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
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
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, 6, 9 - 10, 12, 17, 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP2019080150A (see attached document for page/line citations) in view of Ham (20230099706) (both of which have been provided in the International Search Report).
Regarding claim 1, JP2019080150A discloses an electronic device comprising (Fig. 1):
a communication interface (Fig. 1; inherent in LAN since transmission takes place);
memory storing instructions and access permission client device information (inherent in Fig. 1 since the following is disclosed by JP2019080150A later in claim 1: “a first client device of which access is permitted”; hence access permitted and access not permitted devices are known);
and one or more processors coupled with the communication interface and the memory, and configured to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors individually (memory, processor inherent in Lan system; Fig. 1) or collectively, cause the electronic device to:
based on identifying that at least one of a hotspot parameter or the access permission client device information is changed (page 14, lines 13+, [0026] discloses “The ID control unit 11 of the wireless LAN access point 1 is a block that manages a setting change ID for identifying whether or not there has been a change in the setting of at least one of the values of the connection parameters, namely the SSID, encryption method, or encryption key (in other words, the current setting state of the connection parameters). It is controlled to update the setting change ID and maintain it, for example, by incrementing it by '1' each time the setting of at least one of the values of the
SSID, encryption method, or encryption key, which are essential for connection, is changed“), transmit, through the communication interface, a first de-authentication message comprising the hotspot parameter to a first client device of which access is permitted (page 14, lines 13+, [0026] discloses “Furthermore, it is controlled to include the setting change ID held by the ID control unit 11 in the disconnection notification (Deauthentication) frame that is sent when the setting operation of the connection parameters to the wireless LAN client terminal 2 is completed by the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) operation, or in the beacon frame that is sent periodically to indicate the presence of the device, and to send it to the wireless LAN client terminal 2.”);
and based on receiving a probe request from the first client device (page 14, lines 39+, [0028] discloses “Then, the wireless LAN client terminal 2 performs the operation of sending a Probe Request frame to the wireless LAN access point 1, ….“; page 16, lines 27+, [0037] – [0039]), perform reconnection with the first client device by transmitting, through the communication interface, a probe response to the first client device (page 17, lines 10+, [0039] discloses “ … then a probe response frame in the same format as the current wireless LAN system is sent to the wireless LAN client terminal 2 that sent the probe request frame as a response to the probe request frame“).
JP2019080150A does not disclose transmit through the communication interface, a second de-authentication message to a second client device of which access is not permitted.
In the same field of endeavor, however, Ham discloses transmit through the communication interface, a second de-authentication message to a second client device of which access is not permitted (claims 1, 10, 11).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one having ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the invention, to use the method, as disclosed by Ham, in the system of JP2019080150A because this would prevent any association with an unauthorized terminal, thereby enhancing security.
Claim 6 is similarly analyzed as claim 1. The connection procedure for a 3rd client device is similar to the 1st client device in claim 1. Claim 6 additionally recites “broadcast a beacon message comprising a service set identifier (SSID);” (page 14, lines 13+, [0026]) and “based on the probe request comprising a media access control (MAC) address and an SSID being received from a third client device (page 17, lines 32+), determine whether the access permission client device information comprises the received MAC address and the received SSID and based on the received MAC address and the received SSID being identified, perform reconnection ….;” (page 17, lines 3+ discloses “When a wireless LAN access point 1 receives a Probe Request frame, it checks whether the MAC address of the wireless LAN client terminal 2 that sent the Probe Request frame is registered in the automatic connection permission terminal registration list 12a, and whether the client-side configuration change ID included in the Probe Request frame is the same value as the configuration change ID held by the ID control unit 11”.).
Regarding claim 9, JP2019080150A discloses based on the hotspot parameter being changed, provide a user interface (UI) configured to update the access permission client device information; and update the access permission client device information based on a user command received from the UI (page 16, 1st paragraph).
Claim 10 is similarly analyzed as claim 1. The host device corresponds to the electronic device in claim 1.
Claim 12 is similarly analyzed as claim 1, with claim 12 reciting equivalent method limitations.
Claim 17 is similarly analyzed as claim 6.
Claim 20 is similarly analyzed as claim 9.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 2 - 5, 7 - 8, 11, 13 - 16, 18 - 19 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Other Prior Art Cited
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to the applicant’s disclosure.
The following patents/publications are cited to further show the state of the art with respect to communication connection of electronic devices:
Hodroj (US 20190253960 A1) discloses Intelligent Network Selection.
Tao (US 20190238435 A1) discloses Monitoring Network Connectivity Status of Network Device.
Sperling et al. (US 20130182693 A1) discloses Enabling a Mobile Broadband Hotspot By An Auxiliary Radio.
Contact Information
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ADOLF DSOUZA whose telephone number is (571)272-1043. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri 9 AM - 5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Chieh M Fan can be reached at 571-272-3042. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ADOLF DSOUZA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2632
