DETAILED ACTION
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 .
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
This application is a CON of 18/374,965 filed on 09/29/2023 now PAT 12,265,869 which has PRO 63/511,449 filed on 06/30/2023.
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.
Claim(s) 17-19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Brady et al. (US 10,573,106).
Re Claim 17: Brady et al.. teaches personal intermediary access device, comprising: at least one processor 226 (col.13, lines 52+); and at least one memory comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to: determine that a first communication component of a mobile device {herein mobile device 135} has engaged in a first short distance wireless communication {herein NFC/near-field communication} with a second communication component of a second device {herein an intermediate device 150/450}, the second device corresponding to an access point of a building {herein the intermediary device 150 may allow the worker 130 to access the home 160, e.g., by unlocking and opening the garage door 180-2, and perform services in the designated location} (see figs.# 1A-1E, 4; col.2, lines 35-67+; col.4, lines 16+); determine that the first short distance wireless communication corresponds to a valid exchange {herein the intermediary device 150 may be configured to authenticate the worker 130 based on exchanges of information or data with the worker 130 and/or without sharing any information or data regarding the worker 130 with the owner 140} (col.4, lines 1-15+); based at least in part on the first short distance wireless communication corresponding to a valid exchange, sending a request to a third device corresponding to a resident {herein an owner or tenant} of the building (); receive, from the third device, a response to the request {herein requests or instructions for granting access to locations on behalf of a worker or other individual or entity may be transmitted by one or more external computer devices or resources to one or more devices associated with secure facilities, and access to such facilities may be granted accordingly} (see col.11, lines 20+); and based at least in part on the response {herein The intermediary device may be programmed with one or more access codes, passwords, authenticators, keys, tokens or similar information associated with a location, and may grant access to the location in response to a request or an instruction received from a worker and/or external computer device or resource without divulging such access codes, passwords, authenticators, keys, tokens or similar information to the worker or the computer device or resource}, cause a first action to be performed (col.11, lines 30-42+).
Re Claim 18: Brady et al. teaches device and method, wherein: the request comprises a request to establish a call {herein the intermediary device alerts the owner as to the arrival of the worker, e.g., by one or more electronic messages such as E-mail, SMS or MMS text messages, social network or instant messaging messages, by a telephone call, or by any other manner} between the mobile device and the third device; the response indicates approval {herein granting access} to establish the call; and the first action comprises causing initiation of the call between the mobile device and the third device (col.25, lines 20+).
Re Claim 19: Brady et al. teaches device and method, wherein: the request comprises a request to permit access to the building; the response indicates approval to permit access{herein the intermediary device 250 may receive information, data and/or instructions from the owner 240, e.g., by way of the computer device 245… Such information, data and/or instructions may identify one or more individuals or entities (e.g., the service provider 220 and/or the worker 230) that are permitted to access the secure facility 260, as well as dates or times at which access to the secure facility 260 is authorized}; and the first action comprises sending, to the mobile device, data to be used to access the building (see col.15, lines 43+).
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) 1-16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brady et al. (US 10,573,106) in view of Schoenfelfer et al. (US 2021/0142601).
Re Claims 1 and 9: sending, by a first short distance wireless communication component of a mobile device, a first signal to a second short distance wireless communication component {herein the intermediary devices of the present disclosure may be outfitted with one or more transceivers (e.g., transmitters and/or receivers) for communicating according to any number of protocols, such as NFC signals} of a second device, the second device corresponding to an access point of a building (see col.23, lines 16-27+; col.27, lines 35+); receiving, from the second short distance wireless communication component, a second signal including a first uniform resource locator (URL) and a cryptographic signature {herein the intermediary devices of the present disclosure may be further configured to operate any access-related systems within a secure facility, including any doors…, a password or other authenticator (e.g., a cryptographic key) for such systems } (see col.6, lines 15+); receiving, by a third wireless communication component of the mobile device and from the server in response to the third signal (see fig.2, for schematic of multiple wireless components) , a fourth signal including data corresponding to a directory of residents {which may one or multiple occupants of the establishment/building, such as the owner and/or tenant} of the building (see col.6, lines 38+); rendering a user interface of the mobile device to display at least a portion of the directory (see col.17, lines 53-67+); receiving an input to the user interface indicating a selection of a first resident of the building (see col.13, lines 5+); and based at least in part on the input, performing a first action corresponding to the first resident of the building (see col.19, lines 1-22+).
Brady et al. fails to specifically teach a second signal including a first uniform resource locator (URL), sending, by a third wireless communication component of the mobile device, a third signal to a server associated with the first URL, the third signal including the cryptographic signature.
Schoenfelfer et al. teaches smart building integration and device hub, which includes a second signal including a first uniform resource locator (URL), sending, by a third wireless communication component of the mobile device, a third signal to a server associated with the first URL, the third signal including the cryptographic signature (see ¶ 105+, 109-116+ )
In view of Schoenfelfer et al.’s teachings, it would have been to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made employ to employ into the teachings of Brady et al. a second signal including a first uniform resource locator (URL) so as to provide a link to the requested device for further authentication and access to a corresponding key. Such modification would be beneficial by assigning a URL with associated webpage for inputting credential information in order to obtain access into the premises.
Re Claims 2 and 10: Brady et al. as modified by Schoenfelfer et al. teaches device and method, wherein: the first short distance wireless communication component comprises a first near field communication (NFC) communication reader; and the second short distance wireless communication component comprises an NFC tag {herein the intermediary device may detect or sense the presence of the worker based on one or more RFID, NFC, Bluetooth® or other signals transmitted by an identification tag 133} (col.31, lines 30-46+).
Re Claims 3 and 11: Brady et al. as modified by Schoenfelfer et al. teaches device and method, further comprising: causing the server to perform a validation operation based at least in part on the third signal (see col.28, lines 1-15+).
Re Claims 4-5 and 12-13: Brady et al. as modified by Schoenfelfer et al. teaches device and method, wherein the first action comprises initiating a communication with a third device corresponding to the first resident, wherein the communication comprises a one-way video call {herein Brady et al. teaches the worker and the owner may engage in a video chat through one or more dedicated channels} between the mobile device and the third device and wherein the method further comprises: connecting the mobile device to the third device on a call {herein the intermediary device alerts the owner as to the arrival of the worker, e.g., by one or more electronic messages such as E-mail, SMS or MMS text messages, social network or instant messaging messages, by a telephone call, or by any other manner}, wherein first image data captured by a first camera of the mobile device is sent to the third device during the call but second image data captured by a second camera of the third device is not sent to the mobile device during the call (see col.25, lines 15+; col.28, lines 10-45+).
Re Claims 6-7 and 14-15: Brady et al. as modified by Schoenfelfer et al. teaches device and method, wherein the first action comprises outputting a notification indicating authorization to enter the building, further comprising: causing the first short distance wireless communication component of a mobile device to engage in a third short distance wireless communication with the second short distance wireless communication component of a second device, the third short distance wireless communication resulting in access to the building (col.27, lines 55-67+; col.28, lines 1+).
Re Claims 8 and 16: Brady et al. as modified by Schoenfelfer et al. teaches device and method, wherein the first action comprises causing the mobile device to download an application corresponding to the building (col.19, lines 25+).
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Brady et al. (US 10,573,106) in view of Musabeyoglu et al. (US 11,605,254).
The teachings of Brady et al. have been discussed above. Brady et al. teaches device and method, wherein the at least one memory further comprises instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, further cause the system to, after causing the first action to be performed: determine that the second communication component has been tampered with {herein the intermediary devices of the present disclosure may also deny access to unauthorized visitors, or restrict access to one or more aspects of the secure facility} (see col.9, lines 51+); determine that a second mobile device has engaged in a second short distance wireless communication with the second communication component; and based at least in part on the second communication component having been tampered with, determine that the second short distance wireless communication corresponds to an invalid {herein the intermediary device 150 may restore the home 160 to a secure condition, and cancel or invalidate any temporary passwords or authenticators that were provided to the worker 130 and/or the mobile device 135} exchange (see col.5, lines 36+; col.25, lines 63+).
Brady fails to specifically teach determine that the second communication component has been tampered with.
Musabeyoglu et al. teaches tamper detection for beacons using radio frequency tags, which includes a tamper detection system 125 (¶ 12+).
In view of Musabeyoglu et al.’s teachings, it would have been to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention was made employ to employ into the teachings of Brady et al. a tamper detection system so as detect any alteration of the user input’s credential and prohibit access by invalidating any previous credential. Such modification would be beneficial by ruling out counterfeit and attempts of misuse.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Schwartz et al. (US 2025/0254177) teaches location verification system and method of verifying a location of an entity.
Ahmad (US 2024/0096151) teaches mutable, configurable device.
Marshall et al. (US 2024/0013199) teaches method and system for pre-validating token-based access control.
Scalisi (US 11,362,853) teaches doorbell communication system and method.
Manoharan (WO 2024061805 A1) teaches system and method for using a web Bluetooth API for mobile access control.
(KR 200477007 Y1) teaches integration system for controlling entrance.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDWYN LABAZE whose telephone number is (571)272-2395. The examiner can normally be reached 8:30AM-5:00PM.
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/EDWYN LABAZE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876