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 08/11/2026, with respect to the 35 U.S.C 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) rejections of claims under 1-9, 11-18 and 20 are rejected as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 20210319091 hereinafter Mondello have been fully considered and are persuasive. Therefore, the rejection has been withdrawn.
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, 7-9, 11-13, 15-18 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication No. 20210329451 hereinafter Jun in view of U.S. Publication No. 20190305940 hereinafter Bhahhur.
As per claim 1, Jun discloses:
A method for sharing access (para 0032 “For example, the first user terminal 110 may determine at least one device capable of sharing a control authority among the plurality of devices 101, 102, and 103, and set an ownership state of the at least one device to a control authority sharing possible state)
the method comprising:
receiving, by an operating system of a control device from a requesting application being executed on the control device, a credential share request (Fig. 9, para 0097 “Referring to FIG. 9, in operation 911, the visitor terminal 901 may request the user terminal 900 to set the control authority for at least one of the plurality of devices.”),
determining, by the operating system of the control device, a plurality of smart home devices (Fig. 5a, para 0065 “For example, the user terminal 500 may configure that control authority sharing is impossible for the refrigerator 501 among the plurality of devices owned thereby and that control authority sharing is possible for the TV 502 and the air-conditioner 503. Whether sharing of a control authority over each device is possible may be manually set by the user or may be automatically set according to a security level or position of each device. After whether sharing of a control authority is possible over each of the plurality of devices is set through the user terminal 500, upon selection of an invitation button, the user terminal 500 may display a personal identification number (PIN) input window 510 and receive a shared key for authentication of the visitor terminal 520.”);
requesting, by the operating system of the control device, user input indicating whether access credentials for each of the plurality of smart home devices are authorized to be shared with the requesting application (para 0066 “After transmission of the PIN input from the user terminal 500 to the at least one device, authentication with respect to the visitor terminal 520 may be performed. The user terminal 500 may invite the visitor terminal 520 by transmitting the PIN transmitted to the at least one device to the visitor terminal 520. The invitation may mean start of a procedure in which the user terminal 500 gives a control authority over at least one device to the visitor terminal 520 or the visitor terminal 520 is bound to the user terminal 500.”)
and in response to the user input, providing the access credentials for a subset of the plurality of smart home devices to the requesting application based on the user input (Figs. 5b-c, para 0066 “In response to invitation of the visitor terminal 520 by the user terminal 500, the visitor terminal 520 may receive and display the PIN 521 as shown in FIG. 5B. The visitor terminal 520 may receive a control list for the plurality of devices owned by the user terminal 500, together with the PIN. The control list may include at least one of device identification information, device type information, control authority setting state information, or security level information of each of the plurality of devices. The visitor terminal 520 may generate credential information by using at least one of a credential PIN 521 received from the user terminal 500, an authentication certificate of the visitor terminal 520, identification information, or a list of target devices for which the control authority is to be obtained. The target device list of the target devices for which the control authority is to be obtained may include all or some of at least one devices for which control authority sharing is permitted by the user terminal 500 in FIG. 5A. When the credential information is generated, the visitor terminal 520 may determine whether to transmit the generated credential information to the user terminal 500 through a credential information transmission determination message 522. By transmitting the credential information received from the visitor terminal 520 to a device included in the target device list, the user terminal 500 may enable communication between the visitor terminal 520 and a target device to be performed securely. For example, when the visitor terminal 520 selects as the target devices, both a TV and an air conditioner which are set to the control authority sharing possible state by the user terminal 510, the user terminal 510 may transmit credential information of the visitor terminal 520 to both the TV and the air conditioner. When the visitor terminal 520 selects, as the target device, the TV from among devices which are set to the control authority sharing possible state, the user terminal 510 may transmit the credential information of the visitor terminal 520 to the TV without transmitting the credential information to the air conditioner.”),
wherein the requesting application is not made aware of smart home devices of the plurality of smart home devices outside of the subset (Fig. 5a, para 0065 “ For example, the user terminal 500 may configure that control authority sharing is impossible for the refrigerator 501 among the plurality of devices owned thereby and that control authority sharing is possible for the TV 502 and the air-conditioner 503.” The targeted list from the received by the visitor terminal only has the TV and the air conditioner. The visitor terminal including the application is unaware of the refrigerator outside of the targeted list).
Jun does not disclose:
wherein the credential share request comprises one or more smart home device filter characteristics;
determining, by the operating system of the control device, a plurality of smart home devices that match a one or more smart home device filter characteristics from the credential share request
in response to determining the plurality of smart home devices match the one or more smart home device filter characteristics, requesting, by the operating system of the control device, user input
Bhahhur discloses:
wherein the credential share request comprises one or more smart home device filter characteristics (Fig. 3, para 0042 “Upon receiving the information in step 314 from the first user/device 108, the second user/device 110 may send a group credential request in step 316. The group credential request may include the first user/device's challenge and the challenge signed by the first user/device's user private key. In embodiments where the second user/device already has their user private key, the group credential request may also include the challenge from the first user/device signed with the second user/device's user private key. The group credential request may also include other information passed between the first user/device 108 and the second user/device 110 such as the sender's ID, the recipient ID, the group ID, or other identifying information.”)
determining, by the operating system of the control device, a plurality of smart home devices that match a one or more smart home device filter characteristics from the credential share request and in response to determining the plurality of smart home devices match the one or more smart home device filter characteristics, requesting, by the operating system of the control device, user input (Figs. 1 and 2, para 0043 “Upon receiving the group credentials request from the second user/device 110, the credential system 102 verifies if the second user/device 110 is authorized to access the group 106. The credential system 102 may use the challenge to identify the authorized group 106 for which the second user/device 110 is requesting credentials.” Para 0044 “ In step 320, if the second user/device 110 is authorized to access the group 106, the credential system may transmit the group credentials to the second user/device 110.” Para 0045 “ In some embodiments, the second user/device may need to send a second authorization request, or a group camouflage request, to the credential system 102 after receiving the group credentials in step 320. In addition to transmitting the group credentials to the second user/device 110 in step 320, the credential system 102 may send a second challenge to the second user/device 110. After receiving the group credentials in step 320, the second user/device 110 may decamouflage the user private key included in the group credentials. Upon validating each of these challenges, the credential system 102 would transmit information needed to decamouflage the group shared key included in the group credentials transmitted to the second user/device 110.”)
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 the credential
sharing system of Jun to include wherein the credential share request comprises one or more smart home device filter characteristics and in response to determining the plurality of smart home devices match the one or more smart home device filter characteristics, requesting, by the operating system of the control device, user input, as taught by Bhahhur.
The motivation would have been to control access to smart home devices in a secure manner (Bhahhur Paragraph 0002 and 0020)
As per claim 2, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
wherein no response is provided by the operating system to the requesting
application in request to the credential share request until after user input is
received (Jun Figs. 5a-c, para 0066 and 0067).
As per claim 3, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 2,
further comprising: receiving, by the requesting application, the access credentials; and transmitting, a command message to a smart home device of
the subset of the plurality of smart home devices by the requesting
application using the access credentials (Jun Fig. 9 elements 919 and 920, para 0101).
As per claim 7, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
further comprising: prior to receiving the credential share request from the
requesting application, receiving, by the operating system, the access credentials
to be used by a second application; and storing, by the operating system of the
control device, the access credentials (Jun Figs. 5a-c, para 0065-0066).
As per claim 8, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
wherein the subset of the plurality of smart home devices comprise multiple
smart home devices and the access credentials provided to the requesting
application include access credentials for the multiple smart home devices (Jun Figs. 5a-c, para 0065-0066).
As per claim 9, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
further comprising: receiving, by the operating system of the control device from
a second requesting application being executed on the control device, a second
credential share request, wherein the second credential share request comprises
one or more smart home device filter characteristics (Jun Fig. 11, para 0131 “According to various embodiments, each component (e.g., a module or a program) of the above-described components may include a single entity or multiple entities.”)
determining, by the operating system of the control device, that no smart home devices for which credentials are stored match the one or more smart home device filter characteristics from the second credential share request; and ignoring, by the operating system of the control device, the second credential share request, Bhahhur para 0044 “In step 320, if the second user/device 110 is authorized to access the group 106, the credential system may transmit the group credentials to the second user/device 110.” Though Jun discloses a receiving, by the operating system of the control device from a second requesting application being executed on the control device, a second credential share request, Bhahhur determining, by the operating system of the control device, that no smart home devices for which credentials are stored match the one or more smart home device filter characteristics from the second credential share request; and ignoring, by the operating system of the control device, the second credential share request. The motivation would have been to control access to smart home devices in a secure manner (Bhahhur Paragraph 0002 and 0020)).
As per claim 11, the implementation of the method of claim 1 will execute
the control device of claim 11. The claim is analyzed with respect to claim
1.
As per claim 12, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 2.
As per claim 13, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 3.
As per claim 15, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 7.
As per claim 16, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 9.
As per claim 17, the implementation of the method of claim 1 will execute
the non-transitory computer readable medium (paragraph 0089) of claim 11.
The claim is analyzed with respect to claim 1.
As per claim 18, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 2.
As per claim 20, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 9.
Claims 4-6 and 14are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Jun in view of Bhahhur, and further in view of U.S. Patent No. 10826918 hereinafter Rasovic.
As per claim 4, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
wherein the one or more smart home device filter characteristics of the credential
share request (Bhahhur Fig. 3, para 0042, Though Jun discloses a control setting an authority, Bhahhur wherein the one or more smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request. The motivation would have been to control access to smart home devices in a secure manner (Bhahhur Paragraph 0002 and 0020).)
Jun in view of Bhahhur does not disclose:
smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a device type
Rasovic discloses:
smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a device type (Col. 6 Lines 13-29 “At 104, the router can intercept the request and can forward information associated with the intercepted request to the cloud server(s). Note that, in some embodiments, the information associated with the intercepted request can include any suitable information. For example, in some embodiments, the information can include information about the requested destination (e.g., a domain name, an IP address, and/or any other suitable information relating to the requested destination), information about the IoT device (e.g., a Media Access Control, or MAC, address of the IoT device, an Internet Protocol, or IP, address of the IoT device, a type of device associated with the IoT device, a vendor of the IoT device, and/or any other suitable information about the IoT device), a time stamp indicating a time at which the IoT device requested connection to the destination, and/or any other suitable information.”)
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 the credential
sharing system of Jun in view of Bhahhur to include smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a device type, as taught by Rasovic.
The motivation would have been to properly detecting activity from user IOT devices by utilizing pertinent identifying information of IOT devices.
As per claim 5, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
wherein the one or more smart home device filter characteristics of the credential
share request (Bhahhur Fig. 3, para 0042, Though Jun discloses a control setting an authority, Bhahhur wherein the one or more smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request. The motivation would have been to control access to smart home devices in a secure manner (Bhahhur Paragraph 0002 and 0020).)
Jun in view of Bhahhur does not disclose:
smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a vendor
Rasovic discloses:
smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a vendor (Col. 6 Lines 13-29 “At 104, the router can intercept the request and can forward information associated with the intercepted request to the cloud server(s). Note that, in some embodiments, the information associated with the intercepted request can include any suitable information. For example, in some embodiments, the information can include information about the requested destination (e.g., a domain name, an IP address, and/or any other suitable information relating to the requested destination), information about the IoT device (e.g., a Media Access Control, or MAC, address of the IoT device, an Internet Protocol, or IP, address of the IoT device, a type of device associated with the IoT device, a vendor of the IoT device, and/or any other suitable information about the IoT device), a time stamp indicating a time at which the IoT device requested connection to the destination, and/or any other suitable information.”)
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 the credential
sharing system of Jun in view of Bhahhur to include smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a vendor, as taught by Rasovic.
The motivation would have been to properly detecting activity from user IOT devices by utilizing pertinent identifying information of IOT devices.
As per claim 6, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
wherein the one or more smart home device filter characteristics of the credential
share request (Bhahhur Fig. 3, para 0042, Though Jun discloses a control setting an authority, Bhahhur wherein the one or more smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request. The motivation would have been to control access to smart home devices in a secure manner (Bhahhur Paragraph 0002 and 0020).)
Jun in view of Bhahhur does not disclose:
smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a specific smart home device.
Rasovic discloses:
smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a specific smart home device (Col. 6 Lines 13-29 “At 104, the router can intercept the request and can forward information associated with the intercepted request to the cloud server(s). Note that, in some embodiments, the information associated with the intercepted request can include any suitable information. For example, in some embodiments, the information can include information about the requested destination (e.g., a domain name, an IP address, and/or any other suitable information relating to the requested destination), information about the IoT device (e.g., a Media Access Control, or MAC, address of the IoT device, an Internet Protocol, or IP, address of the IoT device, a type of device associated with the IoT device, a vendor of the IoT device, and/or any other suitable information about the IoT device), a time stamp indicating a time at which the IoT device requested connection to the destination, and/or any other suitable information.”)
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 the credential
sharing system of Jun in view of Bhahhur to include smart home device filter characteristics of the credential share request identifies a specific smart home device, as taught by Rasovic.
The motivation would have been to properly detecting activity from user IOT devices by utilizing pertinent identifying information of IOT devices.
As per claim 14, the claim is analyzed with respect to claim 4.
4. Claim 10 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over r Jun in view of Bhahhur in view of NPL "Solving the Challenge of Many Devices with Multiple Standards in the Connected Home" hereinafter Anderton.
As per claim 10, Jun in view of Bhahhur discloses:
The method for sharing access to the smart home device of claim 1,
wherein the access credentials allow for control of the one or more subset of the
plurality of smart home devices to be performed (Jun Figs. 5a-c, para0065-0067)
Jun in view of Bhahhur does not disclose:
smart home devices to be performed using the Matter connectivity
standard
Anderson discloses:
smart home devices to be performed using the Matter connectivity
standard (pg. of 6, section, ConcurrentConnectTM Technology as a Solution, first paragraph "Today, customers have the benefit of not having to choose or
compromise. The next major leap in multi-standard capabilities -
ConcurrentConnect technology, from Qorvo - fluently and continuously services
two or multiple networks using different protocols, whether Zigbee + Matter
(formerly Project CHIP) or Zigbee + Bluetooth LE to a smartphone or Matter +
Bluetooth LE Mesh, or other multi-network protocol use cases. The
ConcurrentConnect technology will deliver the unique experience of seamless
operation of devices in the home that are connected via different networks
without performance loss.")
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 the credential
sharing system of Jun in view of Bhahhur to include smart home devices to be performed using the Matter connectivity standard, as taught by Anderson.
The motivation would have been to seamless operation of devices in the
home that are connected via different networks without performance loss.
Conclusion
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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