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 .
Priority
This application claims priority to German Application # DE102022002518 filed 11/01/2024.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 01/10/2025 was filed along with the mailing date of the Non-Provisional Patent Application on 01/10/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to a Non-Provisional Patent Application received on 01/10/2025. Examiner send out Requirement for Restriction/Election on 07/08/2026. In response, Applicant elected Group I including claims 18-24 and 30-34 for examination without traverse.
In the application, claims 18-24 and 30-34 have been received for consideration and have been examined.
Specification
Applicant’s submitted specification has been reviewed and found to be in compliance.
Drawings
Applicant’s submitted drawings have been reviewed and found to be in compliance.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 18-24, and 31-34 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) & (a)(2) as being anticipated by Non-Patent Literatere (NPL) authored by Chaum et al., (Titled: How to issue a central bank digital currency) published 02/27/2021.
Regarding claim 18, Chaum discloses:
a method for securely generating a token, which can be issued, by a token issuer of an electronic transaction system (the abstract: "token-based system") with a token reference register (pages 13, 22 and 23: "database operated by the central bank"),
wherein, in a token issuer unit which comprising a secure token generating unit (page 13: "commercial bank", "central bank"), the following steps are carried out:
generating a token-specific token element pair, comprising a secret token element and a public token reference element, in the secure token generation unit (page 16: "denomination key pairs"; "establish key pairs");
generating an add command in the secure token generation unit, said command instructing the token reference register to add a token reference comprising the generated public token reference element as an additional token reference in the token reference register (page 16: "the central bank would establish key pairs for different coin values and publish the public keys that customers could use to withdraw money"; page 22: "the central bank operates a high-availability online service and database; page 23: the central bank can monitor the database for instances of deposits exceeding withdrawals");
sending the add command to the token reference register (page 16: "public keys are published/provided"; page 24: "the front-end servers need to communicate with a database to make transactions and to prevent double-spending");
wherein
the generated token element pair is an internal temporary token element pair of the token generation unit (page 13: "the central bank makes the signature with its private key, and it has multiple denomination key pairs"; pages 16, 17, 23 and 26: "denomination keys expire"),
the token generation unit receives a token reference of the token which can be issued (pages 18-19: "public key C of the partially spent coin c is recorded in the database; public key Ci corresponding to private key ci for the fresh coin"; page 21: "the coin's public key
is hashed, blinded and sent to central bank for signing"), and
the token generation unit generates a replace command which instructs the token reference register to register the token reference of the token which can be issued instead of the token reference of the temporary token element pair (page 19: "central bank creates a signature over Ci; the central bank maintains a list of spent coins; page 21: the central bank signs the coin's public key; the central bank checks its database to ensure that the coin has not previously been spent").
Regarding claim 19, Chaum discloses:
The method according to claim 18, wherein the token issuer unit comprises a secure token storage unit,
wherein the secure token storage unit generates a token-specific token element pair of the token which can be issued (page 13: The CBDC proposed in the present paper is a genuine digital bearer instrument because when the user withdraws a sum of money in the form of a number, the number is “blinded” or hidden by the smartphone in a special encryption. In the actual system, a coin is a public/private key pair, with the private key only known to the owner of the coin).
Regarding claim 20, Chaum discloses:
The method according to claim 18, wherein the secret token element of the internal temporary token element pair is present only in the token generation unit; and/or the secret token element of the token which can be issued is present only in the token generation unit (page 19: "central bank creates a signature over Ci; the central bank maintains a list of spent coins; page 21: the central bank signs the coin's public key; the central bank checks its database to ensure that the coin has not previously been spent”).
Regarding claim 21, Chaum discloses:
The method according to claim 18, wherein the add command and the replace command are sent together to the token reference register in a joint sending step (page 16: "public keys are published/provided"; page 24: "the front-end servers need to communicate with a database to make transactions and to prevent double-spending"); characterized in that the generated token element pair is an internal temporary token element pair of the token generating unit; page 13: "the central bank makes the signature with its private key, and it has multiple denomination key pairs"; pages 16, 17, 23 and 26: "denomination keys expire"; page 19: "central bank creates a signature over Ci; the central bank maintains a list of spent coins; page 21: the central bank signs the coin's public key; the central bank checks its database to ensure that the coin has not previously been spent").
Regarding claim 22, Chaum discloses:
The method according to claim 21, wherein, as a result of the sending, an addition confirmation and/or a replacement confirmation is/are received in the token issuer unit (page 19: "central bank creates a signature over Ci; the central bank maintains a list of spent coins; page 21: the central bank signs the coin's public key; the central bank checks its database to ensure that the coin has not previously been spent").
Regarding claim 23, Chaum discloses:
The method according to claim 18, wherein the token issuer unit comprises a secure token management unit, wherein a token generation request is received in the secure token management unit (page 20: Figure 1.).
Regarding claim 24, Chaum discloses:
The method according to claim 23, wherein the token generation request already comprises the public token reference element (page 16: "denomination key pairs"; "establish key pairs").
Regarding claim 31, Chaum discloses:
A token issuer unit comprising a secure token generation unit for securely generating a token which can be issued by means of a method according to claim 18; and
an interface to a token reference register (page 20: Figure 1.).
Regarding claim 32, Chaum discloses:
The token issuer unit according to claim 31, further comprising:
a token issuer subscriber unit configured to store tokens and/or token references; and
an interface to a bank subscriber unit or to a central bank unit, configured to receive a token generation request and/or to receive a token destruction request (Page 21-22, Figure. 1).
Regarding claim 33, Chaum discloses:
The token issuer unit according to claim 31, comprising:
a token management unit with an interface to a bank subscriber unit or to a central bank unit or a token issuer subscriber unit, configured to: output the token which can be issued; and/or store completion of the secure destruction of the token and/or store completion of the secure generation of the token which can be issued (Page 21-22, Figure. 1).
Regarding claim 34, Chaum discloses:
The token issuer unit according to claim [[3]]18, further comprising an air gap interface between the token management unit and the secure token generation unit and/or the secure token destruction unit (page 20-21: communication occurring via an established secure channel).
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.
Claim(s) 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Non-Patent Literatere (NPL) authored by Chaum et al., (Titled: How to issue a central bank digital currency) published 02/27/2021 in view of Hoyos., (US20200296093A1).
Regarding claim 30, Chaum fails to disclose:
The method according to claim 18, wherein the token issuer unit comprises a secure token management unit, wherein a token destruction request is received in the token management unit.
However, Hoyos discloses:
wherein the token issuer unit comprises a secure token management unit, wherein a token destruction request is received in the token management unit ([0169] Method 1800 can begin with step 1805 where the cryptocurrency wallet application receives the user-selection of the cryptocurrency wallet having the ERC20 token that they wish to delete. Next, user-selection of the command to delete the desired ERC20 token from the selected wallet can be received in step 1810. In step 1815, the user can be prompted to confirm the token deletion).
It would have been obvious to an ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Chaum’s token architecture and include a method of deleting token based on command to delete the token, as disclosed by Hoyos.
The motivation to delete the token is to ensure the token cannot be stolen and reused by a malicious entity for future transactions.
Claim Objections
Claim 34 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 34 preamble recite “The token issuer unit according to claim 3” which is incorrect because claim 3 has been cancelled. Examiner finds this a typographical error. For examination purposes, claim 34 is considered dependent on claim 18.
Appropriate correction is required.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SYED M AHSAN whose telephone number is (571)272-5018. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30 AM - 6:00 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, William Korzuch can be reached at 571-272-7589. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SYED M AHSAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2491
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