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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. Claims 1 - 12 are pending. Claims 1, 7 are independent. File date on 3-21-2025.
Double Patenting
2 The nonstatutory 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 nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims 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 Omum, 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 conflicting 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.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
3 Initially it should be noted that the present application is a continuation application of application 17/413322, now patent 12,261,962 having the same inventive entity. The Assignee in both applications is the same. The entire disclosures of the instant application and the patent are identical.
Claims 1 - 12 are rejected under the judicially created doctrine of nonstatutory type double patenting as being unpatentable over Claims 1 - 23 of U.S. Patent No. 12,261,962. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other.
Claims 1, 7 of the instant application (19/087429) are almost the same as Patent (12,261,962) Claims 1, 17, 21. Claim 1 of the 12,261,962 Patent as shown in the table below contains every element of Claim 1 of the instant application and as such the difference is not enough to distinguish the two claims. Claims 1, 7 of the instant application therefore are not patently distinct from the earlier patent claims and as such are unpatentable over nonstatutory-type double patenting. A later patent/application claim is not patentably distinct from an earlier claim, if the later claim is unpatentable over the earlier claim.
Application 19/087429
Claim 1
Patent (12,261,962)
Claim 1
“determining, based on a first public key of a first entity, a network address for the first entity”
“a step of providing a first network address of a first network-enabled entity associated with a user, the first network-enabled entity cryptographically determining the entire first network address”
“associating user information of the first entity with the first network address’
“a step of associating the first network address to the first network-enabled entity with user information of the user, the first network address being distinct from the user information”
“acquiring, by a second entity that has authenticated the first network address of the first entity, the user information associated with the first network address”
“a step of making a communication connection between the first network-enabled entity and a second entity” and “a step in which the second entity refers to the user information associated with the first network address”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
4. 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.
5. Claims 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Shelest et al. (US PGPUB No. 20070061574).
Regarding Claims 1, 7, Shelest discloses an information processing method and an information processing system comprising:
a) determining, based on a first public key of a first entity, a network address for the first entity; (Shelest ¶ 032, ll 1-19: selected network address called the Public Key-Derived (PKD) address; address derived from public key of device; sending device selects a cryptographic key pair with a private key and a public key; network addresses, such as those used in IPv6, are composed of two parts; first part, called the route prefix, contains a routable address used to route a message to an appropriate network link; sending device sets route prefix of its PKD address; ¶ 033, ll 1-10: sending device sets second part of its PKD address; "node-selectable" portion called the "interface identifier" and is often set to the network interface's Medium Access Control (MAC) address; sending device in step 406 creates a hash of the public key and selects part of the hash to be the node-selectable portion of its PKD address (first network address generated for computing system: terminal device); ¶ 034, ll 1-7: by constructing unique PKD address of sending device based on its public key, an association between PKD address of sending device and its public/private key pair is created; this association is then used in the authentication mechanism of invention to allow a recipient of a message to authenticate the sender of a message by verifying the association; (network enabled device utilizing generated network address from key information))
b) associating user information of the first entity with the first network address; (Shelest ¶ 034, ll 1-7: by constructing unique PKD address of sending device based on its public key, an association between PKD address of sending device and its public/private key pair is created (information associated with user); this association is then used in the authentication mechanism of invention to allow a recipient of a message to authenticate the sender of a message by verifying the association) and
c) acquiring, by a second entity that has authenticated the first network address of the first entity, the user information associated with the first network address. (Shelest ¶ 034, ll 1-7: by constructing unique PKD address of sending device based on its public key, an association between PKD address of sending device and its public/private key pair (user information) is created; this association is then used in the authentication mechanism of invention to allow a recipient of a message to authenticate the sender of a message by verifying the association)
Regarding Claims 2, 8, Shelest discloses the information processing method according to claim 1 and the information processing system according to claim 7, further comprising providing, by the second entity, a service based on the user information associated with the first network address. (Shelest ¶ 036, ll 1-17: message further includes a digital signature generated from data included in the message; to generate this signature, the sending device creates a hash of the data to authenticate; data typically include PKD address set earlier, authenticated portion of message content data, and optional data such as the time stamp and identifier of intended recipient; a cryptographic signature of the hash generated is created from the hash using the private key associated with the public key, which was used to create the PKD address of the sending device; ¶ 040, ll 7-12: sender delivers its public key to a key publishing service; when a message is received, the recipient requests the sender's public key from the publishing service; (implementation of a service such as a publishing service (key retrieval service)))
Regarding Claims 4, 10, Shelest discloses the information processing method according to claim 1 and the information processing system according to claim 7, wherein associating the user information of the first entity with the first network address is performed in response to approval by a user of the first entity or a request from the second entity. (Shelest ¶ 034, ll 1-7: by constructing unique PKD address of sending device based on its public key, an association between PKD address of sending device and its public/private key pair is created; this association is then used in the authentication mechanism of invention to allow a recipient of a message to authenticate the sender of a message by verifying (approving) the association)
Regarding Claims 5, 11, Shelest discloses the information processing method according to claim 1 and the information processing system according to claim 7, further comprising authenticating, by the second entity, the first network address of the first entity based on the first public key and a predetermined cryptographic hash function. (Shelest ¶ 033, ll 1-20: sending device sets the second part of its PKD address; This part is called the "node-selectable" portion because the sending device is free to set this part as it sees fit’ In IPv6, the node-selectable portion is called the "interface identifier" and is often set to the network interface's Medium Access Control (MAC) address; the sending device in step 406 creates a hash of the public key and selects part of the hash to be the node-selectable portion of its PKD address; the interface identifier comprises 64 bits, but two of those bits (the "u" and "g" bits) should be set to zero, leaving the sending device to choose 62 bits of the hash for the remainder of the interface identifier; it is not intrinsically important which bits the sending device chooses, its procedure should be well known so that a recipient of the message can recreate the PKD address; sending device may choose the lowest-order 62 bits of the hash for use as the interface identifier; ¶ 034, ll 1-7: by constructing unique PKD address of sending device based on its public key, an association between PKD address of sending device and its public/private key pair (user information) is created; this association is then used in the authentication mechanism of invention to allow a recipient of a message to authenticate the sender of a message by verifying the association)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
6. 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.
7. Claims 3, 9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shelest in view of Vazquez et al. (US Patent No. 9,171,699) and further in view of Masahiro et al. (Patent No. JP 2018074455 A).
Regarding Claims 3, 9, Shelest discloses the information processing method according to claim 1 and the information processing system according to claim 7.
Shelest does not explicitly disclose for a) upon acquiring the user information associated with first network address, recognizing, by second entity, a user of first entity as a login user based on user information.
However, Vazquez discloses further comprising:
a) upon acquiring the user information associated with the first network address, recognizing, by the second entity, a user of the first entity as a login user based on the user information. (Vazquez col 4, ll 11-18: after the user enters the user's email address (or username) and password, the user can select command button 108 to sign into their user account; in response, the client device transmits to a server a request for access to user account, where the request includes the email address (or username) and password; the server then determines whether the email address (or username) and password are valid for a user account) and
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shelest for a) upon acquiring the user information associated with first network address, recognizing, by second entity, a user of first entity as a login user based on user information as taught by Vazquez. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ the teachings of Vazquez for the benefits achieved from the flexibility of a system that enables a certificate authority the management of public/private key pairs within a public key infrastructure system. (Vazquez col 8, ll 4-27)
Shelest does not explicitly disclose for b) upon failing to recognize user information associated with first network address, recognizing a user of first entity as a guest.
However, Masahiro discloses:
b) upon failing to recognize the user information associated with the first network address, recognizing, by the second entity, a user of the first entity as a guest. (Masahiro page 7: For example, when the user performs a login operation using the UI unit 16, authentication by the authentication unit 28 is performed. When the authentication is successful, login to the image forming apparatus 10 is permitted. When the authentication fails, login to the image forming apparatus 10 is prohibited. A user who is permitted to log in is permitted to use the image forming apparatus 10 within the range of authority permitted by the authentication. A user whose login is not permitted is treated as a guest user, for example, and use of the image forming apparatus 10 is permitted within a range of authority of the guest user.)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shelest for b) upon failing to recognize user information associated with first network address, recognizing a user of first entity as a guest as taught by Masahiro. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ the teachings of Masahiro for the benefits achieved from flexibility of a system that enables a user to login as a guest when authentication fails. (Masahiro page 7)
8. Claims 6, 12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shelest in view of Vazquez et al. (US Patent No. 9,171,699).
Regarding Claims 6, 12, Shelest discloses the information processing method according to claim 1 and the information processing system according to claim 7.
Shelest does not explicitly disclose user information is included in a digital certificate of the first entity.
However, Vazquez discloses wherein the user information is included in a digital certificate of the first entity. (Vazquez col 8, ll 4-27: a public key certificate is an electronic document that uses a digital signature to bind a public key with an identity; public key certificate includes information such as a unique certificate identifier, a user name or user account number, a signature algorithm (RSA, Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA), or Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)), a signature, an issuer name, and a public key; public key certificate is used to verify that a public key belongs to a user; in a typical public key infrastructure scheme, the signature will be of a certificate authority)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to modify Shelest for user information is included in a digital certificate of the first entity as taught by Vazquez. One of ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to employ the teachings of Vazquez for the benefits achieved from the flexibility of a system that enables a certificate authority the management of public/private key pairs within a public key infrastructure system. (Vazquez col 8, ll 4-27)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Kyung H Shin whose telephone number is (571)272-3920. The examiner can normally be reached M - F: 12pm - 8pm.
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/KYUNG H SHIN/ 6-7-2026Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2447
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