
merge a first audio track of the witness and a second audio track of a notary to form a system audio track (For example, in the case of multiple audio files, with different time stamps or lengths or start and end times, where the system 200 is able to identify a sound (a door closing, a horn), or a noise with a unique or semi-unique data profile, and that sound occurs across multiple data files, the system 200 will be able to identify that point in both (or across several) recordings (or files), and then work backward and/or forwards to synchronize the remainder of the files, thus “zippering” those disparate files, and the speech events that occurred on them, together, See ¶118);
record the system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness, the swearing in conducted by the notary over the video conference (ALPA 100 may enable the participants, for example deponents, attorneys, judges, and the like, to swear-in, automatically record testimony, generate transcripts using speech to text technology, and provide a smooth and seamless process to enable resolution of ambiguities in generated transcripts to create a final, official transcript of the legal proceeding sufficient to serve as evidence, See ¶58 … In one embodiment the system is equipped with both microphone means for capturing the speech of a participant as well as video means for capturing a deponent or witness as they are testifying. In one embodiment, the system is configured to link the speech data with video data, See ¶176 … Notices may … be administered by a notary public, See ¶165); and
Triola however does not expressly disclose:
generate an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the system audio track and the video.
Okerlund discloses:
generate an e-notary journal data file for the e-notary, the e-notary journal data file based at least in part on the identity of the witness and the recording of the system audio track and the video (The remote notary may also include an electronic notary journal, that tracks payment, IP address of the signatory, name of the signatory, recording, identity information, date and time, document description, completed document, blockchain/distributed ledger, and other identification information, See ¶24 … the results of step 204 may be stored in an electronic notary journal of system 20. In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session. In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶34).
It would have been obvious to an artisan of ordinary skill in the art before the Applicant's effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Okerlund’s teaching of generating an e-notary journal data file, along with recording a system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness to improve Triola’s system. Both Triola and Okerlund disclose systems for performing notary services via a video conference. Okerlund’s system includes storing a recording session in an e-notary journal system. The combination is an improvement upon the existing system because a system audio track and a video of a video conference for a swearing in of the witness can be recorded, as taught by Okerlund, where the recording can be used to generate an e-notary journal file, as taught by Triola, to allow a seamless system for providing notary services via the internet and storing the session for later access and use.
As per claim 25, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device caused to verify the identity of a witness is further caused to:
input a primary contact information of the witness (Triola, In one embodiment, contact information may be received at 1901 and an access code may be generated at 1902, See ¶57);
send a prompt to the primary contact information of the witness to upload, or otherwise transmit, a photograph of an identification of the witness (Triola, The remote notary may include scanning technology that may be used to authenticate an uploaded form of identification, such as a driver's license or a passport or other similar issued identification, See ¶21);
receive the photograph of the identification of the witness (Triola, The remote notary may include scanning technology that may be used to authenticate an uploaded form of identification, such as a driver's license or a passport or other similar issued identification, See ¶21); and
store the identification of the witness in an encrypted format (Triola, A record in the ledger and its authenticity may be verified by using the blockchain. A blockchain hash may be added to a document for verification, See ¶21).
As per claim 26, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device caused to verify the identity of a witness is further caused to:
input a primary contact information of an attorney of the witness (Okerlund, Prompt a participant (often an attorney) to input (or select an existing) case or case caption, participant contact information, email addresses, etc., See ¶114);
send a prompt to the primary contact information of the attorney to provide an affirmation from the attorney of the identity of the witness (Okerlund, Information solicited by the initialization procedure of ALPA 200 will be input prior to the deposition though user interface, See ¶73); and
receive the affirmation from the attorney of the identity of the witness (Okerlund, In advance of the deposition, a legal assistant or other user may pre-enter information, including the names of the participants, the firms or companies they represent, link the participants with them any pre-existing voice profiles if one or more deposition participants have previously used system 200, input the location of the deposition, the case name and caption, the deponent name, etc., See ¶73).
As per claim 27, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, wherein the computing device is further caused to:
send a prompt to the primary contact information of the attorney to upload, or otherwise transmit, a photograph of an identification of the attorney (Triola, In one embodiment, the remote notary may be configured to provide a unique digital notarization identification (NID) to an individual, See ¶22);
receive the photograph of the identification of the attorney (Triola, When the remote notary receives NID, the remote notary may have configured to compare the received NID with the stored NID to authenticate and/or identify an individual, See ¶22); and
store the identification of the attorney in an encrypted format (Triola, In one embodiment, the NID may include a token, photo, or digital identifier that may be stored in a database, See ¶22).
As per claim 28, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device caused to merge the first audio track of the witness and the second audio track of the notary to form the system audio track is further caused to:
match an audio tempo of each of the first audio track and the second audio track such that the first audio track and the second audio track are in sync (Okerlund, For example, in the case of multiple audio files, with different time stamps or lengths or start and end times, where the system 200 is able to identify a sound (a door closing, a horn), or a noise with a unique or semi-unique data profile, and that sound occurs across multiple data files, the system 200 will be able to identify that point in both (or across several) recordings (or files), and then work backward and/or forwards to synchronize the remainder of the files, thus “zippering” those disparate files, and the speech events that occurred on them, together, See ¶118).
As per claim 29, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device caused to record the system audio track and the video of the video conference for the swearing in of the witness is further caused to:
prompt the notary to record via a web browser (Triola, The application code may include one or more components to run webRTC to enable real-time video/audio interactions, See ¶30);
prompt the notary to select a screen comprising the video conference (Triola, In step 206, the system requests a notary to the session. In step 207, the notary computer joins the session, See ¶35);
record the screen comprising the video conference (Triola, In step 208, the notary computer enables video and/or audio recording, See ¶35); and
prompt the notary to stop recording via the web browser (Triola, In step 212, the document is available for download, See ¶35 … The remote notary 20 may include audio and video technology to record any or all of a remote notary session. The session may be stored and accessed for later use. The session may be recorded in real time or substantially real-time, See ¶32).
As per claim 30, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device is on a user device of the notary (Triola, The client computer 10 and notary computer 30 may be a desktop computer, a PDA, a mobile device, a laptop, or a tablet. The computers 10, 20 and 50 may include audio and video equipment that may be used to provide a virtual, real-time remote notary session, See ¶29).
As per claim 31, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device caused to generate the e-notary journal data file for the e-notary is further caused to:
associate an encryption key with the e-notary journal data file (Triola, The digital signature may include a private and public key. The private key may be used to apply the digital signature to the document. The public key may include encrypted code that verifies an identity of a signatory, ¶18 … the document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27); and
store the e-notary journal data file in an encrypted format (Triola, The digital signature may include a private and public key. The private key may be used to apply the digital signature to the document. The public key may include encrypted code that verifies an identity of a signatory, ¶18 … the document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27).
As per claim 32, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 31, wherein the computing device is further caused to:
store time and date data associated with the e-notary journal data file (Triola, The document may be electronically sent to the signatory or other recipient and/or the recorded session may be stored along with the document, metadata about the transaction, such as time, date, type of transaction, and audit trail, in the notary journal database or blockchain, See ¶27); and
provide a token to the notary to access the encrypted format to retrieve the e-notary journal data file (Triola, One or more tokens may be generated for each user to the notary session, and a user may be found and authenticated in 1004 and 1005, respectively. At 1006-1008, the meeting time may be inserted into a calendar, the document to be executed found, and the journal entry for the document found, respectively, See ¶47).
As per claim 33, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the computing device is further caused to:
receive information about the witness, wherein the information about the witness comprises at least one of a first name, a last name, and a witness type, and wherein the e-notary journal data file comprises the information about the witness (Triola, A client account is created via client computer 10 accessing remote notary 20, including first name, last name, email address, password, and a password confirmation … a document to be executed is provided to the remote notary system 20, See ¶34).
Conclusion
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/NAZIA NAOREEN/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2458