DETAILED ACTION
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
2. Claims 21-40 are pending. Claims 21, 39 and 40 are independent.
3. The IDS submitted on 1/30/2026 has been considered.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
4. 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 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.
5. 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.
6. Claims 21-40 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bryksa (US PG Pub. 2018/0279125) in view of Monks (US PG Pub. 2010/0188237).
As regarding claims 21, 39 and 40, Bryksa discloses An electronic device, comprising:
an interface circuit configured to communicate with a computer [para. 41];
a processor coupled to the interface circuit [para. 41]; and
memory, coupled to the processor, configured to store program instructions, wherein, when executed by the processor, the program instructions cause the electronic device to perform operations [para. 135] comprising:
receiving an access request associated via the interface, wherein the access request comprises one or more authentication parameters associated with a user [para. 61; receiving user last name and room number from the computer’s web browser];
determining that there is an authentication match based at least in part on the one or more authentication parameters [para. 87-88; validating the received last name and room number match the last name and room number stored in the hotel’s PMS];
accessing a policy associated with or that includes one or more of: a spatial criterion, a temporal criterion, information associated with the user, information associated with the one or more authentication parameters, or information associated with a network [para. 89 and 92; determining that MAC address of the client device and user’s Internet access period are valid], wherein the policy enables or disables access, based at least in part on a passphrase associated with the user, to the network [para. 53; allowing, based on the username/password, access to the internet over the secure wireless network], and wherein access is disabled when the user is no longer associated with at least the location [para. 104-107; sending disconnect command to AP to disconnect the expired client devices that are no long associated with the area of the AP].
Bryksa does not explicitly disclose the network for at least a location in a multi-dwelling unit. However, Monks discloses it [para. 36].
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time the effective filing of the invention to modify Bryksa’s network to further comprise network for a location in a multi-dwelling unit, as disclosed by Monks, so that network access may be provided to a larger location.
Bryksa further discloses when one or more criteria associated with the policy are met, transmitting an access acceptance message that is intended for a second electronic device associated with the user and comprises information for establishing secure access of the second electronic device to the network and an attribute associated with the policy [FIG. 3 para. 43, 68-69 and 81; transmitting UI screen 300 to the browser of the login computer to indicate that all client devices 130 can access the internet using the generated user-specific access credential 302].
As regarding claim 22, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the one or more authentication parameters comprise: passphrase parameters corresponding to a passphrase associated with the user, and the passphrase parameters comprise inputs to a cryptographic calculation and an output of the cryptographic calculation [para. 131]; an authentication certificate; or a media access control (MAC) address of the second electronic device.
As regarding claim 23, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the passphrase comprises a dynamic pre-share key (DPSK) of the user [para. 131]; and the one or more authentication parameters is associated with a non-DPSK authentication technique [para. 61; last name and room number || para. 97-99; internet access time || element 506 of FIG. 5 and para. 80-81; MAC authentication].
As regarding claim 24, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the second electronic device is included in a group of electronic devices that are associated with the user and that share the passphrase [para. 43 and 81].
As regarding claim 25, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the one or more authentication parameters comprise one or more of: a random number associated with the second electronic device, a random number associated with a computer network device, the output of the cryptographic calculation [para. 131], an identifier of the second electronic device, or an identifier of the computer network device.
As regarding claim 26, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the confirmation comprises calculating one or more second outputs of the cryptographic calculation based at least in part on the inputs and one or more stored passphrases [para. 131]; and
wherein the match is between one of the one or more second outputs and the output [para. 131].
As regarding claim 27, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the policy allows the user to access multiple networks at different locations or at different times based at least in part on the one or more authentication parameters [para. 111-112].
As regarding claim 28, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 22, wherein the passphrase is independent of the second electronic device or hardware in the second electronic device [para. 131].
As regarding claim 29, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the confirming comprises: verifying whether the authentication certificate is valid for the network; verifying whether a media access control (MAC) address of the second electronic device is included in an approved access list for the network [element 506 of FIG. 5 and para. 80-81]; or performing the calculation of the one or more second outputs of the cryptographic calculation based at least in part on the inputs and the one or more stored passphrases.
As regarding claim 30, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the multi-dwelling unit comprises a dorm or a hotel [para. 40-44].
As regarding claim 31, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 30, wherein the non-DPSK authentication technique comprises: an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) technique, a Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP), Transportation Layer Security (TLS) certificate-based authentication, or a media access control (MAC) authentication [element 506 of FIG. 5 and para. 80-81; MAC authentication].
As regarding claim 32, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the spatial criterion comprises a location where the access to the network is allowed [para. 47].
As regarding claim 33, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 32, wherein the interface circuit is configured to communicate with a second computer [FIG. 3 and para. 43, 68-69 and 81];
wherein the operations comprise communicating with the second computer to determine whether the second electronic device is associated with the location [FIG. 3 para. 43, 47, 68-69 and 81; and
wherein, when the second electronic device is associated with the location, the access acceptance message is selectively provided [FIG. 3 para. 43, 47, 68-69 and 81].
As regarding claim 34, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the temporal criterion comprises a time interval or a day of the week when access to the network is allowed [para. 75 and 96].
As regarding claim 35, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the temporal criterion comprises a time interval when the one or more authentication parameters are valid for the network, and at other times the one or more authentication parameters are valid for a second network [para. 75 and 96; authorized user allows accessing Secure WLAN within Internet access period and can only access Open WLAN when the Internet access period is expired].
As regarding claim 36, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the information associated with the user comprises an identifier of the user or a group that includes the user [para. 61 and 87; user name].
As regarding claim 37, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the information associated with the network may include a media access control (MAC) address of the second electronic device [element 506 of FIG. 5 and para. 80-81; MAC authentication] or a network access server identifier (NAS ID) of the computer network device.
As regarding claim 38, Bryksa further discloses The electronic device of claim 21, wherein the instruction comprises more information than allowing or not allowing access to the network [FIG. 3].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to THONG P TRUONG whose telephone number is (571)270-7905. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8:30AM - 5:30PM.
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/THONG TRUONG/
Examiner, Art Unit 2433
/JEFFREY C PWU/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2433
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