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 .
This Office Action is in response to the application 18/929203 filed on 01/06/2025.
Claims 1-10 have been examined and are pending in this application.
Priority
Applicant priority to U.S. Application No. 18/382592, (now US Patent 12132713), filed on 10/23/2023 and U.S. Application No. 17/990665, (now Abandoned), filed on 11/19/2022 and U.S. Application No. 17/592569, (now Abandoned), filed on 02/04/2022 and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/254805, filed on 10/12/2021, is acknowledged.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 10/28/2024, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ali et al. (“Ali,” US 2016/0099812) in view of Akins, III (“Akins,” US 2004/0177369) and Li (US 2020/0372138).
Regarding claim 1: Ali discloses a method for enhancing digital content authentication, comprising:
a) receiving digital content from an author (Ali: par. 0021 the application program may generate an electronic document);
b) generating a digital signature for the content using an existing patented framework (Ali: par. 0021 the digital signature object may be embedded in the electronic document as a cryptographic signature; par. 0063 FIG. 8 is a computer screen display of a user interface 800, generated by the application program 50, which may be utilized to receive a signature graphic for digitally signing an electronic document);
c) applying at least one enhancement selected from the group consisting of:
iv) applying permissions for co-signing and cross-signing (Ali: par. 0068 specify that all of the digital signatures are independent of one another (i.e., a co-signing arrangement) ; par. 0023 display a second window for defining the display of a plurality of signature line properties for one or more signature lines displayed in the electronic document. The signature line properties may include signature data which may further include a name of the signer of the electronic document);
viii) generating a signature key based on the author's handwriting (Ali: par. 0025 a hash calculation module 64 for generating a hash value 66 from the electronic document 60 and the signature graphic 62; par. 0024 the signature graphic 62 may include [] a handwritten signature); and
d) associating the enhanced digital signature with the content (Ali: par. 0023 receiving a signature graphic or digital signature associated with a signer of the electronic document).
Ali does not explicitly disclose i) inline encryption of portions of the content using the author's key, ii) generating a user authentication token for online systems, and iii) creating incremental checksums for streaming video or audio content.
However, Akins discloses i) inline encryption of portions of the content using the author's key (Akins: par. 0046 typically the payload 210 is a portion of a digital service, or a table, or a portion of a table, or other system information, and when the payload 210 carries a portion of a digital service, the portion of the digital service is encrypted; par. 0034 an asymmetrical key pair includes a public key [] and a private key, which is not distributed);
ii) generating a user authentication token for online systems (Akins: par. 0170 the system controller 332 generates the authentication token by inputting at least a portion of the content of the reply rights-challenge message); and
iii) creating incremental checksums for streaming video or audio content (Akins: par. 0088 a hash function 504B generates a hash digest 508B using the shared information 506B and the decrypted content 502B as inputs).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Akins with the system/method of Ali to include generating a user authentication token for online systems, and creating incremental checksums for streaming video or audio content. One would have been motivated to providing conditional access to recorded service instances (Akins: par. 0001).
Ali in view of Akins does not explicitly disclose v) generating a cryptographically changing border, vi) embedding an author's image in the border and vii) implementing a moving border.
However, Li discloses v) generating a cryptographically changing border (Li: par. 0051 the unique ID can be invisibly embedded in data carriers as a digital watermark [] the unique ID can be encrypted or hashed);
vi) embedding an author's image in the border (Li: par. 0054 the invisible embedding of copyrighted content can be performed based on digital watermarking [] data carriers can include [] images); and
vii) implementing a moving border (Li: par. 0057 digital watermarking can be performed based on frequency masking by transforming the copyrighted content to frequency domain coefficients based on mathematical transformations).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Li with the system/method of Ali and Akins to include generating a cryptographically changing border and embedding an author's image in the border. One would have been motivated to embedding copyright information in electronic files based on blockchain technology (Li: par. 0007).
Regarding claim 2: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Akins further discloses wherein the inline encryption comprises:
a) identifying portions of the content to be encrypted (Akins: par. 0039 the content of a secure message may be encrypted when the sender wants to make the content private);
b) encrypting the identified portions using the author's key (Akins: par. 0046 the payload 210 carries a portion of a digital service, the portion of the digital service is encrypted; par. 0034 an asymmetrical key pair includes a public key [] and a private key, which is not distributed); and
c) specifying individuals or groups authorized to view the encrypted portions (Akins: par. 0156 the secure element 614 determines whether the user requested functionality of the DSCT-PVR 110 is basic playback functionality, and if so, the secure element 614 proceeds to step 1012 and returns "authorized.").
The motivation is the same that of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 3: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Ali further discloses wherein generating a user authentication token comprises:
a) creating a digital signature using the author's identifying information (Ali: par. 0040 the routine 300 continues to operation 330 where the application program 50 adds digital certificate and public key cryptographic data [] to the encrypted hash value generated at operation 325 in order to generate a digital signature object);
b) transmitting the digital signature to a server for verification (Ali: par. 0043 the routine 300 continues to operation 330 where the application program 50 adds digital certificate and public key cryptographic data [] to the encrypted hash value generated at operation 325 in order to generate a digital signature object).
Akins further discloses c) granting access to an online system upon successful verification (Akins: par. 0155 if the DSCT-PVR 110 is entitled, then the secure element 614 proceeds to step 1008 and determines whether the recorded service 234 is a rental).
The motivation is the same that of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 4: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Akins further discloses wherein creating incremental checksums comprises:
a) dividing streaming content into buffered segments (Akins: par. 0042 plurality of transport streams 202 [] each transport stream is made up of a stream of packets 204);
b) generating a checksum for each buffered segment (Akins: par. 0050 a hash digest of at least a portion of the payload 210 of the ECM 216); and
c) appending checksums to allow continuous verification during streaming (Akins: par. 0158 the authentication token is generally a digitally signed hash digest, and the secure element uses the public key of the signer to verify the signature).
The motivation is the same that of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 5: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Ali further discloses wherein applying permissions for co-signing and cross-signing comprises:
a) receiving from the author a list of authorized co-signers or cross-signers (Ali: par. 0031 collect multiple digital signatures in an electronic document for routing to individual signers, and display a user interface for generating and validating signature data for securely visualizing digital signatures in an electronic document);
b) verifying the identity of a co-signer or cross-signer against the authorized list (Ali: par. 0068 specify that all of the digital signatures are independent of one another (i.e., a co-signing arrangement) ; par. 0023 display a second window for defining the display of a plurality of signature line properties for one or more signature lines displayed in the electronic document. The signature line properties may include signature data which may further include a name of the signer of the electronic document); and
c) allowing or denying co-signing or cross-signing based on the verification (Ali: par. 0036 the application program 50 may be configured to allow a user to enter a signature graphic directly over a signature line already present in the electronic document or alternatively, generate a user interface for inserting one or more types of signature graphics in the electronic document 60).
Regarding claim 6: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Li further discloses wherein generating a cryptographically changing border comprises:
a) using the digital signature of the content to generate unique border characteristics (Li: par. 0051 the unique ID can be invisibly embedded in data carriers as a digital watermark; par. 0052 the unique ID can also be a digital signature generated based on the right holder's private key);
b) altering the color or graphical elements of the border based on the generated characteristics (Li: par. 0061 the unique ID can be embedded in characteristics information of textual or image content. Example characteristics information can include color; par. 0063 embedding the unique ID [] shape of font or punctuations); and
c) ensuring no two borders are identical (Li: par. 0078 the computing device generates a unique ID based on copyright information associated with the digital content, wherein the copyright information and the digital content are recorded on a blockchain).
The motivation is the same that of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 7: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Li further discloses wherein embedding an author's image in the border comprises:
a) receiving an image of the author (Li: par. 0054 digital watermarking [] data carriers can include [] images);
b) resizing or modifying the image to fit within the border (Li: par. 0055 the digital watermark can be embedded in a letter, a word, a sentence, or all the way up to the entire textual content); and
c) integrating the image into the border design (Li: par. 0079 the page design can include designing page theme, format, and background (e.g., watermark, color, borders, etc.)).
The motivation is the same that of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 8: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Li further discloses wherein implementing a moving border comprises:
a) generating a series of border designs based on the content's digital signature (Li: par. 0051 the unique ID can be encrypted or hashed [] the encryption can be performed based on public key encryption using the copyright holder's public key; par. 0052 the unique ID can also be a digital signature generated based on the right holder's private key);
b) cycling through the series of border designs at predetermined intervals (Li: par. 0050 the unique ID can also be generated based on the one or more transactions and one or more of the corresponding timestamps and locations).
The motivation is the same that of claim 1 above.
Regarding claim 9: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Ali further discloses wherein generating a signature key based on the author's handwriting comprises:
a) capturing the author's handwritten signature (Ali: par. 0021 receiving a signature graphic);
b) analyzing characteristics of the signature including line lengths, angles, curves, and colors (Ali: par. 0037 at operation 310, the application program 50 determines that the signature graphic is in a compatible file format, then the routine 300 branches from operation 310 to operation 320);
c) generating a unique cryptographic key based on the analyzed characteristics (Ali: par. 0039 the routine 300 continues to operation 325 where the application program 50 encrypts the hash value with private key cryptographic data, such as the private key data 72); and
d) using the generated key for content signing or encryption (Ali: par. 0026 the PKI the private key data 72 may be utilized to encrypt the hash value 66).
Regarding claim 10: Ali in view of kins and Li discloses the method of claim 1.
Ali further discloses a system for implementing the method of claim 1, comprising:
a) a processor (Ali: par. 0029 central processing unit 8 ("CPU"));
b) a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, perform the steps of the method of claim 1 (Ali: par. 0029 a system memory 12, including a random access memory 18 ("RAM") and a read-only memory ("ROM") 20).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fahimeh Mohammadi whose telephone number is (571)270-7857. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 - 5:00.
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/FAHIMEH MOHAMMADI/ Examiner, Art Unit 2439
/LUU T PHAM/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2439