DETAILED ACTION
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
1. A request for continued examination (“RCE”) under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 05/26/2026 has been entered.
Acknowledgements
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s response/application filed on 05/26/2026.
The Examiner notes that citations to United States Patent Application Publication paragraphs are formatted as [####], #### representing the paragraph number.
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 .
Status of Claims
Claim 1, 10, 19 have been amended.
Claims 2, 5, 11, 14 have been canceled.
Claims 1, 3, 4, 6-10, 12, 13, and 15-24 are currently pending and have been examined.
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.
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(a) 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.
Claim(s) 1, 3, 4, 6-10, 12, 13, 15-18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiao (US 20210365589), in view of Hassan (US 20180096113), further in view of Hachiya (US 20170109016).
Regarding claim(s) 1, 10, Qiao discloses:
receiving, via an application server, an indication of digital extraction associated with first sensitive information, wherein the first sensitive information and a first DRM-protected media having been caused to be displayed via a graphical user interface (“GUI”) and each are associated with a first DRM-protected content element (By disclosing, “In response to user 426 interactions with resource access application 424, SaaS applications 410 may send or otherwise provide content to resource access application 424 for rendering on a display of client 202. Resource access application 424 can then display the content based on the security state of the environment in which client 202 is operating (i.e., the environment of client 202). To this end, at 502, client 202 may detect that screen sharing is being performed on the device.” ([0085]-[0086], [0062], [0063] of Qiao); “identifying sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device, and obfuscating the identified sensitive information” ([0004], [0025] of Qiao))(Note: the “Cloud Computing Environment” in the prior art can be the ”Application server” in the claim);
determining, via an application server, an identity of an application associated with the indication of digital extraction (By disclosing, “At 1306, the client application can identify the installed screen sharing applications that are running on the client device.” ([0063], [0115]-[0120], Fig. 13 of Qiao));
determining, via an application server, a mode associated with the indication of digital extraction, wherein the mode includes at least one of screensharing, screen shotting, or screen capture (By disclosing, “At 1308, the client application can monitor the ports (e.g., communication endpoints or processes) of the screen sharing applications running on the client device. The client application can monitor the ports to determine whether data is being sent across or via the ports and onto a network, for example.” ([0063], [0115]-[0120], Fig. 13 of Qiao)); and
based on the determined identity of the application and the determined mode of the digital extraction, causing to output, via the GUI, the modified first DRM-protected media (By disclosing, “responsive to a determination, by a computing device, that a screen sharing application is running in an unsecure environment, identifying sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device” ([0004] of Qiao))(Note: the “Resource Access Application” in the prior art can be the “DRM-protection system” in the claim).
Qiao does not expressly disclose:
wherein the first DRM-protected media is configured to protect the first sensitive information from being transmitted to a social engineer via screen sharing, screen shotting, or screen capture; and
modifying, via the application server, the first DRM-protected content element such that the first DRM-protected media is converted from transparent to opaque.
However, Hassan teaches:
wherein the first DRM-protected media is configured to protect the first sensitive information from being transmitted to a social engineer via screen sharing, screen shotting, or screen capture (By disclosing, “Step 804 causes the content to be shared with the device while preventing the content from being shared with a different device during the screen sharing experience. For instance, when sharing protection is enforced for content from a sharing protected region, the DRM library 128 can be referenced to determine whether any users are designated as sharing privileged…. Step 808 prevents content from the sharing protected region from being shared with the device.” ([0083]-[0085], and Fig. 8 of Hassan)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao in view of Hassan to include techniques of wherein the first DRM-protected media is configured to protect the first sensitive information from being transmitted to a social engineer via screen sharing, screen shotting, or screen capture in order to protect the sensitive information.
And Hachiya teaches:
modifying, via the application server, the first DRM-protected content element such that the first DRM-protected media is converted from transparent to opaque. (By disclosing, “The plurality of solid images may then convert to transparent images, and the transparent images may convert to solid images, such that the images are alternately changing their transparency state.” ([0181] of Brown)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao and Hassan, in view of Hachiya to include techniques of modifying, via the application server, the first DRM-protected content element such that the first DRM-protected media is converted from transparent to opaque in order to protect the sensitive information.
Additional, regarding claim 10, Qiao discloses:
at least one memory storing instructions; and at least one processor operatively connected to the memory, and configured to execute the instructions to perform operations for dynamically generating digital rights management (“DRM”) protections ([0005]).
Regarding claim(s) 3 and 12, Qiao discloses:
determining, via a browser module, the indication of digital extraction based on at least one of an indication that the first DRM-protected media was modified or the identity of the application associated with the indication of digital extraction (By disclosing, “identify sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the system; and obfuscate the identified sensitive information; and responsive to a determination that the screen sharing application is running in an uncertain environment, provide a warning regarding a potential leak of sensitive information included in the notification displayed within the application window being displayed by the system.” ([0143] of Qiao).
Regarding claim(s) 4 and 13, Qiao discloses:
wherein determining the mode of digital extraction is based on the identity of the application associated with the digital extraction. (By disclosing, “At 1306, the client application can identify the installed screen sharing applications that are running on the client device…. At 1308, the client application can monitor the ports (e.g., communication endpoints or processes) of the screen sharing applications running on the client device. The client application can monitor the ports to determine whether data is being sent across or via the ports and onto a network, for example.” ([0115]-[0120], Fig. 13 of Qiao)).
Regarding claim(s) 6 and 15, Qiao discloses:
receiving a first alert via a DRM-protection system; and based on the first alert, implementing at least one protective action via the DRM-protection system. ([0090] of Qiao).
Regarding claim(s) 7 and 16, Qiao discloses:
based on the determined identity of the application and the determined mode of the digital extraction, transmitting a second alert to the first user device; and causing to output, via the first user device, the second alert (By disclosing, “If the security state of the environment is uncertain (see reference numeral 610 in FIG. 6), the action triggered on client 202 may be to provide a warning (see reference numeral 612 in FIG. 6). For example, client 202 may display a warning on a display of client 202 informing user 426 of the potential for data loss or leak if sensitive information is displayed.” ([0090], [0143], [0117]-[0119] of Qiao)).
Regarding claim(s) 8, 17, Qiao discloses:
determining whether the first sensitive information is being accessed via the first media content or a second media content, wherein the first media content is associated with the DRM protections and the second media content is not associated with DRM protections; upon determining the first sensitive information is being accessed via the second media content, transmitting at least one of a first alert to a DRM-protection system or a second alert to the first user device. (By disclosing, “In other words, notifications 702 and 704 in application window 700 do not display information that may be considered sensitive. In contrast, the content provided with notification 706 includes sensitive information. For instance, specific details of the invoice, such as the amount of the invoice (e.g., $67,000.00) and other details of the transaction (e.g., information identifying the provider of the service and information describing the provided service) may be considered sensitive ([0093] of Qiao); “Many of the elements in application window 800 are similar to the elements in application window 700 described above in conjunction with FIG. 7… As explained above in conjunction with FIG. 6, application window 800 may be displayed on a display of client 202 upon a determination that the security state of the environment is not secure.” ([0094] of Qiao); and “responsive to a determination that the security state is unsecure, obfuscate sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device.” ([0156] of Qiao)).
Regarding claim(s) 9 and 18, Qiao discloses:
based on the determined identity of the application and the determined mode of the digital extraction, tagging the indication of digital extraction. ([0096] of Qiao).
Claim(s) 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Qiao (US 20210365589), in view of Hassan (US 20180096113), further in view of Hachiya (US 20170109016), and Lin (CN 111107222 A).
Regarding claim(s) 19, Qiao discloses:
receiving, via an application server, an indication of digital extraction associated with first sensitive information, wherein the first sensitive information and a first DRM-protected media having been caused to be displayed via a graphical user interface (“GUI”) of a first user device are associated with a first DRM-protected content element (By disclosing, “In response to user 426 interactions with resource access application 424, SaaS applications 410 may send or otherwise provide content to resource access application 424 for rendering on a display of client 202. Resource access application 424 can then display the content based on the security state of the environment in which client 202 is operating (i.e., the environment of client 202). To this end, at 502, client 202 may detect that screen sharing is being performed on the device.” ([0085]-[0086], [0062], [0063] of Qiao); “identifying sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device, and obfuscating the identified sensitive information” ([0004], [0025] of Qiao))(Note: the “Cloud Computing Environment” in the prior art can be the ”Application server” in the claim);
determining, via the application server, an identity of an application associated with the indication of digital extraction (By disclosing, “At 1306, the client application can identify the installed screen sharing applications that are running on the client device.” ([0063], [0115]-[0120], Fig. 13 of Qiao));
determining, via the application server, a mode associated with the indication of digital extraction, wherein the mode includes at least one of screensharing, screen shotting, or screen capture (By disclosing, “At 1308, the client application can monitor the ports (e.g., communication endpoints or processes) of the screen sharing applications running on the client device. The client application can monitor the ports to determine whether data is being sent across or via the ports and onto a network, for example.” ([0063], [0115]-[0120], Fig. 13 of Qiao)); and
based on the determined identity of the application and the determined mode of the digital extraction: transmitting a first alert to a DRM-protection system and a second alert to the first user device (By disclosing, “responsive to a determination, by a computing device, that a screen sharing application is running in an unsecure environment, identifying sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device” ([0004] of Qiao); “If the security state of the environment is uncertain (see reference numeral 610 in FIG. 6), the action triggered on client 202 may be to provide a warning (see reference numeral 612 in FIG. 6). For example, client 202 may display a warning on a display of client 202 informing user 426 of the potential for data loss or leak if sensitive information is displayed.” ([0090], [0143], [0117]-[0119] of Qiao));
based on the first alert, implementing at least one protective action via the DRM-protection system ([0090] of Qiao).; and
causing to output, via a GUI associated with the first user device, the modified first DRM-protected media and the second alert (By disclosing, “determine a security state of an environment of the computing device; and, responsive to a determination that the security state is unsecure, obfuscate sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device.” ([0156] of Qiao); “If the security state of the environment is uncertain (see reference numeral 610 in FIG. 6), the action triggered on client 202 may be to provide a warning (see reference numeral 612 in FIG. 6). For example, client 202 may display a warning on a display of client 202 informing user 426 of the potential for data loss or leak if sensitive information is displayed.” ([0090], [0143], [0117]-[0119] of Qiao)).
Qiao does not expressly disclose:
wherein the first DRM-protected media is configured to protect the first sensitive information from being transmitted to a social engineer via screen sharing, screen shotting, or screen capture;
the indication of digital extraction has been determined based on a first media content of a first device and a second media content of a second device, and
based on the determined mode of digital extraction, modifying, via the application server, the first DRM-protected content element such that the first DRM-protected media is converted from transparent to opaque.
However, Hassan teaches:
wherein the first DRM-protected media is configured to protect the first sensitive information from being transmitted to a social engineer via screen sharing, screen shotting, or screen capture (By disclosing, “Step 804 causes the content to be shared with the device while preventing the content from being shared with a different device during the screen sharing experience. For instance, when sharing protection is enforced for content from a sharing protected region, the DRM library 128 can be referenced to determine whether any users are designated as sharing privileged…. Step 808 prevents content from the sharing protected region from being shared with the device.” ([0083]-[0085], and Fig. 8 of Hassan)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao in view of Hassan to include techniques of wherein the first DRM-protected media is configured to protect the first sensitive information from being transmitted to a social engineer via screen sharing, screen shotting, or screen capture in order to protect the sensitive information.
Hachiya teaches:
modifying, via the application server, the first DRM-protected content element such that the first DRM-protected media is converted from transparent to opaque. (By disclosing, “The plurality of solid images may then convert to transparent images, and the transparent images may convert to solid images, such that the images are alternately changing their transparency state.” ([0181] of Brown)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao and Hassan, in view of Hachiya to include techniques of modifying, via the application server, the first DRM-protected content element such that the first DRM-protected media is converted from transparent to opaque in order to protect the sensitive information.
And Lin teaches:
the indication of digital extraction has been determined based on a first media content of a first device and a second media content of a second device,
(By disclosing, “In this embodiment, the second content may be the first content, also can be adding the first electronic device identification of the first content. under the condition of authority of the second electronic device to the first authority, said second electronic device does not have the display authority of the second content corresponding to the first content. authority such as the second electronic device does not belong to the first electronic device in the common contact list, determining that the second electronic device is a first authority. Optionally, the user setting display authority of the first content on the first electronic device to the second electronic device corresponding to the first authority is not displayed part is in the first electronic device to remove the first content by the first interface screen, and sharing the screen content to the second electronic device, so that the second electronic device does not display the second content corresponding to the first content. to the first content is a first communication application icon, display the authority user sets the first communication application icon, the device sharing the first interface of the first electronic device and the second electronic time, said second interface is not displaying the first communication application icon.” ([0047] of Lin)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao, Hassan, and Hachiya, in view of Lin to include techniques of “the indication of digital extraction has been determined based on a first media content of a first device and a second media content of a second device”. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would protect the sensitive information.
Regarding claim(s) 20, Qiao discloses:
determining whether the first sensitive information is being accessed via the first media content or a second media content, wherein the first media content is associated with the DRM protections and the second media content is not associated with DRM protections; upon determining the first sensitive information is being accessed via the second media content, transmitting at least one of a first alert to a DRM-protection system or a second alert to the first user device. (By disclosing, “In other words, notifications 702 and 704 in application window 700 do not display information that may be considered sensitive. In contrast, the content provided with notification 706 includes sensitive information. For instance, specific details of the invoice, such as the amount of the invoice (e.g., $67,000.00) and other details of the transaction (e.g., information identifying the provider of the service and information describing the provided service) may be considered sensitive ([0093] of Qiao); “Many of the elements in application window 800 are similar to the elements in application window 700 described above in conjunction with FIG. 7… As explained above in conjunction with FIG. 6, application window 800 may be displayed on a display of client 202 upon a determination that the security state of the environment is not secure.” ([0094] of Qiao); and “responsive to a determination that the security state is unsecure, obfuscate sensitive information included in a notification displayed within an application window being displayed by the computing device.” ([0156] of Qiao)).
Regarding claim(s) 21 and 23, Qiao does not disclose, but Lin teaches:
wherein the indication of digital extraction has been determined based on simultaneous operation of the first media content of the first user device and second media content of a second user device.
(By disclosing, “In this embodiment, the second content may be the first content, also can be adding the first electronic device identification of the first content. under the condition of authority of the second electronic device to the first authority, said second electronic device does not have the display authority of the second content corresponding to the first content. authority such as the second electronic device does not belong to the first electronic device in the common contact list, determining that the second electronic device is a first authority. Optionally, the user setting display authority of the first content on the first electronic device to the second electronic device corresponding to the first authority is not displayed part is in the first electronic device to remove the first content by the first interface screen, and sharing the screen content to the second electronic device, so that the second electronic device does not display the second content corresponding to the first content. to the first content is a first communication application icon, display the authority user sets the first communication application icon, the device sharing the first interface of the first electronic device and the second electronic time, said second interface is not displaying the first communication application icon.” ([0047] of Lin)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao, Hassan, and Hachiya, in view of Lin to include techniques of “wherein the indication of digital extraction has been determined based on simultaneous operation of the first media content of the first user device and second media content of a second user device”. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would protect the sensitive information.
Regarding claim(s) 22 and 24, Qiao does not disclose, but Lin teaches:
wherein the first media content of the first user device includes the first sensitive information and the second media content of the second user device includes a screensharing application.
(By disclosing, “In this embodiment, the second content may be the first content, also can be adding the first electronic device identification of the first content. under the condition of authority of the second electronic device to the first authority, said second electronic device does not have the display authority of the second content corresponding to the first content. authority such as the second electronic device does not belong to the first electronic device in the common contact list, determining that the second electronic device is a first authority. Optionally, the user setting display authority of the first content on the first electronic device to the second electronic device corresponding to the first authority is not displayed part is in the first electronic device to remove the first content by the first interface screen, and sharing the screen content to the second electronic device, so that the second electronic device does not display the second content corresponding to the first content. to the first content is a first communication application icon, display the authority user sets the first communication application icon, the device sharing the first interface of the first electronic device and the second electronic time, said second interface is not displaying the first communication application icon.” ([0047] of Lin)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the effective filing date of the present application to modify the invention of Qiao, Hassan, and Hachiya, in view of Lin to include techniques of “wherein the first media content of the first user device includes the first sensitive information and the second media content of the second user device includes a screensharing application”. Doing so would result in an improved invention because this would protect the sensitive information.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with regard to the 35 U.S.C. § 103 rejection have been considered but are moot in view of new grounds of rejection initiated by applicant’s amendment to the claims.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 20230055595 to Gaddam for disclosing:
An example method comprises determining, by a computing system, that a message-sending computing device has received an indication of user input indicating an intent to send a message to a user of a message-recipient computing device; prior to the message being delivered to the message-recipient computing device, calculating, by the computing system, a screen sharing risk score (SSRS) that indicates a risk that the message-recipient computing device is currently sharing screen content of a screen of the message-recipient computing device with a screen-recipient computing device associated with an untrusted screen-recipient user; and based on the SSRS indicating that the risk is above a risk threshold, causing the message-sending computing device to output an alert indicating that the message-recipient computing device is possibly sharing the screen content of the message-recipient computing device with the screen-recipient computing device associated with the untrusted screen-recipient user.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUAN ZHANG whose telephone number is (571)272-4642. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 10 AM-5 PM.
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/DUAN ZHANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3699
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