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 is a reply to the application filed on 6/27/2024, in which, claim(s) 1-10 are pending.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 6/27/2024, has been reviewed. Cite No. 9 is not considered, because the ISR is not in English or contains English abstract that is enough for The Examiner to understand the contents.
Specification
The lengthy specification has not been checked to the extent necessary to determine the presence of all possible minor errors. Applicant’s cooperation is requested in correcting any errors of which applicant may become aware in the specification.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 6/27/2024 is/are accepted by The Examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claims 1-10 reciting “A load specification device to specify a load of a two-factor authentication in which a first authentication and a second authentication are performed in order, the load specification device comprising processing circuitry
to specify a first authentication load being a load of a user to perform the first authentication;
to specify a second authentication load being a load of the user to perform the second authentication;
to specify a connection load being a load of the user with respect to an operation to transition from the first authentication to the second authentication, and to integrate the first authentication load, the second authentication load and the connection load, and specify the load of the two-factor authentication.”
Claims 1-10 discloses of the “load device” and “a load”; however, the claim is unclear as to what is the actual load and make it difficult to do any claim construction. The term “load” would often refer to a workload; however, it does not make sense in this state.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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) 1-10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yamaguchi et al. (Pub. No.: US 20170286648 A1; hereinafter Yamaguchi) in view of Aronowitz et al. (US 20180034859 A1; hereinafter Aronowitz).
Since it is hard to constructed the claim limitation, The Examiner find Yamaguchi multifactor authentication with authentication performance value for each authentication method [Figs. 2-3 and associated text] in view of Aronowitz security risk level of each authentication [Figs. 5A-5B and associated text] to read on the claimed invention. It would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Yamaguchi in view of Aronowitz with the motivation to determine the security risk for each step of the authentication. Thus claims 1-10 is rejected under Yamaguchi in view Aronowitz.
Internet Communications
Applicant is encouraged to submit a written authorization for Internet communications (PTO/SB/439, http:ljwww.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/sb0439.pdf) in the instant patent application to authorize the examiner to communicate with the applicant via email. The authorization will allow the examiner to better practice compact prosecution. The written authorization can be submitted via one of the following methods only: (1) Central Fax which can be found in the Conclusion section of this Office action; (2) regular postal mail; (3) EFS WEB; or (4) the service window on the Alexandria campus. EFS web is the recommended way to submit the form since this allows the form to be entered into the file wrapper within the same day (system dependent). Written authorization submitted via other methods, such as direct fax to the examiner or email, will not be accepted. See MPEP § 502.03.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DAO Q HO whose telephone number is (571)270-5998. The examiner can normally be reached on 7:00am - 5:00pm.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jeffrey Nickerson can be reached on (469) 295-9235. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DAO Q HO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2432