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 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.
Claim(s) 38-61 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Anand (US 20130008962)
Anand discloses
38. A method, comprising:
receiving an object having a unique marker (label) comprising a distribution of elements (Anand, Fig. 10, 15, par. 61: each label has multiple scannable regions);
scanning the unique marker of the object and extracting orientation information from the unique marker, the orientation information indicating relative spatial orientations of the respective elements with respect to one another (Anand does not show in Fig. 10, 15 the elements have relative spatial orientations of the respective elements with respect to one another; however, also teaches that elements in the labels can have relative spatial orientations of the respective elements with respect to one another, i.e. by 0.05 degree precision of spatial orientation measurement; Fig. 17, par. 51; it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective date the invention was made to combine Anand’s teachings such that each label can have multiple scannable regions each of which has shapes that are oriented that are relative to one another so that the complexity and security strength are increased to detect forgery and tampering);
performing integrity verification (i.e. authenticity) of the object based on the extracted orientation information,
wherein performing the integrity verification comprises:
identifying a first area of the unique marker (i.e. region 021 in Fig. 15);
identifying a second area of the unique marker (i.e. region 022);
determining an integrity level for the object based on the first area and the second area (angle and distances are measured based on a reference point or axis for integrity in case the label is reapplied or tampered); and
associating the integrity level with the unique marker of the object (Anand, par. 55).
39.38, wherein the integrity level is determined based on a relationship of the first area of the unique marker to the second area of the unique marker (Anand, Fig. 10, 15, 17).
40.39, wherein the relationship is based on relative size of the first area to the second area (Anand, Fig. 7-8, 15).
41.39, wherein the relationship is based on an orientation of at least one of the first or second areas of the unique marker (Anand, Fig. 15).
42.39, wherein the relationship is based on misalignment between the first and second areas of the unique marker (scannable regions can have misalignment or different orientation relative to one another).
43.38, wherein the integrity level is determined based on differential analysis comparison to one or more previous scans of the unique marker (Anand, par. 61).
44.38, wherein the integrity level is determined based on one or more thresholds (Anand, par. 36, 55, 64-66, 69).
45.38, comprising: flagging the object for inspection based on the integrity level associated with the unique marker (Anand, abstract: alert).
46.38, comprising: outputting a location of an area of compromised integrity in the first area (Anand, abstract, par. 48: the alert may be output that an area does not match original orientation due to tampering).
47.38, comprising: generating a unique code for the object based on the orientation information (Anand, abstract, 42, 47-48, 57, 77).
48.38, comprising: identifying at least one of the first or second areas of the unique marker based on the relative spatial orientations of the respective elements (Anand, Figs. 10, 15).
49.38, wherein the unique marker is hidden or not visible to the naked eye (Anand, par 38-40).
50.38, wherein the first area includes evidence of compromised integrity (Anand, Fig. 9-10, 15, par. 48: if the label is reapplied or replaced, previously auto-acquired unique signature cannot be replicated).
51.50, wherein evidence of compromised integrity includes evidence of one or more of the following: environmental stress, removal of elements, replacement of elements, shifting of elements, destruction of elements, mechanical stress, mechanical wear, deformation, article use, or article activation (Anand, abstract, par. 48).
52.38, comprising: scanning the unique marker of the object at different points in a chain of custody and extracting orientation information from the unique marker at each scan; for each scan of the object at different points, performing integrity verification of the object based on the extracted orientation information for the respective scan; and determining, based on the performed integrity verification, a point in the chain of custody where tamper occurred (Anand, par. 47-48, 79, 84).
53.38, wherein the unique marker is formed on a surface of the object (Anand, i.e. Fig. 10).
54.38, wherein the unique marker is formed on a seal, sticker, film, or wrap on the object (Anand, Fig. 9-10, par. 58-59, 87).
Re claims 55-61, see discussion regarding claims above.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments have been considered but are moot in view of new ground of rejection.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/THIEN T MAI/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876