DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
Claims 40-59 are pending in this application. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 10/02/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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 40-42, 45-47, 49-50, and 56-59 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mahajan (US 2021/0377054) and in view of Liu (US 2018/0248867).
Re Claim 40, Mahajan discloses a method performed by a certificate authority (CA) operable with a communication network, the method comprising a first set of operations and/or a second set of operations, wherein:
the first set of operations includes:
receiving a first message about a network function (NF) ([0064], network function management includes lifecycle management) event performed by a first NF of the communication network ([0057]-[0058], CA receives a request for public key associated with the network function NF-1.),
wherein the first message includes:
an identifier of a second NF associated with the NF performed by the first NF ( ([0057]-[0058], CA receives a request from NF-2 for public key associated with the network function NF-1. Includes information identifying the certificate issued to the network function NF-1. [0067], CA receives a request for a certificate and verifies the identity of the entity for which the certificate is to be generated. [0043], The request may include information identifying the network function, a public key, information identifying an application program interface associated with the network function, information identifying a proxy associated with the network function, information identifying a communication protocol associated with the network function, and/or the like), and
an event type associated with the NF event ([0052], the request includes information identifying a type of network function associated with the network function); and
performing a first certificate event for one or more certificates associated with the second NF, wherein the first certificate event is based on the event type associated with the NF event ([0098-[0100] the CA receives request for generating the certificate. The request identifies the API of the network function, identifying a proxy, determine the certification protocol, determining the certification protocol based in the type of the network function, and generating the certificate based on the certification protocol.); and
the second set of operations includes:
performing a second certificate event for the one or more certificates associated with the second NF ([0058], CA identifies the certificate is valid, obtain the public key associated with the network function NF-1 and that the certificate is valid to the other network function NF-2 based on the certificate being valid);
sending to the first NF a second message about the second certificate event ([0058], CA identifies the certificate is valid, obtain the public key associated with the network function NF-1 and may transmit the public key and/or information indicating that the certificate is valid to the other network function NF-2 based on the certificate being valid),
wherein the second message includes:
an identifier of the second NF ([0067], certificate authority 230 may receive a request for a certificate, verify an identity of an entity for which the certificate is to be generated, and generate the certificate based on verifying the identity of the entity.), and
an event type associated with the second certificate event ([0098]-[0100], determine the certification protocol, determining the certification protocol based in the type of the network function, and generating the certificate based on the certification protocol.).
While Mahajan discloses in [0021] the life cycle manager, Mahajan does not disclose, however Liu discloses a lifecycle management (LCM) event ([0064], network function management includes lifecycle management).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Mahajan’s network function with Liu’s network function with lifecycle management. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to implement a network service to implement resource orchestration.
Re claim 41, Mahajan discloses a NF event performed by a network repository function (NRF) of the communication network ([0026] The network function manager 102 may manage a lifecycle of network functions. [0075], Functional elements may include a network function repository function (NRF)).
One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 40. In addition, Liu discloses a virtual NF (VNF) LCM event performed by a NF virtualization management and orchestration function (NFV-MANO) of the communication network ([0067], VNF lifecycle management, NFV MANO system
Re claim 42, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 40. In addition, Liu discloses wherein one of the following applies:
the first NF is a network repository function (NRF) and the first message is received from the NRF via an intermediate certificate management network entity (CMNE) associated with the communication network;
the first NF is a NF virtualization management and orchestration function (NFV-MANO) of the communication network and the first message is received from the NFV-MANO via the intermediate CMNE (liu [0011], the MANO creates the storage space in the storage network element of the certificate, and the storage space is used to store the certificate, so that the VNFC directly communicates with another network element by using the certificate stored in the storage network element.); or
the first NF is an NRF and the first message is received from the NRF without an intermediate CMNE.
Re claim 45, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 40. In addition, Liu discloses wherein the NF LCM event is deregistration of the NF, and the first certificate LCM event is revocation of the one or more certificates associated with the second NF ([0031], the MANO determine a management network element is configured to cancel management on the certificate).
Re claim 46, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 40. In addition, Liu discloses wherein the second certificate LCM event is revocation of the one or more certificates associated with the second NF ([0042], the MANO determine a management network element is configured to cancel management on the certificate).
Re claims 49-50, and 56-59, they are similar to claims 40, 42, and 45-46 and therefore are rejected for the same reasons above.
Re claim 47, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 49. In addition, Liu discloses wherein the first NF is a network repository function (NRF) and one of the following applies: the second message is sent to the NRF via an intermediate certificate management network entity (CMNE); or
the second message is sent to the NRF without an intermediate CMNE ([0011], the MANO creates the storage space in the storage network element of the certificate, and the storage space is used to store the certificate, so that the VNFC directly communicates with another network element by using the certificate stored in the storage network element.).
Claims 43-44, 48, and 51-55 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Mahajan and in view of Liu and in view of Wannish (US 2004/0210597).
Re Claim 43, Mahajan and Liu does not disclose, however Wanish discloses the first set of operations also include sending to the first NF a subscribe request for notifications about NF LCM events associated with one or more NFs of the communication network, including the second NF ([0029], service provider becomes a subscriber for notification from the certificate authority. Certificate authority registers service provider as an interested party for the digital certificate to receive future notification of a state change); and
the first message is a notify response to the subscribe request ([0029] This interested party information is recorded in a subscription list maintained by the certificate authority).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the date the current invention was effectively filed to have modified the teachings of Mahajan and Liu’s certificate authority with Wanish’s certificate authority which includes a subscribe request for notification of future state changes of certificates. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to incorporate the teachings with one another in order to allow a more versatile system by subscribing for notification from the certificate authority for future updates of the certificates.
Re claim 44, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan and lie for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 43. In addition, Wanish discloses wherein the subscribe request is for notifications about all NF LCM events associated with all NFs for which the CA maintains certificates ([0029], service provider becomes a subscriber for notification from the certificate authority. Certificate authority registers service provider as an interested party for the digital certificate to receive future notification of a state change).
Re claims 48, 51-53, and 55, they are similar to claims 43-44 and are rejected for the same reasons above.
Re claim 54, One of ordinary level of skill in the art would have been compelled to make the proposed modification to Mahajan and Liu for the same reasons identified in the rejection of claim 43. In addition, Wanish discloses wherein the second subscribe request is sent to, and the second message is received from, one of the following: the CA, or a certificate management network entity (CMNE) associated with the communication network the communication network ([0029], service provider becomes a subscriber for notification from the certificate authority. Certificate authority registers service provider as an interested party for the digital certificate to receive future notification of a state change.)
Conclusion
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/HO T SHIU/Examiner, Art Unit 2443
HO T. SHIU
Examiner
Art Unit 2443
/CHRISTOPHER B ROBINSON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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