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
The application of Marco Hippler for Access Control for a Motor Vehicle filed 8/26/24 has been examined. Claims 1-12 are pending.
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) 1-6 and 8-12 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Mathias et al. US Patent Application Publication 20200052905.
Regarding claim 1, Mathias teaches a method for controlling access to a motor vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:
creating a digital key for access to the motor vehicle on the part of a friend device (paragraph 039);
signing the created digital key by an owner device of the motor vehicle (paragraph 039,042);
transmitting a tracking request for the signed created digital key to a tracking service (paragraph 0208);
transmitting a tracking response from the tracking service to the friend device (paragraph 0219,0241);
wherein the tracking response comprises encrypted information of the tracking service (paragraph 0219); and presenting the encrypted information to the motor vehicle by the friend device (fig. 26, Step 2880);
wherein the tracking response comprises additional information that the tracking service has obtained from a manufacturer service in relation to the tracking request (paragraph 0219-020).
Regarding claim 2, Mathias teaches the motor vehicle evaluates the additional information in order to control access to the motor vehicle on the part of the friend device (paragraph 048,093,097).
Regarding claim 3, Mathias teaches the additional information comprises an indication of a key of a friend device or owner device that has been declared invalid; wherein the motor vehicle deletes the key from an internal memory (paragraph 0100,0219,0229).
Regarding claim 3, Mathias teaches the additional information comprises a device class of the friend device (operation the friend key is allowed to perform, paragraph 076).
Regarding claim 3, Mathias teaches the additional information comprises data that are characteristic of an identification of the friend device at a predetermined user service (paragraph 050).
Regarding claim 6, Mathias teaches the user service is managed by a manufacturer of the friend device (paragraph 067,074).
Regarding claim 8, Mathias teaches the additional information comprises an indication of a usable function of a method for access control (paragraph 076)
Regarding claim 9, Mathias teaches the additional information specifies an additional authentication factor required for access to the motor vehicle (password, paragraph 0205).
Regarding claim 10, Mathias teaches a plurality of additional authentication factors are predetermined, and the additional information comprises a plurality of required authentication factors (paragraph 067).
Regarding claim 11, Mathias et al. teaches a system, comprising:
a motor vehicle (paragraph 044); an owner device (130, paragraph 045); a friend device (160,paragraph 048); a manufacturer service (paragraph 074); and a tracking service (paragraph 0102,0207), wherein the system is operatively configured to: create a digital key for access to the motor vehicle on the part of the friend device (paragraph 039); sign the created digital key by the owner device of the motor vehicle (paragraph 039,042); transmit a tracking request for the signed created digital key to the tracking service (paragraph 0208); transmit a tracking response from the tracking service to the friend device (paragraph 0219,0241); wherein the tracking response comprises encrypted information of the tracking service (paragraph 0219); and present the encrypted information to the motor vehicle by the friend device (fig. 26, Step 2880); wherein the tracking response comprises additional information that the tracking service has obtained from the manufacturer service in relation to the tracking request (paragraph 0219-020).
Regarding claim 12, Mathias et al. teaches a method of operating a tracking service, the method comprising: receiving a tracking request from a friend device determining additional information from an external entity (paragraph 0209); encrypting the additional information; and transmitting the encrypted additional information in a tracking response to a friend device (paragraph 0219-020).
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.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mathias et al. US Patent Application Publication 20200052905 in view of Kwon US Patent Application Publication 20230147516.
Regarding claim 7, Mathias is silent on teaching owner devices of the motor vehicle are each assigned a serial number. Kwon in an analogous art teaches the owner devices of the motor vehicle are each assigned a serial number (paragraph 073). Kwon teaches the additional information comprises the number of the owner device which has signed the key of the friend device and wherein access to the motor vehicle on the part of the friend device is only allowed when a current owner device with the serial number of the signing owner device is known (paragraph 0212).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time of the invention to modify the system of Mathias as disclosed by Kwon because such modification represents an improvement over the system of Mathias by further providing a distinguishing means between keys for further distinguishing the key used for operating the vehicle.
Conclusion
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/VERNAL U BROWN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2686