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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11 November 2024 has been considered 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 and 13-17 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.
The term “communication IF” in claims 1, 6-8, 13, 15, and 16, is not defined by the claim or specification. It is unclear if “IF” is an acronym, and if so, for what words. This renders the claims unclear and indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 12 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to non-statutory subject matter. The claim(s) does/do not fall within at least one of the four categories of patent eligible subject matter because it claims only a computer program.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 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.
Claims 1-20, as best understood, are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ujiie et al., USPN 2016/0315766.
With regard to claim 1, 11, and 12, Ujiie discloses a transmission device (0002) including a control unit that controls security processing performed on output data of each of frames output by a sensor (0061-0063) and transmission of information indicating an update timing of a key used for the security processing (0048, 0060, 0107) to a reception device that is a transmission destination of the output data (0046, 0061, 0077-0082), and a first communication unit that transmits, using a first communication IF (0046, 0061, 0077-0082), frame data in a predetermined format used for transmission of the output data subjected to the security processing (0065, 0077-0082).
With regard to claim 2, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses in a case where an update deadline of the key has expired, the control unit transmits, to the reception device, information indicating that a state of the output data is an error state (0048, 0082, 0142, 0153, 0120, 0172).
With regard to claim 3, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits information indicating a period until the update deadline (0082,0142, 0153, 0172, 0187).
With regard to claim 4, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits the information indicating the update timing by including the information indicating the update timing in additional information arranged in a predetermined line of the frame data (0048, 0060, 0107).
With regard to claim 5, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits the information indicating the error state by including the information indicating the error state in the additional information (0048, 0082, 0142, 0153, 0120, 0172).
With regard to claims 6, 13-15, and 18-20, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses a second communication unit that performs communication with the reception device via a second communication IF using a register (0077, Fig. 3), wherein the control unit updates the key in accordance with a setting made by the reception device using the second communication IF (0060, 0142, 0086-0088).
With regard to claims 7 and 16, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits the information indicating the update timing using the second communication IF (0060, 0142, 0086-0088).
With regard to claim 8, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits the information indicating the error state using the second communication IF (0048, 0082, 0142, 0153, 0120, 0172).
With regard to claims 9 and 17, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits the information indicating the update timing using a dedicated port (0046, 0060, 0142, 0086-0088).
With regard to claim 10, Ujiie discloses the device of claim 1, as outlined above, and further discloses the control unit transmits the information indicating the error state using the dedicated port (0046-0048, 0082, 0142, 0153, 0120, 0172).
References Cited
Hanna et al., USPN 2022/0294640, discloses acquiring frames from an image sensor (0057) and having expired key information transmitted (0079).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JACOB LIPMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-3837. The examiner can normally be reached 5:30AM-6:00PM.
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, Kambiz Zand can be reached at 571-272-3811. 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.
/JACOB LIPMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2434