Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
2. Applicant’s arguments filed on 09/18/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C. 103 rejection of claims 1-3 and 6-20 are rejected under as being unpatentable
over U.S. Patent No. 9824244 hereinafter Koeppel in view of U.S. Publication No.
20220092600 hereinafter Teansky have been fully considered. However, upon further consideration, a new ground(s) of rejection is made in view of amended claims.
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.
The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
3. Claims 1-3 and 6-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable
over U.S. Patent No. 9824244 hereinafter Koeppel in view of U.S. Publication No.
20220092600 hereinafter Teansky, and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 20220374907 hereinafter Lee.
As per claim 1, Koeppel discloses:
A method of authenticating a user to a reader, using a system comprising
the reader and an electronic device having a first virtual card and a second virtual
card configured to authenticate the user (Fig. 2, Col. 6 Lines 50-58 "FIG. 2 is a
simplified block diagram of the operation of a wearable user authentication factor
as implemented with a multi-factor authentication module in accordance with an
embodiment of the disclosure. In various embodiments, an electronic tag
comprising a unique tag identifier is embedded within a wearable article, such as
a ring 210 or watch 212, to provide a wearable user authentication factor to a
multi-factor authentication module 148 for the authentication of a user 202."
Applicant's specification on paragraph 0042-0045 discloses an electronic
device that includes a first authentication procedure and second
authentication procedure and in paragraph 0045 states in other words the
first authentication IDPIN and second authentication IDBIO are virtual
cards. Therefore, based on the Applicant's specification interpretation,
Koeppel multifactor authentication procedures within the wearable device
include virtual cards. Fig. 5, Col. 10 Lines 19-22 "In this embodiment, wearable user authentication factor operations are begun in block 502, followed
by a user of a wearable user authentication factor approaching a multi-factor
terminal for authentication in block 504."), the method comprising:
(A1) first using, by the first virtual card, a first biometric authentication
procedure to attempt to authenticate the user to the electronic device (Figs. 2
and 5a-b, Col. 7 Lines 56-64 " In one embodiment, the user 202 is requested to
provide a predetermined biometric feature, such as a fingerprint 206, as a
biometric authentication factor. The user provides the requested biometric
feature (e.g., fingerprint 206) to a biometric reader 208 operably coupled to the
multi-factor authentication terminal 204. The biometric feature (e.g., 206) is then
processed to generate a unique biometric identifier, which once generated, is
stored in temporary memory." Col. 11 Lines 24-37 "The user then selects an
authentication action in block 526, followed by the determination in block 528 of
the unique tag identifier associated with the selected authentication action. Once
identified, the unique tag identifier is then stored in temporary memory in
block 530. Once the unique tag identifier has been stored in temporary memory,
or if it is determined in block 506 that no electronic tag was detected, then a
determination is made in block 532 whether the multi-factor authentication
terminal requires biometric authentication of the user. If so, then the user is
requested in block 534 to provide a predetermined biometric feature as described
in greater detail herein as a biometric authentication factor. The user then
provides the requested biometric feature in block 536 to a biometric reader
operably coupled to the multifactor authentication terminal.");
(B) in response to the authentication of step (A1) being successful,
sending, by the first virtual card, a first identifier associated with the first biometric
authentication procedure to the reader to authenticate the user (Figs. 5b, Col. 11
Line 37-48 "A determination is then made in block 538 whether the biometric
feature was successfully read. If not, then the authentication request is denied in
block 560 and wearable user authentication factor operations are ended in
block 564. Otherwise, the biometric feature is processed in block 540 to generate
a unique biometric identifier. In one embodiment, the unique biometric identifier is
generated by the biometric reader. In another embodiment, the unique biometric
identifier is generated by the multi-factor authentication terminal. In yet another
embodiment, the unique biometric identifier is generated by a multi-factor
authentication module.");
(A2) second using, by the first virtual card, the first biometric
authentication procedure to attempt to authenticate the user to the electronic
device (Col. 11 Lines 54- Col. 12 Line 2 "Once the unique biometric identifier
has been stored in temporary memory, or if it was determined in block 532 that
biometric authentication of the user was not required, then a determination is
made in block 544 whether the multi-factor authentication terminal requires a
receipt of a personal identification number (PIN) for the user to be authenticated.
If so, then the user is requested in block 546 to provide PIN information as
described in greater detail herein as an authentication factor. The user then
provides the requested PIN information in block 548 to a PIN reader operably
coupled to the multi-factor authentication terminal. A determination is then made
in block 550 whether the biometric feature was successfully read. If not, then the
authentication request is denied in block 560 and wearable user authentication
factor operations are ended in block 564."); and
Koeppel does not disclose:
a first biometric authentication procedure performed locally on the electronic device using a biometric sensor of the electronic device
(C) in response to the authentication of step (A2) not being successful,
using, by the second virtual card that is configured to authenticate the user using information known to the user, a second authentication procedure that includes verifying the information known to the user to authenticate the user to the reader, by sending a second identifier associated with the second authentication procedure to the reader.
Teansky discloses:
(C) in response to the authentication of step (A2) not being successful,
using, by the second virtual card, a second authentication procedure to
authenticate the user to the reader, by sending a second identifier associated
with the second authentication procedure to the reader (Fig. 2, element 100, 236
and 238, Fig. 6, para 0087 "At step 612, the user 132 is prompted to provide
biometric identifiers 208, including first biometric 236 and/or second
biometric 238 from the user 132 prior to submitting the ballot 224 or prior to
voting. As noted above and similar to step 604, the biometric identifiers 208 may
be transmitted as stored or otherwise accessible from the fraud prevention
application 128 or may be transmitted or provided to the voting databases 234 or
other relevant parties from one or more biometric scanning mechanisms that may
be associated with the user computing device 100 or that are separate from the
user computing device 100. Further, at step 610, in addition to the biometric
identifiers 208, the user 132 may be required to further enter or otherwise provide
a voting ID number 226." Para 0088 "At step 614, the user 132 may be
authorized to vote after providing the necessary biometric identifier 208 and voter
ID number 226. It is noted that similar to the card fraud prevention 202, the
user 132 may first supply a first biometric 236 for voting authorization. If that
first biometric 236 fails to be authorized or is declined, then the user 132 may be
prompted to provide a second authorized biometric 238 associated with the
user 132's voter identity.")
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to the multi-
factor authentication method of Koeppel to include in response to the
authentication of step (A2) not being successful, using, by the second virtual
card, a second authentication procedure to authenticate the user to the reader,
by sending a second identifier associated with the second authentication
procedure to the reader, as taught by Teansky.
The motivation would have been to provide another authentication
alternative when authentication fails.
Koeppel in view of Teansky does not disclose:
a first biometric authentication procedure performed locally on the electronic device using a biometric sensor of the electronic device
(C) in response to the authentication of step (A2) not being successful,
using, that is configured to authenticate the user using information known to the user, a second authentication procedure that includes verifying the information known to the user to authenticate the user to the reader
Lee discloses:
a first biometric authentication procedure performed locally on the electronic device using a biometric sensor of the electronic device (para 0030 “ The biometric verification operation may refer to an operation of determining whether biometric information BI and the registered biometric information RBI match. The user's biometric data is stored on the IC card, not on a central database. This storage of biometric data on the IC card improves the security of user information in the event that a bank or other vendor has been subjected to a cyber attack. The biometric information BI is checked locally at the IC card, since the registered biometric information RBI is stored on the IC card.” Para 0038 “In some embodiments, the biometric sensor 112 may sense a fingerprint of the user of the IC card 110 and may generate the biometric information BI based on the sensed fingerprint.” Fig. 4, element 112, para 0055 “The biometric sensor 112 may be a sensor that senses a fingerprint of a user of the IC card 110. The biometric sensor 112 may sense the fingerprint of the user of the IC card 110 to generate biometric information. The biometric sensor 112 may output the biometric information to the control circuit 111. “ Fig. 5, Para 0061 “In operation S120, the card reader 120 may output a biometric verification request to the IC card 110. In operation S121, based on the biometric verification request, the IC card 110 may determine that the biometric information BI and the registered biometric information RBI do not match. When the IC card 110 determines that the biometric information BI and the registered biometric information RBI match, the IC card 110 may perform operation S132, unlike the example illustrated in FIG. 5.”)
(C) in response to the authentication of step (A2) not being successful,
using, that is configured to authenticate the user using information known to the user, a second authentication procedure that includes verifying the information known to the user to authenticate the user to the reader (para 0045 “ The control circuit 111 may receive the PIN verification request PVR and the PIN information PI from the card reader 120. The PIN verification request PVR may refer to a request for checking an identity of the user based on the PIN information PI and the registered PIN information RPI. The PIN information PI may include information about a series of numbers (or digits) that a current user inputs to the card reader 120.” Fig. 5, para 0062 “In operation S122, based on determining that the biometric information BI and the registered biometric information RBI do not match, the IC card 110 may output a response indicating a biometric verification fail to the card reader 12.” Para 0063 “In operation S130, the card reader 120 may output a PIN verification request to the IC card 110. In operation S131, based on the PIN verification request, the IC card 110 may determine that the PIN information PI and the registered PIN information RPI match. ” Para 0064 “In operation S132, based on determining that the PIN information PI and the registered PIN information RPI match, the IC card 110 may output a response indicating a PIN verification success to the card reader 120.”)
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to the multi-
factor authentication method of Koeppel in view of Teansky to include a first biometric authentication procedure performed locally on the electronic device using a biometric sensor of the electronic device (C) in response to the authentication of step (A2) not being successful, using, that is configured to authenticate the user using information known to the user, a second authentication procedure that includes verifying the information known to the user to authenticate the user to the reader, as taught by Lee.
The motivation would have been to performs local and out of band authentication to improve security of user information when authentication fails.
As per claim 2, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising using, by the reader,
the first identifier or the second identifier to determine whether the user has been
authenticated or not (Koeppel Figs. 5a-c, elements 538, 558, 562).
As per claim 3, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 2, further comprising:
associating, by a database, at least two identifiers with a same user; and
transferring, by the reader, the first identifier or the second identifier to the
database to determine whether the user has been authenticated or not (Teansky Fig. 3, para 0078 "At step 310, the first biometric 236 and second biometric 238 may be stored or otherwise associated with one or more databases of the card
issuer 218." Though Koeppel discloses storing identifiers, Teansky
discloses associating, by a database, at least two identifiers with a same
user; and transferring, by the reader, the first identifier or the second
identifier. The motivation would have been to provide another
authentication alternative when authentication fails.).
As per claim 6, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising using, by the first
virtual card, a biometric sensor in the first biometric authentication procedure
(Koeppel Fig. 4, Col. 8 Lines 54-67 "FIG. 4 is a simplified illustration of a radio
frequency identifier (RFID) as implemented in a wearable user authentication
factor in accordance with an embodiment of the disclosure. In various
embodiments, an electronic tag 410, 412 is respectively embedded in a wearable
article, such as a ring 210 or a watch 212, proximate to a biometric indicator,
such as the fingerprint 206 of a user of the wearable article 210 or 212. In these
and other embodiments, a user of a wearable user authentication factor
approaches a multi-factor terminal 204 for authentication. The multi-factor
authentication terminal uses an electronic tag reader 214, such as an RFID tag
reader, to determine whether an electronic tag 410,412, respectively embedded
within a wearable article 210, 212 is detected.").
As per claim 7, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising communicating, by
the electronic device and the reader, with each other by a wireless
communication (Koeppel Fig. 4, Col. 8 Lines 54-67, wearable).
As per claim 8, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 7, wherein the wireless communication is a
near-field communication (Teansky para 0032 and 0083 " In a second non-
limiting embodiment, the second biometric 238 may be transmitted by the
user 132 using one or more biometric scanning mechanisms 206 to directly
provide the second biometric 238 in real time or near real time. The one or more
biometric scanning mechanisms 206 may be connected to the card
issuer 218 through either a wired, wireless, or other type of connection." NFC is
well within the scope of wireless biometric scanning. Though Koeppel
discloses wearable ring, Teansky suggest wireless communication can be
near-field communication. The motivation would have been to provide
another authentication alternative when authentication fails.).
As per claim 9, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 1, wherein the user cannot authenticate to
the reader without possessing the electronic device (Koeppel Figs. 1 and 4).
As per claim 10, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 1, further comprising, after step (B), step
(D) implementing, by the reader, a secure communication session with the
electronic device (Teansky para 0032 and 0063 "The user account 240 may be
a unique user profile registered with the fraud prevention application 128 to
identify the user 132 and any relevant information about the user 132's credit
card 216, debit card 217, and stored biometric identifiers 208. The user 132 may
need to login and provide either a password or other form of secure identification
(e.g., either first biometric 236 or second biometric 238) in order to log into
user 132's account 240. Further, in a non-limiting embodiment, the user 132 may
be able to communicate with the card issuer 218 via secured, encrypted
messages and view any information about the user 132's account for each credit
card 216 and debit card 217 using the fraud prevention application 128 and
accessing the unique user's 132 account." Though Koeppel discloses
wearable ring, Teansky discloses implementing, by the reader, a secure
communication session with the electronic device. The motivation would
have been to provide another authentication alternative when
authentication fails.).
As per claim 11, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 10, further comprising, during step (D),
selecting an application to implement a secure protocol (Teansky para 0063
"The user account 240 may be a unique user profile registered with the fraud
prevention application 128 to identify the user 132 and any relevant information
about the user 132's credit card 216, debit card 217, and stored biometric
identifiers 208. The user 132 may need to login and provide either a password or
other form of secure identification (e.g., either first biometric 236 or second
biometric 238) in order to log into user 132's account 240. Further, in a non-
limiting embodiment, the user 132 may be able to communicate with the card
issuer 218 via secured, encrypted messages and view any information about the
user 132's account for each credit card 216 and debit card 217 using the fraud
prevention application 128 and accessing the unique user's 132 account."
Though Koeppel discloses wearable ring, Teansky discloses selecting an
application to implement a secure protocol. The motivation would have
been to provide another authentication alternative when authentication
fails.).
As per claim 13, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 10, further comprising, during step (D),
opening the secure communication session (Teansky para 0063 "The user
account 240 may be a unique user profile registered with the fraud prevention
application 128 to identify the user 132 and any relevant information about the user 132's credit card 216, debit card 217, and stored biometric identifiers 208.
The user 132 may need to login and provide either a password or other form of
secure identification (e.g., either first biometric 236 or second biometric 238) in
order to log into user 132's account 240. Further, in a non-limiting embodiment,
the user 132 may be able to communicate with the card issuer 218 via secured,
encrypted messages and view any information about the user 132's account for
each credit card 216 and debit card 217 using the fraud prevention
application 128 and accessing the unique user's 132 account." Though Koeppel
discloses wearable ring, Teansky discloses opening the secure
communication session. The motivation would have been to provide
another authentication alternative when authentication fails.).
As per claim 13, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 12, further comprising, during step (D), closing the secure communication session (Teansky para 0063, the ability to log into the fraud application means there is the ability to log out of the fraud
prevention application. Though Koeppel discloses wearable ring, Teansky
discloses closing the secure communication session. The motivation
would have been to provide another authentication alternative when
authentication fails.).
As per claim 14, the implementation of the method of claim 1 will execute the system of claim 14. The claim is analyzed with respect to claim 1.
As per claim 15, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 2.
As per claim 16, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 6.
As per claim 17, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 7.
As per claim 18, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 3.
As per claim 19, the implementation of the method of claim 1 will execute
the electronic device of claim 19. The claim is analyzed with respect to
claim 1.
As per claim 20, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The electronic device according to claim 19, wherein the electronic device
is a personal card (Teansky Fig. 2, element 100, para 0025 " Computing
device 100 may be any type of computing device known or to be created in the
future. This may include, without limitation, fixed in place computers, such as
desktop computers or mobile computing devices. Mobile computing devices may
include, but are not limited to, laptop computers, smartphones and mobile
phones, tablets, wearable electronic computing devices such as watches or
glasses, or any other type of mobile electronic, computing device. Teansky
allows for any mobile device which can be a personal electronic card.
Though Koeppel discloses wearable ring, Teansky discloses electronic
device is a personal card. The motivation would have been to provide
another authentication alternative when authentication fails.).
4. Claims 4 and 5 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over
Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee, and further in view of U.S. Publication No. 20220114245 hereinafter Krishan.
As per claim 4, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses:
The method according to claim 3, further comprising, during step (C):
transferring, by the reader, the second identifier to the database (Koeppel 5c
elements 552 and 554)
Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee does not disclose:
transferring, by the reader, the second identifier to the database and
indicating, by the database, whether a verification operation of a secret data
element is needed
Krishan discloses:
transferring, by the reader, the second identifier to the database and
indicating, by the database, whether a verification operation of a secret data
element is needed (para 0150 " In some instances, the initiation of
communication between mobile device 107 and interface device 405 may fail.
The initiation may fail because mobile device 107 is not connected to a network
to receive a request for authentication data or because mobile device 107 may
not be working properly, for example. In such instances, interface
device 405 may perform steps similar to steps 378-390 to authenticate a user via
a secondary device. For example, if interface device 405 fails to receive an
authentication response from mobile device 107, interface device may determine
whether a secondary device is associated with the same user profile as mobile
device 107 and may use the secondary device to perform authentication, as
described in step 378-384." Para 0152 " A user using secondary device may
generate authentication data and send the authentication data to server 102.
Server 102 may compare the authentication data with data stored in server 102.
If the received authentication data matches the authentication data stored within
server 102, server 102 may send a message to interface device 405 indicating
the user is authenticated." Para 0156 "At step 513, in response to a successful
authentication, mobile device 106 and/or server 102 optionally may communicate
credentials to interface device 405. The credentials may be communicated to
software application 420 via any of the well-known communication methods set
forth above and may be transmitted in an encrypted format. the credential
information may be provided from and saved locally on interface device 405.")
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art
before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify to the multi-
factor authentication method of Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee to include
transferring, by the reader, the second identifier to the database and
indicating, by the database, whether a verification operation of a secret data
element is needed, as taught by Krishan.
The motivation would have been to performing user authentication
involving a simple authentication process that is cost efficient, less susceptible to
hacking and unauthorized password sharing (Krishan paragraph 0007).
As per claim 5, Koeppel in view of Teansky, Lee and Krishan discloses:
The method according to claim 4, further comprising, during step (C), in
response to the verification operation of the secret data element being needed,
using, by the user, an interface of the reader to deliver the secret data element
(Krishan para 0156 and 0157, Koeppel in view of Teansky and Lee discloses
identifiers and pins, Krishan discloses response to the verification
operation of the secret data element being needed, using, by the user, an
interface of the reader to deliver the secret data element. The motivation
would have been to performing user authentication involving a simple
authentication process that is cost efficient, less susceptible to hacking
and unauthorized password sharing).
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY S GRACIA whose telephone number is (571)270-5192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.
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/GARY S GRACIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2499
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