DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This action is response to communication: response to original application filed on 12/03/2024.
Claims 1-13 are currently pending in this application.
No IDS has been filed for this application.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
Claims 1-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which applicant regards as the invention.
Claim elements “branch information acquisition modules,” “group information acquisition module,” “information authentication module,” branch electronic seal generation module,” “group electronic seal generation module,” “unified management and unified handling seal generation module,” “authorization module .. configured to,” found in claim 1, and “central control module configured to,” “communication module configured to,” identity authentication module configured to,” key module configured to,” and “storage module configured to” found in claim 6 are limitations that invokes 35 U.S.C. 112(f). (These examples are exemplary; other limitations may be found throughout the other claims). However, the written description fails to clearly link or associate the disclosed structure, material, or acts to the claimed function such that one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize what structure, material, or acts perform the claimed function.
Applicant may:
(a) Amend the claim so that the claim limitation will no longer be interpreted as a limitation under 35 U.S.C. 112 (f); or
(b) Amend the written description of the specification such that it clearly links or associates the corresponding structure, material, or acts to the claimed function without introducing any new matter (35 U.S.C. 132(a)); or
(c) State on the record where the corresponding structure, material, or acts are set forth in the written description of the specification and linked or associated to the claimed function. For more information, see 37 CFR 1.75(d) and MPEP §§ 608.01(o) and 2181.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 10-13 are allowed.
Claims 1-9 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection(s) under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
Hu US Patent Application Publication 2024/0080208 teaches acquiring identity and corporate information of a corporate user (paragraph 8 and throughout), authenticating the information (paragraph 8 and throughout), generating authenticated information from the authentication step (see paragraph 8), and generating an electronic seal based on the authenticated information.
Toth US Patent Application Publication 2018/0173871 teaches authentication and secure credentials (see abstract and throughout), and further teaches binding digital seals and electronic identities (see paragraphs 13, 241 and throughout).
Zhang WO 2018/218465 is directed toward electronic signatures and authenticating users based on bound certificate information and providing access to users via terminals (see abstract).
Although the references above teach many aspects of the claims and is directed toward the same field of security, the claimed invention, as a whole, would not have been obvious over the cited prior art.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled “Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance.”
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JASON KAI YIN GEE whose telephone number is (571)272-6431. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00 PST Pacific.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Farid Homayounmehr can be reached on (571) 272-3739. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/JASON K GEE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2495