DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-13 are presented for examination on the merits.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 09/27/2024 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Form PTO-1449 is signed and attached hereto.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 09/27/2024 are accepted by the examiner.
Priority
The application is filed on 09/27/2024 which is a 371 of PCT/JP2023/001485
filed on 01/19/2023 and claims priority of application JP2022-053550 (Japan) filed on 03/29/2022.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
1. 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 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
5. Claims 1-2, 7, 10-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Biddle et al. (US 20020107809 A1, hereinafter, Biddle) in view of Moskowitz et al. (US 20060101269 A1, hereinafter, Moskowitz).
Regarding claim 1, Biddle discloses a distribution management system that manages distribution of a derivative product created by a specific user (Para 0055-0056: a vendor purchases a software licensing system (SLS) from the distributor and customize the licensing and security information to fit the needs of a particular software application),
the derivative product which has uniqueness and in which an original product inheres, the original product being created by an author who is different from the specific user (Para 0015, 0017-0018, 0072, 0079, 0111: licensing management includes delivering to end-user licensees for subsequent installation and use wherein licensing information is customized wherein allowing license portability in which licenses are dynamically managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another...wherein unique version ID corresponds to the upgrade license in which an original product/license, developed by the vendor, inheres. When the vendor desires to have licensing checks derive directly from the application, the client license management install program additionally installs a client license management DLL (in which an original license product inheres) onto the user's system).
comprising one or more processors and one or more memories (Para 0122: a host server or other computing systems including a processor for processing digital data, a memory coupled to said processor for storing digital data, an input digitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data, an application program stored in said memory) , the processor programmed to:
manage license information and user information, the license information that is being information of the license of each of the derivative product in which the original product inheres, and being stored in a storage unit (Para 0056, 0072, 0077: licensing server to modify software application is installed onto the vendor's server system and to distribute licenses to the client side…where distributor/license manager maintains user subscription including upgrade license associated with version ID, Vendor, and user information for a particular user);
the user information being information of a user having a license to utilize each of the derivative product, and being for each of the derivative product and being stored in a storage unit (Para 0018, 0015: instantiated by the end-user licensee management client, licenses are dynamically modified and managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another… administered from a centralized location);
detect a transfer of the license for utilizing the derivative product, from a transfer request user that requests the transfer of the derivative product to a transfer destination user who is the user of the transfer destination (Para 0018, Claim 14: generating license portability in which licenses is dynamically managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another with multiple security layers to protect against unlicensed access);
[set a value of the original product that inheres in the derivative product in the case where the license is transferred, based on at least the license information] and;
update the user information which is for the derivative product of a transfer target, and which is stored in the storage unit, when detecting the transfer of the license from the transfer request user to the transfer destination user (Para 0111-0112: client license management allow user to obtain an updated license from the vendor's licensing server including move a license, subject to vendor-defined terms, from a first system to a second system, , vendor ID, product ID, a user name, company name).
. Biddle does not explicitly state but Moskowitz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches set a value of the original product that inheres in the derivative product in the case where the license is transferred, based on at least the license information (Moskowitz, Para 0081, 0109, 0097: offering value-added services to users as well as value-added access to content that is controlled by copyright holders seeking maximum distribution … transferring money from the buyer's to the seller's account, and the right to the buyer's account).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set a value of the original product that inheres in the derivative product in the case where the license is transferred, based on at least the license information as taught by Moskowitz in the teachings of Biddle for the advantage of maximizing the security in creating, retrieving, monitoring copyrights in the digital domain (Moskowitz, Para 0014-0015).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Biddle and Moskowitz discloses distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to set the value of the original product that inheres in the derivative product in the case where the license is transferred, based on the license information and the user information (Moskowitz, Para 0081, 0109, 0097: offering value-added services to users as well as value-added access to content that is controlled by copyright holders seeking maximum distribution … transferring money from the buyer's to the seller's account, and the right to the buyer's account).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Biddle and Moskowitz discloses the distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to:
detect the original product that is imaged in the derivative product (Biddle Para 0094: downloading a copy of the software application wherein user runs the application and license monitor resulting a value stored/imaged within the memory); and ,
register the license information of the derivative product in which the detected original product is imaged in the storage unit (Biddle Para 0112, 0119: registration information includes a user name, company name wherein the license manager uses hardware configuration, machine ID be stored on the web server).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Biddle and Moskowitz discloses the distribution management system according to claim 1,wherein the derivative product is managed by electronic data on a network (Biddle Para 0009, 0016: an extensible licensing management system uses electronic distribution of application products to improve the ability of software vendors to more efficiently reallocate resources wherein licensing model is implemented using an electronic storefront provided through a website that is owned and maintained by a distributor).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Biddle and Moskowitz discloses the distribution management system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to provide the set value to a given terminal device when the value is set (Moskowitz, Para 0081, 0109, 0097: offering value-added services to users as well as value-added access to content that is controlled by copyright holders seeking maximum distribution … transferring money from the buyer's to the seller's account, and the right to the buyer's account).
Regarding claim 12; Claim 12 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale. Additional limitations in claim 12 includes, server system, comprising one or more processors and one or more memories (Biddle Para 0122: a host server or other computing systems including a processor for processing digital data, a memory coupled to said processor for storing digital data, an input digitizer coupled to the processor for inputting digital data, an application program stored in said memory); and
perform, every time the transfer is executed, performs an information distribution management process of: generating block information by blocking transfer information indicating information of the transfer (Biddle Para 0018, 0015, 0087: instantiated by the end-user licensee management client, licenses are dynamically modified and managed by end-users and transferred from one machine to another… administered from a centralized location.. wherein software application is given a unique ID which is stored in a database on the distributor's web server),
the transfer information including at least one of the user information of the derivative product of a transfer target and the license information (Biddle Para 0111-0112, 0053: client license management allow user to obtain an updated license from the vendor's licensing server including move a license, subject to vendor-defined terms, from a first system to a second system, vendor ID, product ID, a user name, company name),
[with a non-regular value specified based on another transfer information already stored in the storage unit], and
storing the generated block information in a plurality of storage units in a distributed manner (Biddle Para 0053: multiple users 30 can have access to the distributor. Alternatively, in the instance where the vendor 40 is also the distributor 25, contact can be made between multiple users and a particular vendor 40).
Biddle does not explicitly state but Moskowitz from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches set a value of the original product that inheres in the derivative product in the case where the license is transferred, based on at least the license information (Moskowitz, Para 0081, 0109, 0097: offering value-added services to users as well as value-added access to content that is controlled by copyright holders seeking maximum distribution … transferring money from the buyer's to the seller's account, and the right to the buyer's account);
with a non-regular value specified based on another transfer information already stored in the storage unit (Moskowitz, Para 0128-01030, 0081, 0109, 0097: video-on-demand or proprietary cable and satellite systems associated with "time-share" systems for selling a parcel of time to users .. given a commercial market for digital goods exchange is invaluable in the distribution chain.… wherein the right is transferred to the buyer's account)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to set a value of the original product that inheres in the derivative product in the case where the license is transferred, based on at least the license information ..and with a non-regular value specified based on another transfer information already stored in the storage unit as taught by Moskowitz in the teachings of Biddle for the advantage of maximizing the security in creating, retrieving, monitoring copyrights in the digital domain (Moskowitz, Para 0014-0015).
Regarding claim 13; Claim 13 is similar in scope to claim 12, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
6. Claims 3-6 and 8-9 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Reasons for Allowance
7. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for placing claims 3-6 and 8-9 under allowable subject matters:
The limitation of dependent claims 3-6 and 8-9 are allowed and the corresponding dependent claims including respective and any intervening claims are not disclosed by the any of the prior art of record. For example, the limitations in claim 3 recites “..wherein the license information includes at least the number of licensors and the information of the rate for determining the value” and the limitations in claim 4 recites “wherein the user information includes at least: user identification information that indicates information for identifying the user at the time the transfer is executed, and transfer history information that indicates the past status of the transfer” which are not are not taught or fairly suggested by the prior art of record.
The allowable subject matters in above dependent claims are novel and non-obvious in scope over the prior art of record as the prior-art references fail to teach each and every features of the aforesaid dependent claim(s) including the limitations set forth above.
In view of the foregoing, the scope of claimed subject matters renders the invention patentably distinct as none of the prior art of record, either taken by itself or in any combination, would have anticipated or made obvious the invention of the present application at or before the time it was filed.
Furthermore, the Examiner performed updated search which does not yield other specific references that reasonably, either alone or in combination, would result a proper rejection of all the claimed features presented in each of the dependent claims 3-6 and 8-9 under 35 U.S.C 102 or 35 U.S.C.103 with proper motivation.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
Conclusion
8. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Cella et al. (US 20230173395 A1) discloses methods for integrating a gaming engine and a smart contract system in a platform are provided. The gaming engine is programmed with a software development environment and an architecture that provides a set of gaming engine services with predefined tools for digital content developers to create a set of game engine generated environments..
Lawrence et al. (US 20200226629 A1) discloses method for enabling a plurality of market observers to opine concerning the value of market data, thus generating a plurality of opinions concerning the value of market data; and producing trusted financial market data based, at least in part, upon the plurality of opinions.
9. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHFUZUR RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7638. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday.
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/MAHFUZUR RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2498