CTNF 18/873,622 CTNF 93590 DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia 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 2. The information disclosure statement(s) (IDS) submitted on 12/10/2024 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement(s) is being considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 3. 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. 07-34-01 4. Claims 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. 5. Claim 2 recites in a limitation “wherein the processor of the first signature terminal requests a second signature terminal that trusts the first signature terminal to provide a signature for the information .” (emphasis added). Claim 2 is dependent on Claim 1, and Claim 1 recites in a limitation “ transmitting terminal having transmitted information requests a first signature terminal that trusts the transmitting terminal to provide a signature for the information ” (emphasis added). It is unclear whether the applicant is trying to refer to the same signature recited in Claim 1 or a different signature, and therefore claim fails 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. Note: Applicant may overcome this rejection by changing “ a signature for the information ” to “ the signature for the information ”. For the examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting “ a signature for the information ” as “ the signature for the information ”. Claim 3 recites in a limitation “wherein a request for the signature for the information is transmitted along a trust path in a web of trust” (emphasis added). Claim 3 is dependent on Claim 1, and Claim 1 recites that the transmitting terminal requests a first signature terminal that trusts the transmitting terminal to provide a signature for the information. It is unclear whether the applicant is trying to refer to the same request recited in Claim 1 or a different request, and therefore claim fails 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. Note: Applicant may overcome this rejection by changing “ a request for the signature for the information ” to “ the request for the signature for the information ”. For the examination purposes, the examiner is interpreting “ a request for the signature for the information ” as “the request for the signature for the information ”. 07-36 AIA 6. The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(d): (d) REFERENCE IN DEPENDENT FORMS.—Subject to subsection (e), a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers. The following is a quotation of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, fourth paragraph: Subject to the following paragraph [i.e., the fifth paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112], a claim in dependent form shall contain a reference to a claim previously set forth and then specify a further limitation of the subject matter claimed. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to incorporate by reference all the limitations of the claim to which it refers. 07-36-01 AIA 7. Claim 8 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(d) or pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, 4th paragraph, as being of improper dependent form for failing to further limit the subject matter of the claim upon which it depends, or for failing to include all the limitations of the claim upon which it depends. Claim 8 recites a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium (i.e. a CRM claim) for causing a computer to function as the terminal of claim 5. However, the Claim is improperly constructed as it recites “causing a computer to function as a terminal” instead of reciting the actual steps (i.e. method steps) performed by the terminal . Applicant may cancel the claim(s), amend the claim(s) to place the claim(s) in proper dependent form, rewrite the claim(s) in independent form, or present a sufficient showing that the dependent claim(s) complies with the statutory requirements. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-20-aia AIA 8. 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. 07-23-aia AIA 9. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co. , 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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. 07-20-02-aia AIA 10. 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. 07-21-aia AIA 11. Claim s 5 and 8 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adluri (US 2020/0076612 A1, hereinafter Adluri ) in view in view of Gifford et al. (US 9,887,975 B1, hereinafter Gifford ) . Regarding Claim 5, Adluri discloses a terminal comprising (Adluri: ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory, and at least one storage or memory, such as random access memory (RAM) or (ROM)) : a reception circuit configured to receive a request for a signature for information transmitted from a transmitting terminal (Adluri: ¶ [0028] and providing signature information 14 ( e.g., digital or electronic signature information) thereto using a plurality of user or participant managed devices 16, ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means)…, signing uploaded documents, the additional participants or receivers also can register with the website/application, ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic…, The managed devices 16 further may include one or more ports for communicating with external devices…, the managed devices 16 may include any suitable computing components operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information or data for any suitable purpose) ; a signature circuit configured to generate the signature for the information based on the request (Adluri: ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0038] at 106, the document(s) are sent or otherwise provided to other, additional participants (or receivers) for receipt of their validation or signature information, ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic…, The managed devices 16 further may include one or more ports for communicating with external devices…, the managed devices 16 may include any suitable computing components operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information or data for any suitable purpose) ; and a transmission circuit configured to transmit the signature to a verification terminal based on a signature presentation request from the verification terminal (Adluri: ¶ [0017] providing the updated signed document to the first device managed by the first user and receiving verification information from the first user (e.g., when the first user verifies that that the second user or other user(s) has properly signed the updated signed document), ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic…, The managed devices 16 further may include one or more ports for communicating with external devices…, the managed devices 16 may include any suitable computing components operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information or data for any suitable purpose, ¶ [0056] he updated signed document is provided to the first device managed by the first user, and verification information is received from the first user (e.g., the first user can verify that the updated and signed document has been properly signed by all required users of the plurality of users)) . It is noted that the combination of Adluri does not explicitly disclose: a transmission circuit configured to transmit the signature to a verification terminal based on a signature presentation request from the verification terminal. However, Gifford from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses verifying that the host signature is a signature of the SSH session identifier, wherein the verifying comprises using at least one public key in a list of known host keys stored on at least one of the key enclave or a computer distinct from the key enclave and the delegate computer (Gifford: [Col. 2 Lines: 24-30]) , publishing a signature record by specifying a cryptographic hash, a principal's public-key, and/or the digital signature of the hash by the principal's private-key in which the server cryptographically verifies the signature of the hash (Gifford: [Col. 24 Lines: 56-60]) , requests trusted signers of the hash from Bob's mobile key enclave 1700D in step 1705, which ( 6) queries signatures from the signature service 1700E in step 1706 and (7) verifies and returns the trusted signatures to Bob's workstation 1700B in step 1707 (Gifford: [Col. 25 Lines: 19-27]) , and Edge 2000B requests a signature and decryption from the key enclave 2000A in step 2002, which (3) responds with private key operation output in step 2003 (Gifford: [Col. 26 Lines: 61-64]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Gifford in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so for independent validation without trusting the sender or the signer. Regarding Claim 8, Adluri discloses a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having a program embodied therein (Adluri: ¶ [0008] processor(s) further is in communication with a memory storing instructions. The processor(s) accesses a document from a first device managed by a first user of a plurality of users, and also receives signature information of the first user from the first device, ¶ [0035]) and discloses in combination with Gifford, all the limtations of Claim 8 as discussed in Claim 5. Therefore, Claim 8 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 5 . 07-21-aia AIA 11. Claim s 1-4 and 6-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Adluri (US 2020/0076612 A1, hereinafter Adluri ), in view of Kamvar et al. (“ The EigenTrust Algorithm for Reputation Management in P2P Networks ”, hereinafter Kamvar ) [As disclosed in IDS], and further in view of Gifford et al. (US 9,887,975 B1, hereinafter Gifford ) . Regarding Claim 1, Adluri discloses a signature system comprising (Adluri: ¶ [0028] a system 10 for electronic or digital document signing using blockchain. The system 10 can include one or more computer implemented products or platforms, ¶ [0003]) : a transmitting terminal including a memory and a processor coupled to the memory (Adluri: ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means, ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory, and at least one storage or memory, such as random access memory (RAM) or (ROM)) ; a first signature terminal including a memory and a processor coupled to the memory (Adluri: ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory, and at least one storage or memory, such as random access memory (RAM) or (ROM) ; and a verification terminal including a memory and a processor coupled to the memory (Adluri: ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory, and at least one storage or memory, such as random access memory (RAM) or (ROM)) . wherein the processor of the transmitting terminal having transmitted information requests a first signature terminal that trusts the transmitting terminal to provide a signature for the information (Adluri: ¶ [0029] the system or platform 10 can facilitate two or more participants or users in signing one or more documents, ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means)…, signing uploaded documents, the additional participants or receivers also can register with the website/application, ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0034] The devices 16 accessing or running the document management provider 12 also can be configured to access one or more networks 22, such as the Internet, peer to peer networks, or any other suitable private or public networks or combinations thereof, to enable users/participants to upload, access, and provide their signature information to the documents, ¶¶ [0035, 0037]) , wherein the processor of the first signature terminal generates the signature for the information (Adluri: ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0038] at 106, the document(s) are sent or otherwise provided to other, additional participants (or receivers) for receipt of their validation or signature information, ¶ [0035]) , and wherein, in order to confirm that the information existed at a certain point in time (Adluri: ¶ [0028] an immutable transaction history of the uploaded and signed documents can be made available for the users/participants of the system, ¶ [0031] transaction information/ details can include the document hash, a date and time, participant information, such as a verified email ID, or any other suitable transaction details or information or combinations thereof, ¶ [0033] participants (e.g., the sender, receivers, or other participants) accordingly will be able to see the immutable transaction history of the uploaded and signed documents in the blockchain) , the processor of the verification terminal acquires the signature and verifies the signature (Adluri: ¶ [0009] the processor(s) provides the signed document to a second device managed by a second user of the plurality of users, and receives additional signature information of the second user from the second device (e.g., when the second user provides their digital signature information for signing the document), ¶ [0017] providing the updated signed document to the first device managed by the first user and receiving verification information from the first user (e.g., when the first user verifies that that the second user or other user(s) has properly signed the updated signed document). The verification information also can be provided to a current block in the blockchain, ¶¶ [0035, 0056]) . It is noted that Adluri does not explicitly disclose: wherein the processor of the transmitting terminal having transmitted information requests a first signature terminal that trusts the transmitting terminal to provide a signature for the information. However, Kamvar from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses an algorithm to decrease the number of downloads of inauthentic files in a peer-to-peer file-sharing network that assigns each peer a unique global trust value (Kamvar: [Abstract]) , a reputation system that aggregates the local trust values of all of the users in a natural manner, with minimal overhead in terms of message complexity. Our approach is based on the notion of transitive trust: A peer i will have a high opinion of those peers who have provided it authentic files (Kamvar: [Page: 641 Col. 1-middle]) , use a distributed hash table (DHT), such as CAN [13] or Chord [18]. DHTs use a hash function to deterministically map keys such as file names into points in a logical coordinate space. At any time, the coordinate space is partitioned dynamically among the peers in the system such that every peer covers a region in the coordinate space. Peers are responsible for storing (key, value) pairs the keys of which are hashed into a point that is located within their region…, a peer’s score manager is located by hashing a unique ID of the peer, such as its IP address and TCP port, into a point in the DHT hash space (Kamvar: [Page: 643 Col. 2-bottom]) , and a typical P2P network: Interconnected, file-sharing peers are able to issue queries for files, peers can respond to queries, and files can be transferred between two peers to conclude a search process (Kamvar: [Page 645 Col. 1--middle]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Kamvar in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to minimize the impact of malicious peers on the performance of a P2P system (Kamvar: [Page 651 Col. 1--Conclusion]) . It is noted that the combination of Adluri and Kamvar does not explicitly disclose: a verification terminal including a memory and a processor coupled to the memory ; and wherein, in order to confirm that the information existed at a certain point in time, the processor of the verification terminal acquires the signature and verifies the signature. However, Gifford from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses verifying that the host signature is a signature of the SSH session identifier, wherein the verifying comprises using at least one public key in a list of known host keys stored on at least one of the key enclave or a computer distinct from the key enclave and the delegate computer (Gifford: [Col. 2 Lines: 24-30]) , and methods disclosed herein can be implemented in software using a memory. The software can run on a processor capable of executing computer instructions or computer code such as the exemplary source code…, Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, processors receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both (Gifford: [Col. 5 Lines: 31-46]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Gifford in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so for independent validation without trusting the sender or the signer. Regarding Claim 2, Claim 2 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of Adluri, Kamvar and Gifford discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. However, it is noted that Adluri does not explicitly disclose: wherein the processor of the first signature terminal requests a second signature terminal that trusts the first signature terminal to provide a signature for the information. Kamvar further discloses an algorithm to decrease the number of downloads of inauthentic files in a peer-to-peer file-sharing network that assigns each peer a unique global trust value (Kamvar: [Abstract]) , a reputation system that aggregates the local trust values of all of the users in a natural manner, with minimal overhead in terms of message complexity. Our approach is based on the notion of transitive trust: A peer i will have a high opinion of those peers who have provided it authentic files (Kamvar: [Page: 641 Col. 1-middle]) , use a distributed hash table (DHT), such as CAN [13] or Chord [18]. DHTs use a hash function to deterministically map keys such as file names into points in a logical coordinate space. At any time, the coordinate space is partitioned dynamically among the peers in the system such that every peer covers a region in the coordinate space. Peers are responsible for storing (key, value) pairs the keys of which are hashed into a point that is located within their region…, a peer’s score manager is located by hashing a unique ID of the peer, such as its IP address and TCP port, into a point in the DHT hash space (Kamvar: [Page: 643 Col. 2-bottom]) , and a typical P2P network: Interconnected, file-sharing peers are able to issue queries for files, peers can respond to queries, and files can be transferred between two peers to conclude a search process (Kamvar: [Page 645 Col. 1--middle]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Kamvar in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to minimize the impact of malicious peers on the performance of a P2P system (Kamvar: [Page 651 Col. 1--Conclusion]). The combination of Adluri and Kamvar does not explicitly disclose: wherein the processor of the first signature terminal requests a second signature terminal that trusts the first signature terminal to provide a signature for the information. Gifford further discloses that delegated access may be automatically forwarded from a delegate to another device through a secure session…, delegation allows a device that is not a Key Enclave to perform operations on behalf of an identity stored on a Key Enclave. For example, a user may wish to generate and store her identity on a mobile phone Key Enclave, but need to perform a cryptographic signature on her laptop using said identity….,The delegated device only has temporary and controlled access to operations performed using the private key contained within the Key Enclave (Gifford: [Col. 19 Lines: 2-21]) , a delegated device will request that a key enclave provide a digital signature of an object of a specific type (Gifford: [Col. 23 Lines: 63-65]) , and Bob's Workstation 1700B (4) computes a hash of an objection or file in step 1704, (5) requests trusted signers of the hash from Bob's mobile key enclave 1700D in step 1705, which ( 6) queries signatures from the signature 25 service 1700E in step 1706 and (7) verifies and returns the trusted signatures to Bob's workstation (Gifford: [Col. 25 Lines: 23-27]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Gifford in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to reduce the attack probability by separating roles and further to protect against compromised requesters as the verification can be performed at the enclave. Regarding Claim 3, Claim 3 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of Adluri, Kamvar and Gifford discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. Adluri further discloses wherein a request for the signature for the information is transmitted along a trust path in a web of trust , and wherein the processor of the transmitting terminal requests for the signature and designates a number of stages to be performed upon requesting for the signature (Adluri: ¶ [0029] the system or platform 10 can facilitate two or more participants or users in signing one or more documents, ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means)…, signing uploaded documents, the additional participants or receivers also can register with the website/application, ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0034] The devices 16 accessing or running the document management provider 12 also can be configured to access one or more networks 22, such as the Internet, peer to peer networks, or any other suitable private or public networks or combinations thereof, to enable users/participants to upload, access, and provide their signature information to the documents, ¶¶ [0034-0035, 0037]) . The combination of Adluri and Kamvar does not explicitly disclose wherein a request for the signature for the information is transmitted along a trust path in a web of trust , and wherein the processor of the transmitting terminal requests for the signature and designates a number of stages to be performed upon requesting for the signature. Gifford further discloses that the private key of the identity is not communicated outside of the device. Upon generating a profile, the profile is, for example, published to the Web-of-Trust PKI (WOTPKI), allowing other users' devices to find it (Gifford: [Col. 8 Lines: 19-23], also see [Col. 16 Lines: 25-36]) , delegated access may be automatically forwarded from a delegate to another device through a secure session…, need to perform a cryptographic signature on her laptop using said identity (Gifford: [Col. 19 Lines: 2-10]) , a delegated device will request that a key enclave provide a digital signature of an object of a specific type (Gifford: [Col. 23 Lines: 63-65]) , and Bob's Workstation 1700B (4) computes a hash of an objection or file in step 1704, (5) requests trusted signers of the hash from Bob's mobile key enclave 1700D in step 1705, which ( 6) queries signatures from the signature service 1700E in step 1706 and (7) verifies and returns the trusted signatures to Bob's workstation (Gifford: [Col. 25 Lines: 23-27]) , and a delegated computer can request that a key enclave present multiple signatures for a given request such as logging into a specific host. The key enclave may communicate with other key enclaves to coordinate the delivery of sufficient digital signatures for the approval of the request (Gifford: [Col. 34 Lines: 9-14], Also see [Col. 38 Lines: 27-43]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Gifford in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to implement multi-party authorization (Gifford: [Col. 34 Lines: 15-16]) , and avoids single point failure as entities validate each other directly. Regarding Claim 4, Claim 4 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of Adluri, Kamvar and Gifford discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. Adluri further discloses wherein the processor of the first signature terminal holds the signature generated for the information as a local chain (Adluri: ¶ [0033] details of the digital signature information of the additional participants or receivers also can be stored in one or more blocks of the blockchain 18 ( e.g., the document hash, a date and time, participant information, such as a verified email ID, etc.)) . Regarding Claim 6, Adluri discloses a terminal comprising (Adluri: ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means, ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of nonvolatile memory) : a search circuit configured to search a trust path in a web of trust to detect one or more signature terminals that directly or indirectly trust a transmitting terminal having transmitted information (Adluri: ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means, ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic…, The managed devices 16 further may include one or more ports for communicating with external devices…, the managed devices 16 may include any suitable computing components operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information or data for any suitable purpose, ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶ [0034] The devices 16 accessing or running the document management provider 12 also can be configured to access one or more networks 22, such as the Internet, peer to peer networks, or any other suitable private or public networks or combinations thereof, to enable users/participants to upload, access, and provide their signature information to the documents, ¶ [0037]) ; a transmission circuit configured to transmit a signature presentation request to each of the one or more signature terminals detected by the search circuit (Adluri: ¶ [0032] sender subsequently can send sign requests to additional participants or receivers (e.g., via email, text messages, or another suitable messaging mechanism or notification means, ¶ [0035] Each managed device 16 further can include at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or hardware or software control logic…, The managed devices 16 further may include one or more ports for communicating with external devices…, the managed devices 16 may include any suitable computing components operable to compute, calculate, determine, classify, process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store, display, communicate, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize any form of information or data for any suitable purpose, ¶ [0033] the additional participants or receivers can download the uploaded and signed documents, and then, can provide their digital or electronic signature information to the document(s), ¶¶ [0033, 00340037]) . a verification circuit configured to acquire a signature from each of the one or more signature terminals being a transmission destination of the signature presentation request, and verify each signature to confirm existence of the information (Adluri: ¶ [0009] the processor(s) provides the signed document to a second device managed by a second user of the plurality of users, and receives additional signature information of the second user from the second device (e.g., when the second user provides their digital signature information for signing the document), ¶ [0017] providing the updated signed document to the first device managed by the first user and receiving verification information from the first user (e.g., when the first user verifies that that the second user or other user(s) has properly signed the updated signed document). The verification information also can be provided to a current block in the blockchain, ¶ [0028] an immutable transaction history of the uploaded and signed documents can be made available for the users/participants of the system, ¶ [0033] receivers further can send the signed document(s) back to the sender, and the sender can verify and complete the transaction. The participants (e.g., the sender, receivers, or other participants) accordingly will be able to see the immutable transaction history of the uploaded and signed documents in the blockchain, ¶ [0056] the updated signed document is provided to the first device managed by the first user, and verification information is received from the first user (e.g., the first user can verify that the updated and signed document has been properly signed by all required users of the plurality of users), ¶¶ [0031,0035]) . Adluri does not explicitly disclose: a search circuit configured to search a trust path in a web of trust to detect one or more signature terminals that directly or indirectly trust a transmitting terminal having transmitted information. However, Kamvar from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses an algorithm to decrease the number of downloads of inauthentic files in a peer-to-peer file-sharing network that assigns each peer a unique global trust value (Kamvar: [Abstract]) , a reputation system that aggregates the local trust values of all of the users in a natural manner, with minimal overhead in terms of message complexity. Our approach is based on the notion of transitive trust: A peer i will have a high opinion of those peers who have provided it authentic files (Kamvar: [Page: 641 Col. 1-middle]) , use a distributed hash table (DHT), such as CAN [13] or Chord [18]. DHTs use a hash function to deterministically map keys such as file names into points in a logical coordinate space. At any time, the coordinate space is partitioned dynamically among the peers in the system such that every peer covers a region in the coordinate space. Peers are responsible for storing (key, value) pairs the keys of which are hashed into a point that is located within their region…, a peer’s score manager is located by hashing a unique ID of the peer, such as its IP address and TCP port, into a point in the DHT hash space (Kamvar: [Page: 643 Col. 2-bottom]) , and a typical P2P network: Interconnected, file-sharing peers are able to issue queries for files, peers can respond to queries, and files can be transferred between two peers to conclude a search process (Kamvar: [Page 645 Col. 1--middle]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Kamvar in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so to minimize the impact of malicious peers on the performance of a P2P system (Kamvar: [Page 651 Col. 1--Conclusion]) . The combination of Adluri and Kamvar does not explicitly disclose: a search circuit configured to search a trust path in a web of trust to detect one or more signature terminals that directly or indirectly trust a transmitting terminal having transmitted information. However, Gifford from the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention discloses verifying that the host signature is a signature of the SSH session identifier, wherein the verifying comprises using at least one public key in a list of known host keys stored on at least one of the key enclave or a computer distinct from the key enclave and the delegate computer (Gifford: [Col. 2 Lines: 24-30]) , and methods disclosed herein can be implemented in software using a memory. The software can run on a processor capable of executing computer instructions or computer code such as the exemplary source code…, Processors suitable for the execution of a computer program include, by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors, and any one or more processors of any kind of digital computer. Generally, processors receive instructions and data from a read-only memory or a random access memory or both (Gifford: [Col. 5 Lines: 31-46]) , the private key of the identity is not communicated outside of the device. Upon generating a profile, the profile is, for example, published to the Web-of-Trust PKI (WOTPKI), allowing other users' devices to find it (Gifford: [Col. 8 Lines: 19-23], also see [Col. 16 Lines: 25-36]) , delegated access may be automatically forwarded from a delegate to another device through a secure session…, need to perform a cryptographic signature on her laptop using said identity (Gifford: [Col. 19 Lines: 2-10]) , a delegated device will request that a key enclave provide a digital signature of an object of a specific type (Gifford: [Col. 23 Lines: 63-65]) , and Bob's Workstation 1700B (4) computes a hash of an objection or file in step 1704, (5) requests trusted signers of the hash from Bob's mobile key enclave 1700D in step 1705, which Gifford: [Col. 25 Lines: 23-27]) , and a delegated computer can request that a key enclave present multiple signatures for a given request such as logging into a specific host. The key enclave may communicate with other key enclaves to coordinate the delivery of sufficient digital signatures for the approval of the request (Gifford: [Col. 34 Lines: 9-14], Also see [Col. 38 Lines: 27-43]) . Thus, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teachings of Gifford in the teachings of Adluri. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to do so for fast local verification and further provides immediate feedback of the authencity of the signature without having to contact an external system. Regarding Claim 7, Claim 7 is dependent on Claim 1, and the combination of Adluri, Kamvar and Gifford discloses all the limitations of Claim 1. Adluri further discloses an existence confirmation method executed by the signature system of claim 1, the method comprising (Adluri: ¶ [0003] systems and methods for digital or electronic document signing. The systems and methods of the present disclosure allow for uploading and signing of one or more electronic documents, e.g., by multiple users or participants, ¶ [0028] a system 10 for electronic or digital document signing using blockchain. The system 10 can include one or more computer implemented products or platforms, ¶ [0052]) and discloses all the limitations of Claim 7 as discussed in Claim 1. Therefore, Claim 7 is rejected using the same rationales as discussed in Claim 1 . Conclusion 07-96 AIA 12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US-20050086300-A1 US-20120278625-A1 US-20190164201-A1 US-20200160334-A1 Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMEERA WICKRAMASURIYA whose telephone number is (571)272-1507. The examiner can normally be reached on MON-FRI 8AM-4:30PM EST. 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, JUNG W. KIM can be reached on (571)272-3804. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. 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If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /SAMEERA WICKRAMASURIYA/ Examiner, Art Unit 2494 /THEODORE C PARSONS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 2 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 3 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 4 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 5 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 6 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 7 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 8 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 9 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 10 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 11 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 12 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 13 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 14 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 15 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 16 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 17 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 18 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 19 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 20 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 21 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 22 Art Unit: 2494 Application/Control Number: 18/873,622 Page 23 Art Unit: 2494
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