Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 01, 2026
Application No. 18/856,507

Authentication Proxy Use in Authentication and Key Management for Applications

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Oct 11, 2024
Priority
May 06, 2022 — nonprovisional of PCTCN2022091121
Examiner
MANOHARAN, MUTHUSWAMY GANAPATHY
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Apple Inc.
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
65%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 7m
Est. Remaining
81%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 65% — above average
65%
Career Allowance Rate
416 granted / 638 resolved
+5.2% vs TC avg
Strong +16% interview lift
Without
With
+16.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 7m
Avg Prosecution
44 currently pending
Career history
690
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
2.1%
-37.9% vs TC avg
§103
68.7%
+28.7% vs TC avg
§102
18.3%
-21.7% vs TC avg
§112
5.6%
-34.4% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 638 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION 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 § 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) 1-4, 11-13 and 17-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (hereinafter Wang)(US 2024/0080664) in view of Tian et al. (hereinafter Tian)(US 2024/0179523). Regarding claim 1, Wang teaches a method, comprising: by an authentication proxy(AF in Fig. 6) in a cellular network: receiving a request to establish a first application session from a wireless device(Fig. 6, step 1; P[0133], request includes A-KID to the AF); performing authentication of the wireless device with an authentication anchor function (AAnF) associated with the cellular network to obtain an authentication result for the wireless device(steps2-4; P[0134-0135]). Wang did not teach specifically method for providing an indication of the authentication result to a first application server (AS) associated with the first application session. However, Tian teaches in an analogous art method for providing an indication of the authentication result to a first application server (AS) associated with the first application session(P[0080], authentication proxy; Fig. 7A; items 417 in Fig. 7B). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method for providing an indication of the authentication result to a first application server (AS) associated with the first application session in order to have improved efficiency. Regarding claim 2, Tian teaches the method of wherein the indication of the authentication result is provided to the first AS based at least in part on the request to establish the first application session(item 417 in Fig. 7B; also Fig. 13). Regarding claim 3, Tian teaches the method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a request for the authentication result from the first AS, wherein the indication of the authentication result is provided to the first AS based at least in part on the request for the authentication result from the first AS(item 415 in Fig. 7B; item 417 in Fig. 7B; ; also Fig. 13). Regarding claim 4, Tian teaches the method wherein the indication of the authentication result includes wireless device identification information( A-KID; item 707 in Fig. 13). Regarding claim 11, Tian teaches the method of The method of wherein an authentication proxy-application server interface for communication between the authentication proxy and the first AS includes use of one or more of: Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP); HTTP secure (HTTPS); Internet Protocol Security (IPSec); or Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2)(P[0102, 0122, 0149, 0157, 0229],server through an HTTP response message ). Claims 12-13 and 17-18 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claims 1, 4 respectively. Claim(s) 5, 14-15, 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (hereinafter Wang)(US 2024/0080664) in view of Tian et al. (hereinafter Tian)(US 2024/0179523) and Rajadurai et al. (hereinafter Rajadurai)(US 2023/0232221). Regarding claim 5, Wang in view of Tian teaches all the particulars of the claim except the method of claim 4, wherein the wireless device identification information includes one or more of: a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI); or a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI). However, Rajadurai teaches in an analogous art wherein the wireless device identification information includes one or more of: a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI); or a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI)(P[0057], request to application function comprises GPSI; P[0061], SUPI). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the wireless device identification information includes one or more of: a generic public subscription identifier (GPSI); or a subscription permanent identifier (SUPI) in order to have improved clarity. Claims 14-15 and 19 are rejected for the same reason as set forth in claim 5. Claim(s) 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (hereinafter Wang)(US 2024/0080664) in view of Tian et al. (hereinafter Tian)(US 2024/0179523) and Ohba et al. (hereinafter Ohba)(US 7587598). Regarding claim 5, Wang in view of Tian teaches all the particulars of the claim except wherein the method further comprises: storing relationship mapping information between application servers and wireless devices that are authenticated to those application servers. However, Rajadurai teaches in an analogous art wherein the method further comprises: storing relationship mapping information between application servers and wireless devices that are authenticated to those application servers(col. 7, secure TLS tunnel; col. 7, line 35-36, authentication agent, TLS tunnel; claim 14; stored session identifier corresponding to previously established session). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the method further comprises: storing relationship mapping information between application servers and wireless devices that are authenticated to those application servers in order to have improved efficiency. Claim(s) 7-9, 16, 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (hereinafter Wang)(US 2024/0080664) in view of Tian et al. (hereinafter Tian)(US 2024/0179523) and Bykampadi et al. (hereinafter Bykampadi)(WO 2021/099675). Regarding claim 7, Wang in view of Tian teaches all the particulars of the claim except wherein the method further comprises: receiving an indication of whether a new transport layer security (TLS) tunnel is requested for the first application session from the wireless device; determining to establish a new TLS tunnel for the first application session if the indication from the wireless device requests a new TLS tunnel for the first application session; and determining to use an existing TLS tunnel for the first application session if the indication from the wireless device does not request a new TLS tunnel for the first application session. However, Bykampadi teaches in an analogous art wherein the method further comprises: receiving an indication of whether a new transport layer security (TLS) tunnel is requested for the first application session from the wireless device; determining to establish a new TLS tunnel for the first application session if the indication from the wireless device requests a new TLS tunnel for the first application session; and determining to use an existing TLS tunnel for the first application session if the indication from the wireless device does not request a new TLS tunnel for the first application session(Page 16, lines 1-9; life time of TLS tunnel; Page 16, lines 1-10; TLS tunnel; page 10, lines 1-10; first request; page 14, lines 1-10; the proxy entity may include the received actor token in a subsequent request to an authorization entity; col. 18, lines 20-30, Stored access tokens may be re-used for accessing service(s) from producer NF type listed in claims (scope, audience) during their validity time). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the method further comprises: receiving an indication of whether a new transport layer security (TLS) tunnel is requested for the first application session from the wireless device; determining to establish a new TLS tunnel for the first application session if the indication from the wireless device requests a new TLS tunnel for the first application session; and determining to use an existing TLS tunnel for the first application session if the indication from the wireless device does not request a new TLS tunnel for the first application sessionin order to have improved efficiency. Regarding claim 8, Bykampadi teaches the method of The method of wherein the request to establish the first application session includes the indication of whether a new TLS tunnel is requested for the first application session(Page 16, lines 1-10; TLS tunnel; page 10, lines 1-10; first request). Regarding claim 9, Bykampadi teaches the method of The method of wherein the indication of whether a new TLS tunnel is requested for the first application session is provided separately from the request to establish the first application session(page 10, lines 1-10; first request; page 14, lines 1-10; the proxy entity may include the received actor token in a subsequent request to an authorization entity). Regarding claim 16, 20, Wang in view of Tian teaches all the particulars of the claim except wherein the application session establishment request includes the indication of whether a new TLS tunnel is requested for the application session. However, Bykampadi teaches in an analogous art wherein the application session establishment request includes the indication of whether a new TLS tunnel is requested for the application session(Page 16, lines 1-9; life time of TLS tunnel; Page 16, lines 1-10; TLS tunnel; page 10, lines 1-10; first request; page 14, lines 1-10; the proxy entity may include the received actor token in a subsequent request to an authorization entity; col. 18, lines 20-30, Stored access tokens may be re-used for accessing service(s) from producer NF type listed in claims (scope, audience) during their validity time). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the application session establishment request includes the indication of whether a new TLS tunnel is requested for the application session in order to have improved efficiency. Claim(s) 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Wang et al. (hereinafter Wang)(US 2024/0080664) in view of Tian et al. (hereinafter Tian)(US 2024/0179523) and Reddy et al. (hereinafter Reddy)(US 2018/0351757). Regarding claim 10, Wang in view of Tian teaches all the particulars of the claim except wherein the method further comprises: determining whether to establish a new transport layer security (TLS) tunnel for the first application session based at least in part on a number of application sessions served by one or more existing TLS tunnels between the wireless device and the authentication proxy, wherein a new TLS tunnel is not established for the first application session if an existing TLS tunnel between the wireless device and the authentication proxy serves fewer than a threshold number of application sessions, wherein a new TLS tunnel is established for the first application session if each existing TLS tunnel between the wireless device and the authentication proxy serves at least the threshold number of application sessions. However, Reddy teaches in an analogous art wherein the method further comprises: determining whether to establish a new transport layer security (TLS) tunnel for the first application session based at least in part on a number of application sessions served by one or more existing TLS tunnels between the wireless device and the authentication proxy, wherein a new TLS tunnel is not established for the first application session if an existing TLS tunnel between the wireless device and the authentication proxy serves fewer than a threshold number of application sessions, wherein a new TLS tunnel is established for the first application session if each existing TLS tunnel between the wireless device and the authentication proxy serves at least the threshold number of application sessions(claim 17, session exceeds a threshold number; claim 12, TLS tunnel). Therefore, it would be obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to use the method wherein the method further comprises: determining whether to establish a new transport layer security (TLS) tunnel for the first application session based at least in part on a number of application sessions served by one or more existing TLS tunnels between the wireless device and the authentication proxy, wherein a new TLS tunnel is not established for the first application session if an existing TLS tunnel between the wireless device and the authentication proxy serves fewer than a threshold number of application sessions, wherein a new TLS tunnel is established for the first application session if each existing TLS tunnel between the wireless device and the authentication proxy serves at least the threshold number of application sessions in order to have improved clarity. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Khare et al. (US 2023/0345246), Authentication proxy for AKMA authentication service. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MUTHUSWAMY GANAPATHY MANOHARAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5515. The examiner can normally be reached 6:30am-3:00pm. 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, Alison T Slater can be reached at 571-270-0375. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MUTHUSWAMY G MANOHARAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2647
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Prosecution Timeline

Oct 11, 2024
Application Filed
Sep 02, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103 (current)

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
65%
Grant Probability
81%
With Interview (+16.0%)
3y 7m (~1y 7m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 638 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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