Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Claim Objections
Claims 2,15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 2,15 recite, “Thes system…”, “Thes” is misspelled. It should be “The”.
Claims 12,19 recite, …”the current statis” “statis” is misspelled. It should be “status”.
Appropriate correction is required.
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, 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 1-3,10, 14-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dance (us 2022/0303280) in view of Taneja (us 2018/02273150) and further in view of Schulz (us 9,521,125).
As regarding claim 1, Dance discloses a system for dynamic trust-based network architectures, the system comprising a computer device comprising at least one processor in communication with at least one memory device, wherein the at least one processor is programmed to (see Dance 0101-0103, system comprises processor execute instruction and memory): store plurality of records for a plurality of network elements, wherein each record of the plurality of records includes a current status of the corresponding network element of the plurality of network elements (see Dance 0061, the trust database stores listing of various trust levels of nodes); scan the plurality of records for a plurality of available network elements for the request (see Dance 0057,0061, select from the database path/s which includes plurality of intermediate nodes with different trust levels, it is obvious that when this step is carried out, the system scan or go through the database to select out the nodes that meet the required trust level/s); select a first set of network elements to meet the request from the plurality of network elements based upon the current status of each of the plurality of available network elements; receive a confirmation of the response (see Dance 0057,0061, select from the database path/s which includes plurality of intermediate nodes with different trust levels that meet the required trust level/s); and configure the first set of network elements to complete the data transmission (see Dance 0041, configure each intermediate nodes with routing function to route data from the source node to destination node).
Dance is silent in regard to the concept of receive a request for a set of network elements for data transmission and generate a response to the request based upon the first set of network elements.
Taneja teaches the concept of receive a request for a set of network elements for data transmission (see Taneja 0083, receive a path determination request from the source node) and generate a response to the request based upon the first set of network elements (see Taneja 0088,0096, generate a trusted path with trusted nodes and provide trusted path with trusted nodes used to transmit data to destination node).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Taneja to Dance because they're analogous art. A person would have been motivated to modify Dance with Taneja’s teaching for the purpose of efficiently detect and locate potential routing misbehavior so that appropriate action can be taking.
The combination of Dance-Taneja is silent in regard to the concept of receive a confirmation of the response.
Schulz teaches the concept of receive a confirmation of the response (see Schulz col.5, lines 44-48, confirmation of the response message send to the device that send the response message).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Schulz to Dance-Taneja because they're analogous art. A person would have been motivated to modify Dance-Taneja with Schulz’s teaching for the purpose of reducing uncertainty and ensure reliability of communication between nodes.
As regarding claim 2, Dance-Taneja-Schulz discloses the plurality of records are stored in a digital ledger (see Dance 0025, block chain ledgers).
As regarding claim 3, Dance-Taneja-Schulz discloses the request is for a subsequent time and wherein the first set of network elements are reserved at the subsequent time (Taneja 0083,0088 receive a path determination request from the source node… generate a trusted path with trusted nodes and provide trusted path with trusted nodes used to transmit data to destination node).
As regarding claim 10, Dance-Taneja-Schulz discloses the current status includes at least a software version for the network element (see Dance 0088-0090, trust level establish for the device and the trustworthy of the device’s firmware and hardware).
As regarding claims 14-16, the limitations of claims 14-16 are similar to limitations of rejected claims 1-3,10 above, therefore rejected for the same rationale.
Claims 4-9,11-13,17-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Dance-Taneja-Schulz as applied to claim 1, 14 above and further in view of Gupta et al (us 2022/0131691) (hereinafter Gupta).
As regarding claim 4, Dance-Taneja-Schulz discloses the invention as claims in claim 1 above, however Dance-Taneja-Schulz is silent in regard to the concept of current status for each network element includes a certification status for each network element.
Gupta teaches the concept of current status for each network element includes a certification status for each network element (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue new digital certificate).
It would have been obvious to one with an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate the teaching of Gupta to Dance-Taneja-Schulz because they're analogous art. A person would have been motivated to modify Dance-Taneja-Schulz with Gupta’s teaching for the purpose of ensuring the legitimacy of devices in the network (see Gupta 0015-0016).
As regarding claim 5, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses the certification status includes certified and not certified, wherein a certified status includes a digital certificate associated with the network element (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue new digital certificate, and Dance 0056, discloses the different trust levels of the devices which could be high trust…low trust…trust free). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 5.
As regarding claim 6, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses the digital certificate is configured to expire after a period of time (see Gupta 0050, digital certificate associates with expiration time). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 6.
As regarding claim 7, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses the certification status includes a plurality of levels of certified, and wherein each of the plurality of levels of certified is associated with different certification requirements (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue new digital certificate, and Dance 0056, discloses the different trust levels of the devices which could be high trust…low trust…trust free). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 7.
As regarding claim 8, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses each of the plurality of levels of certified is associated with a different digital certificate (see Gupta, device’s configuration change, a new certificate will assign to the device). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 8.
As regarding claim 9, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses the certification status is based upon the network element meeting a plurality of requirements and being authenticated (see Dance 0056,0060, device’s trust level is assigned depend on the verification process uses different factors to verify the device).
As regarding claim 11, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses generate a smart contract to reserve the first set of network elements to complete the data transmission (see Gupta 0021,0035, smart contract). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 11.
As regarding claim 12, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses receive an update to a current status of a first network element of the plurality of network elements (see Gupta 0012, status of the device change/update); validate the update to the current status of the first network element (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue certificate after verify that the device is legitimate); assign a digital certificate to the first network element based upon the validation of the current statis of the first network element (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue certificate after verify that the device is legitimate); and store the digital certificate and the update to the current status of the first network element (see Gupta 0046,0064, store the digital certificate). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 12.
As regarding claim 13, Dance-Taneja-Schulz-Gupta discloses receive a new network element to add to the plurality of network elements, wherein the new network element includes a current status of the new network element (see Gupta 0064, a network node is newly provision in the network); validate the current status of the new network element (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue certificate after verify that the device is legitimate); assign a digital certificate to the new network element based upon the validation of the current statis of the new network element (see Gupta 0015-0016, issue certificate after verify that the device is legitimate); and generate a record to store the digital certificate and the current status of the new network element with the plurality of records (see Gupta 0046,0064, store the digital certificate of the new provisioned node). The same motivation was utilized in claim 4 apply equally well to claim 13.
As regarding claims 17-20, the limitations of claims 17-20 are similar to limitations of rejected claims 4-9,11-13 above, therefore rejected for the same rationale.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DUYEN MY DOAN whose telephone number is (571)272-4226. The examiner can normally be reached (571)272-4226.
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, Tonia Dollinger can be reached at (571)272-4170. 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.
/DUYEN M DOAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2459