DETAILED ACTION
1. This is in response to the application No. 19/077,030 field on March 11, 2025. Claims 1-30 are canceled and claim 31 is submitted for examination. Thus, claim 31 is pending and considered for examination.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
2. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Priority
3. This application filed on 03/11/2025 is a Continuation of 17522900, filed 11/09/2021, now U.S. Patent # 12250304, application No. 17522900 is a Continuation of PCT/US20/60069 , filed 11/11/2020 PCT/US20/60069 is a Continuation in Part of PCT/US20/00018 , filed 05/11/2020 PCT/US20/00018 Claims Priority from Provisional Application 62845867 , filed 05/09/2019.
Information Disclosure Statement
4. No information disclosure statements (IDS) is submitted for this application.
Drawings
5. The drawings filed on March 11, 2025 are objected to because Fig 18 is missing reference designator 500. Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
6. The specification filed on March 11, 2025 is also accepted.
Double Patenting
7. The non-statutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A non-statutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the claims at issue are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
8. Claims 31 is rejected under judicially created doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting on the ground of non-statutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of Patent No. 12250304 B2 (herein after referred as ‘304 patent)
Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because they recite the same limitations and only differ by statutory category of invention. It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art at the time the invention was made to have implemented the invention as any of a method, system or computer program product.
The following is referring to the independent claim 31
[Symbol font/0xB7] Independent claim 31 of the instant application and independent claim 1, of the ‘304 patent recite similar limitation. The above claims, namely 31 of the instant/present application would have been obvious over claim 1, of the ‘304 patent, because every element of the above independent claim 31 of the present application is anticipated by the corresponding claim 1 of the ‘304 patent
Examiner Note: The following table maps at least each independent claim of the instant application with the corresponding claims of the ‘304 patent.
Instant application, application No. 19/077,030
US Patent No. ‘304 patent
31. A method, comprising:
establishing, at a terminal, one or more communication channels coupling the terminal with a server;
providing one or more key(s) at the server or another device;
establishing, at the terminal, one or more communication channels coupling the terminal with a middle box;
communicating the one or more key(s) to the terminal such that only the terminal one or more of (a) is sent the key(s), (b) receives the key(s), (c) receives a usable version of the key(s), (d) receives an unencrypted version of the key(s), (e) receives version(s) of the key(s) that are encrypted (optionally such that the middle box cannot use the key(s) to decrypt content), (f) receives a cypher for the decrypting the key(s) and (g) uses the key(s);
sending, from the terminal, a request for content(s) to the middle box including an identifier(s) or pseudo-identifier(s) associated with an encryption of a content(s); and
receiving from the middle box, at the terminal, the encryption of the content associated with the identifier(s) or pseudo-identifier(s).
1. A method, comprising:
establishing, at a terminal, one or more communication channels coupling the terminal with a server;
providing one or more key(s) at the server or another device;
establishing, at the terminal, one or more communication channels coupling the terminal with a middle box;
communicating the one or more key(s) to the terminal such that only the terminal one or more of (a) is sent the key(s), (b) receives the key(s), (c) receives a usable version of the key(s), (d) receives an unencrypted version of the key(s), (e) receives version(s) of the key(s) that are encrypted (optionally such that the middle box cannot use the key(s) to decrypt content), (f) receives a cypher for the decrypting the key(s) and (g) uses the key(s);
sending, from the terminal, a request for content(s) to the middle box including an identifier(s) or pseudo-identifier(s) associated with an encryption of a content(s);
receiving from the middle box, at the terminal, the encryption of the content associated with the identifier(s) or pseudo-identifier(s);
establishing a communication channel with a first additional middle box between the first additional middle box and the terminal and between the first additional middle box and the middle box along the communication channel connecting the middle box and the terminal, wherein the first additional middle box transmits and receives one or more of pseudo-request(s), request(s) for content, content(s), pseudo-identifier(s), and encrypted content(s); and
establishing a communication channel with one or more second additional middle box(es) along the communication channel connecting the middle box with the first additional middle box communicatively connected to the terminal, wherein the second additional middle box(es) transmit and receive one or more of pseudo-request(s), request(s) for content, content(s), pseudo-identifier(s), and encrypted content(s).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
9. 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 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.
10. 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.
11. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied 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.
Claim 31 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Straub (2016/0105400) in view of Kidron (2014/0223099).
Regarding claim 31, Straub teaches
a method, comprising:
establishing, at a terminal, one or more communication channels coupling the terminal with a server; (Straub [0074] The CPE 106 includes any equipment in the “customers premises” (or other locations, whether local or remote to the distribution server 104) that can be accessed by a distribution server 104.)
providing one or more key(s) at the server or another device; (Straub [0102] Once the request is authenticated, the transfer manager 206 creates a shared encryption/decryption key to be used in the content transfer, which is placed on the key server 208. )
establishing, at the terminal, one or more communication channels coupling the terminal with a middle box (Straub [0117] In one embodiment, this may occur via a communication from a gateway device 107 (or other intermediary). Alternatively, the second device 106b may communicate its presence directly to the first CPE 106a. [0143] The CPE 106 may communicate with entities of the content delivery network 101 and/or network 203. The CPE 106 requests and receives content via this interface 402. [0085] In the instance that content is provided to the client devices 106 from the network via a gateway 107,) (Examiner Note: gateway or intermediary satisfies middle box)
communicating the one or more key(s) to the terminal such that only the terminal one or more of (a) is sent the key(s), (Straub [0123] In response to the request, the transfer manager 206 provides the second device 106b with information needed to retrieve K.sub.s from the key server 208. It is noted that in an alternative embodiment, the transfer key may be immediately provided to every device within a premises network 201 )
(b) receives the key(s), (c) receives a usable version of the key(s), (d) receives an unencrypted version of the key(s), (e) receives version(s) of the key(s) that are encrypted (optionally such that the middle box cannot use the key(s) to decrypt content), (f) receives a cypher for the decrypting the key(s) and (g) uses the key(s);
sending, from the terminal, a request for content(s) to the middle box including an identifier(s) or pseudo-identifier(s) (Straub [0107] [0107] In response to discovery of the new device, at step 304, a new encryption/decryption key is generated, referred to herein as a “shared key” or “transfer key”, or K.sub.s. As discussed above, in one embodiment of the present disclosure, the content is specifically tied to the device on which it is stored. Hence, while it is stored at the first CPE 106a the content is encrypted using an encryption key which is specific to the first CPE 106a, referred to herein as the “original key” or K.sub.o. [ 0132] Once the requesting device 106a. See Fig 2, Network interface connects to the Gateway)
receiving from the middle box , at the terminal, the encryption of the content (Straub, [0108] At step 306, a transfer of the content is completed. In one embodiment, the transferred content may comprise content which has been decrypted using the original encryption key (which is stored at and specific to the first device 106a), then re-encrypted using the transfer key obtained from the transfer manager 206. [0146] The content transfer application 412 is configured to identify content which may be transferred to another device. The content transfer application 412 further facilitates the physical transfer of the content to the second device 106b and/or from the first device 106a. In addition, in the instance, the content is stored at the external drive 204, the content transfer application 412 facilitates delivery of the content from the external drive 204 to the new device 106b and/or to another external storage device (if necessary). [0147] The content transcryption application 414 is configured to enable the device 106 decrypt and re-encrypt content. In the embodiment where the device comprises a first device 106a, the transcryption application 414 enables the device to, once the shared key, K.sub.s, is obtained via the request generation application 410, decrypt the content using its original key or K.sub.o, then re-encrypt the content using the shared key.)
Straub teaches encrypted content and a transfer key to identify the encryption content by the device. Straub does not teach identifier associated with encryption content alone. In the interest of compact prosecution Kidron is cited.
However Kidron teaches including an identifier(s) or pseudo-identifier(s) associated with an (Kidron [0164] Content identification may be initiated at the devices 2202 with existing audio or other media files. In one implementation, a request to identify content items from the device 2202 may be sent to the music intelligence component 2206. The request message may packaged as an HTTP(S) POST message and may include information such as acoustical fingerprints and metadata of each file on the client. An example content identification request message 2204 may be in XML format substantially in the following form)
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have combined Kidron’s content identifier with Straub’s content delivery because doing so improves content seeding (content attributes) (Kidron, [0058] The seed item may be universally resolvable. A user may provide this information by selecting or entering the seed item. If the seed item is a content item as determined at 404, one or more content attributes that define the seed item may be extracted at 404. Examples of content attributes may include, for example, track meta data information such as album, artist, comment, copyright, title, track, performers, genre, label, cover art, song length, a globally unique identifier (GUID), and/or the like.)
Conclusion
12. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
A. US Publication No. 20170310665 A1 Revell discloses a system comprising a first terminal and a second terminal, wherein the first terminal is configured to initiate a communication session with the second terminal by sending a first session request to a server for initiating a communication channel with the second terminal, receiving a first session response from the server, said first response including an identifier for a session channel and data relevant to the second terminal, sending a second session request to the second terminal including an identifier for the first terminal, receiving a third session response from the second terminal, and establishing a connection over the session channel, wherein the second terminal is configured for: receiving the second session request from the first terminal, sending a third session request to the server for initiating a communication channel with said first terminal, receiving a second session response from the server, said second response including the identifier for the session channel and data relevant to the first terminal, sending said third session response to the first terminal, and establish a connection over the session channel, whereby a communication channel is established between the first and the second terminal over the session channel.
B. US Publication No. 20050102427 A1 to Yokota et al discloses a proxy server for storing contents data extracted from a contents packet received from a stream server as cache data of stream contents into a cache file and transferring the received packet to a contents requester after rewriting the address of the received packet, having a function for requesting the stream server to stop providing service of the stream contents and requesting another proxy server to transfer the remaining portion of the stream contents.
C. US Publication No. 20190182349 A1 to Goel discloses Client side cache visibility with tls session tickets and methods for using TLS session resumption tickets to store and manage information about objects that a server or a set of servers has previously delivered to a client and therefore that the client is likely to have in client-side cache. When communicated to a server later, this information can be used to drive server decisions about whether to push an object to a client, e.g., using an HTTP/2 server push function or the like, or whether to send an early hint to the client about an object.
D. See the other cited references.
13. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SAMSON B LEMMA whose telephone number is 571-272-3806. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F 8am-10pm.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Shaw Yin Chen can be reached on 571-272-8878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/SAMSON B LEMMA/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2498
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