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 .
Acknowledgements
This Office Action is in response to the claims filed on 07/28/2026 and IDS filed 09/29/2026.
No claim amendments were presented.
Claims 1-21 are pending.
Claims 1-21 were examined.
Information Disclosure Statement
The Information Disclosure Statement filed 09/29/2026 was considered. An initialed copy of the Form PTO-1449 is enclosed herewith.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1, 2, 6-9, 13-16 and 20-21 are rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Domains.Kred (NPL 2020, listed in PTO-892 as reference "U"), in view of Yu et al. (CN113422767A), hereinafter Yu and in view of DeLuca et al. (US 2023/0336523 A1), hereinafter DeLuca.
With respect to claims 1, 8 and 15, Domains.Kred teaches a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium; an apparatus, comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium ; and a method (Kred Domain Guide V2) comprising:
receiving a request from a first user to register a domain name with a domain registrar blockchain (see page 4, "Domains are managed by an Ethereum ERC721 Token (non-fungible token - NFT) that syncs both the DNS and ENS records associated with that name."; page 6: "Register a Domain Register a new .Kred Domain on www.Domains.Kred..."; page 10: "How can I get a Kred Domain 1. Brand Registration Brands can pre-register their .Kred Domains from February 20 2020 via www.Domains.Kred"; page 12, FAQ, "What is a .Kred Domain? Kred Domains are both fully resolving web and wallet addresses powered by ENS. Kred is a Top-Level Domain (similar to .COM) which allows Kred users to create their own custom domains, like John.Kred or MyCompany.Kred."),
performing an off-chain registration process for the domain name with an off-chain domain registrar, the off-chain registration process including verifying and reserving the domain name with the off-chain domain registrar accredited by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) (see page 6: " Control your Domain Your .Kred Domain is both a fully resolving web and wallet address. a. DNS settings let you use your .Kred Domain just like any other web address (linking to a personal website, to your favorite social profile and more)." page 12, FAQ: " 5. Is .Kred an ICANN approved Registry Operator? Yes. .Kred entered into a Registry Agreement with ICANN on 19 December 2013." ");
responsive to the off-chain registration process, sending a blockchain transaction to the domain registrar blockchain to perform an on-chain registration process for the domain name with the domain registrar blockchain, , the blockchain transaction including the domain name and a first wallet address for a first digital wallet associated with the first user (see page 11: "The Tech 1. How .Kred uses ENS: When a Kred Domain is registered, an ENS Kred Domain Token is generated and deposited into the user’s wallet, granting its holder access to control the name on both ENS and DNS. The Kred Top Level Domain Registry maintains a daemon that monitors the Ethereum blockchain and looks for updates to the DNS information stored against .Kred ENS tokens. These changes are validated, and then automatically propagated through to the .Kred DNS server infrastructure with no further input needed from the token holder, within a minute of the transaction being written to the blockchain. The .Kred DNS servers effectively act as a cache of the EthDNS information."; page 12, FAQ, "Where is my NFT? In your wallet. If you've previously added an Ethereum address to your account, then the tokens will be airdropped into that wallet. If you have not, then we will have created a wallet address that we maintain just for you. You are free to transfer your tokens to another address at any time."); and
minting, by the domain registrar blockchain, an on-chain asset for the domain name to the first digital wallet associated with the first user, wherein minting the on-chain asset to the first digital wallet associated with the first user grants... administrative control over the domain name to the first digital wallet associated with the first user. (see Page 11, ENS token registering (minting), "The Tech 1. How .Kred uses ENS When a Kred Domain is registered, an ENS Kred Domain Token is generated and deposited into the user’s wallet, granting its holder access to control the name on both ENS and DNS.").
Domains.Kred does not explicitly disclose a method, medium and apparatus comprising: the domain registrar blockchain storing domain name registration data in smart contracts; and that the administrative control is exclusive.
However, Yu discloses a method, medium and apparatus (Domain name registration management method and system based on blockchain) comprising: the domain registrar blockchain storing domain name registration data in smart contracts (see page 3, lines 15-25: Domain name life cycle management smart contract technology: The present invention combines domain name life cycle management with blockchain smart contracts, and proposes domain name life cycle management smart contract technology).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the domain name registration system as disclosed by Yu in the method, medium and apparatus of Domains.Kred, the motivation being to combines domain name life cycle management with blockchain smart contracts (see Yu, page 3, lines 15-25: ).
The combination of Domains.Kred and Yu does not explicitly disclose a method, medium and apparatus comprising: the administrative control is exclusive.
However, DeLuca discloses a method, medium and apparatus (Domain name registration based on verification of entities of reserved names) comprising: the administrative control is exclusive (see "sole control", paragraph [0033]: “A blockchain domain name is stored on a blockchain. The blockchain domain name may be a non-fungible token (NFT) domain name that is associated with a non-fungible token (NFT) stored in a user wallet. The blockchain domain name may be associated with various information (e.g., wallet addresses, user information (e.g., name, address, email, etc.), data or other access restrictions, etc.). The blockchain domain name is associated with software or smart contracts on the blockchain that may perform various functions (e.g., provide a registry for corresponding wallet addresses, indicate locations of content for the domain (e.g., or a website, etc.) hosted on the blockchain or other system, etc.). In order to access a blockchain domain, the blockchain is accessed to find the record corresponding to the blockchain domain name (which may initiate the corresponding smart contracts for the corresponding functionality). The private key of the user wallet enables the user to have sole control of the blockchain domain name (e.g., authenticating operations or transactions for the blockchain domain name similar to the cryptocurrency example described above, etc.). For example, the user may have sole control to perform operations that alter content and/or functionality for the blockchain domain name.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the decentralized domain registration mechanisms as disclosed by DeLuca in the method, medium and apparatus of Domains.Kred and Yu, the motivation being to enabling a user to secure registration for a protected or otherwise reserved name by associating a non-fungible token (NFT) with an address of a cryptocurrency wallet of the user (see DeLuca, paragraphs [0016] and [0066]).
With respect to claims 2, 9 and 16, the combination of Domains.Kred, Yu and DeLuca teaches all the subject matter of the method, medium and apparatus as described above with respect to claims 1, 8 and 15. Furthermore, DeLuca discloses a method, medium and apparatus wherein
minting the on-chain asset for the domain name to the first digital wallet associated with the first user further comprises: accessing nameserver smart contracts associated with the domain registrar blockchain (see paragraph [0033]: “...The blockchain domain name may be associated with various information (e.g., wallet addresses, user information (e.g., name, address, email, etc.), data or other access restrictions, etc.). The blockchain domain name is associated with software or smart contracts on the blockchain that may perform various functions (e.g., provide a registry for corresponding wallet addresses, indicate locations of content for the domain (e.g., or a website, etc.) hosted on the blockchain or other system, etc.). In order to access a blockchain domain, the blockchain is accessed to find the record corresponding to the blockchain domain name (which may initiate the corresponding smart contracts for the corresponding functionality). The private key of the user wallet enables the user to have sole control of the blockchain domain name (e.g., authenticating operations or transactions for the blockchain domain name similar to the cryptocurrency example described above, etc.). For example, the user may have sole control to perform operations that alter content and/or functionality for the blockchain domain name.”; Examiner notes nameservers "indicate locations of content for the domain (e.g., or a website, etc.)"); and
storing a mapping between the domain name and the first digital wallet associated with the first user in a smart contract (see paragraph [0033]: “...The blockchain domain name is associated with software or smart contracts on the blockchain that may perform various functions (e.g., provide a registry for corresponding wallet addresses…"). The motivation for combining the references remain unaltered from the motivation described above in conjunction with the rejection of the independent claims.
With respect to claims 6, 13 and 20, the combination of Domains.Kred, Yu and DeLuca teaches all the subject matter of the method, medium and apparatus as described above with respect to claims 1, 8 and 15. Furthermore, Domains.Kred discloses a method, medium and apparatus wherein the on-chain asset includes a registration expiration date for the domain name (see page 13, "7. How can I renew my .Kred Domain? You can renew and extend the expiry date of any existing .Kred Domain by paying the required fee at any time, either: a. On www.Domains.Kred b. Via your Kred Profile c. Via ENS.Domains "). The motivation for combining the references remain unaltered from the motivation described above in conjunction with the rejection of the independent claims.
With respect to claims 7, 14 and 21, the combination of Domains.Kred, Yu and DeLuca teaches all the subject matter of the method, medium and apparatus as described above with respect to claims 1, 8 and 15. Furthermore, DeLuca discloses a method, medium and apparatus wherein minting the on-chain asset to the first digital wallet associated with the first user grants exclusive administrative control over changes to DNS records for the domain name to the first digital wallet associated with the first user (see "sole control", paragraph [0033]: “A blockchain domain name is stored on a blockchain. The blockchain domain name may be a non-fungible token (NFT) domain name that is associated with a non-fungible token (NFT) stored in a user wallet. The blockchain domain name may be associated with various information (e.g., wallet addresses, user information (e.g., name, address, email, etc.), data or other access restrictions, etc.). The blockchain domain name is associated with software or smart contracts on the blockchain that may perform various functions (e.g., provide a registry for corresponding wallet addresses, indicate locations of content for the domain (e.g., or a website, etc.) hosted on the blockchain or other system, etc.). In order to access a blockchain domain, the blockchain is accessed to find the record corresponding to the blockchain domain name (which may initiate the corresponding smart contracts for the corresponding functionality). The private key of the user wallet enables the user to have sole control of the blockchain domain name (e.g., authenticating operations or transactions for the blockchain domain name similar to the cryptocurrency example described above, etc.). For example, the user may have sole control to perform operations that alter content and/or functionality for the blockchain domain name.”;).
Claims 5, 12 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Domains.Kred (NPL 2020, listed in PTO-892 as reference "U"), in view of Yu (CN113422767A), in view of DeLuca (US 2023/0336523 A1), in view of Pezeshki (US 2022/0222245 A1).
With respect to claims 5, 9 and 12, the combination of Domains.Kred, Yu and DeLuca teaches all the subject matter of the method, medium and apparatus as described above with respect to claims 1, 8 and 15. The combination of Domains.Kred, Yu and DeLuca does not explicitly teach a method, medium and apparatus receiving a second request from the first user to transfer the domain name to a second user, the second request including the first digital wallet address for the first digital wallet associated with the first user and a second digital wallet address for a second digital wallet associated with the second user, wherein the first digital wallet address indicates the second request is from the first user associated with the first digital wallet with the exclusive administrative control over the domain name; determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user; and performing an on-chain transaction to transfer the on-chain asset for the domain name from the first digital wallet associated with the first user to the second digital wallet associated with the second user in response to determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user, wherein the exclusive administrative control over the domain name is transferred from the first digital wallet to the second digital wallet with the on-chain asset.
However, Pezeshki discloses a method, medium and apparatus (Blockchain registry scaling):
receiving a second request from the first user to transfer the domain name to a second user, the second request including the first digital wallet address for the first digital wallet associated with the first user and a second digital wallet address for a second digital wallet associated with the second user, wherein the first digital wallet address indicates the second request is from the first user associated with the first digital wallet with the exclusive administrative control over the domain name (see Fig. 3, step 301, paragraph [0035]: “FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process for responding to a management action for a domain of a multi-layer blockchain-based name service. For example, an owner of a domain name registered with a multi-layer blockchain-based name service accesses a management service of the multi-layer blockchain-based name service to perform a variety of domain name management actions. Each management action can be submitted as a management request to the management service. Example management action requests can include actions such as transferring and/or selling a domain name..."; paragraph [0036]: “At 301, a management request is received. The management action may be one or more of the following: transfer a domain to a new owner... In some embodiments, a process is performed to first determine which layer of the blockchain the domain name is stored, and the program function call is made to an address of the registry smart contract on the appropriate blockchain.”; see paragraph [0037] for first digital wallet address (i.e. owner address)and paragraph [0039] for second digital wallet address (i.e. buyer's address). This is evidenced by Github.com/handshake-org/ (NPL 2022, listed in PTO-892 as reference "V"), see "Alice signs and broadcasts a TRANSFER covenant committing to Bob's address");
determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user (see Fig. 3, step 303, paragraph [0037]: “At 303, a determination is made whether the request is authorized. In the event the request is authorized, processing proceeds to 305 where the management request is performed. In the event the request is not authorized, processing proceeds to 307 where the management request is rejected. In some embodiments, a request is authorized if it is provided by an owner of a domain, an approved alternative account specified for the domain (e.g., specified using the registry smart contract), or an operator account specified (e.g., using the registry smart contract) to be allowed to control every domain owned by the owner. In order to prove that the user account that provided the request is authentic, the user account can sign the request using a private cryptographic key of the user account and this signature is verified using a public key of the user account to authenticate the user account. In the event the authenticated user account is an owner, an approved account, or an operator of the domain according to the blockchain record of the registry smart contract, it is determined that the request is authorized. In the event the account that provided the request cannot be authenticated or the authenticated user account is not authorized for the domain, the request is not authorized.”; ); and
performing an on-chain transaction to transfer the on-chain asset for the domain name from the first digital wallet associated with the first user to the second digital wallet associated with the second user in response to determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user, wherein the exclusive administrative control over the domain name is transferred from the first digital wallet to the second digital wallet with the on-chain asset (see Fig. 3, step 305, paragraph [0039]: “At 305, a management request is performed. For example, the management action is allowed to be performed if the request is determined to be authorized at 303. Examples of performed management actions include transferring the domain of the request to a new owner, setting one or more resolution targets for the domain, creating a subdomain for the domain, deleting or burning the domain, adding or removing an approved account that can control the domain, adding or removing an operator account for an owner that can control every domain owned by the owner, and/or migrating the domain to a different blockchain layer of the multi-layer blockchain-based name service.”).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art, before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, to incorporate the management action for a domain of a name service as disclosed by Pezeshki in the method, medium and apparatus of Domains.Kred, Yu and DeLuca, the motivation being to assist the owner to manage its domain(s) (see Pezeshki, paragraph [0024]).
Prior Art Analysis
Claims 3, 4, 10, 11, 17 and 18 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: The prior art of record does not appear to reasonably disclose receiving a second request from the first user to update a DNS record associated with the domain name, the second request including the first digital wallet address for the first digital wallet associated with the first user; determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user indicating the first user has control over the domain name corresponding to the on-chain asset; retrieving the DNS record by performing a forward lookup process with the domain registrar blockchain; and updating the DNS record in response to determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user, as recited in claims 3, 10 and 17. Specifically, the updating the DNS record in response to determining the on-chain asset for the domain name is stored at the first digital wallet associated with the first user appears to be allowable subject matter, therefore claims 3, 10 and 17 appear to be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claims.
Examiner notes that further search and consideration will be required upon presentation of the rewritten claims. Reasons for allowance, if applicable, will be the subject of a separate communication to the Applicant or patent owner, pursuant to 37 CFR § 1.104 and MPEP § 1302.14. Claims 4, 11 and 18 would also be allowable upon allowance of claims 3, 10 and 17, due to their dependency.
Response to Arguments
35 U.S.C. § 103 rejections
Examiner acknowledges Applicants arguments with respect to the rejections under 35 U.S.C. §103 dated 07/28/2026. Examiner has revised the prior art references of record and in view of newly found prior art references. Examiner is in the position that claims 1, 2, 5-9, 12-16 and 19-21 are not in condition for allowance in view of the combination of references.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure:
Patent Literature
Rich et al. (US 2020/0242105 A1) disclose platform for creating and using actionable non-fungible tokens (KNFT), including a Kred Domain Token. A Kred Domain Token is an ENS compliant ERC721 Ethereum token. It controls a .Kred DNS domain name with an ENS NFT recorded on the Ethereum blockchain network. Ownership of a Kred Domain Token allows a user to manage DNS settings for the associated domain, and have those changes propagated to the ICANN DNS infrastructure.
Non-Patent Literature
Domains.Kred (NPL 2021, listed in PTO-892 as page 1, reference "V") disclose Registering and Renewing Kred Domains, including domain registration and renewal.
DomainNameWire.com (NPL 2020, listed in PTO-892 as page 1, reference "W") disclose Kred launches as dual DNS and ENS domain, including "When a Kred Domain is registered, an ENS Kred Domain Token is generated and deposited into the user’s wallet, granting its holder access to control the name on both ENS and DNS. The Kred Top Level Domain Registry maintains a daemon that monitors the Ethereum blockchain and looks for updates to the DNS information stored against .Kred ENS tokens. These changes are validated, and then automatically propagated through to the .Kred DNS server infrastructure with no further input needed from the token holder, within a minute of the transaction being written to the blockchain. The .Kred DNS servers effectively act as a cache of the EthDNS information".
Xia et al. (NPL , listed in PTO-892 as page 1, reference "X") disclose Ethereum Name Service: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, including addressing the issues of traditional DNS by combining blockchain with DNS.
Millegan (NPL 2020, listed in PTO-892 as page 2, reference "U") disclose ENS + .KRED: Major Integration of DNS and ENS Launches, including If you register a .KRED name on DNS, you automatically get the same .KRED name on ENS and "They have created a special NFT on Ethereum that grants the owner control not only of the ENS records of the name, but also the DNS records".
Millegan (NPL 2019, listed in PTO-892 as page 2, reference "V") disclose Linking DNS with blockchain-based ENS records, including DNS-ENS Integration.
Hu et al. (NPL 2022, listed in PTO-892 as page 2, reference "W") disclose Blockzone: A Decentralized and Trustworthy Data Plane for DNS, including a novel scheme for DNS data plane decentralization.
Liu et al. (NPL 2020, listed in PTO-892 as page 2, reference "X") disclose A secure domain name resolution and management architecture based on blockchain, including Smart Contract for Root Zone Management.
Rajendran et al. (NPL 2022, listed in PTO-892 as page 3, reference "U") disclose A Universal Domain Name Resolution Service – Need and Challenges - Study on Blockchain Based Naming Services, including operations consistent with the current ICANN dominated DNS governance model .
Benshoof et al. (NPL 2016, listed in PTO-892 as page 3, reference "V") disclose Distributed Decentralized Domain Name Service, including a domain name ownership system based on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Guobiao He (NPL 2020, listed in PTO-892 as page 3, reference "W") disclose TD-Root: A trustworthy decentralized DNS root management architecture based on permissioned blockchain, including a trustworthy decentralized DNS root management architecture called TD-Root based on permissioned blockchain.
Pinto (NPL 2019, listed in PTO-892 as page 3, reference "X") disclose Ethereum based domain name system using smart contracts (BC-DNS), including replicating the basic functionality of the existing DNS on the blockchain and deploying it on a peer to peer network making it completely decentralized.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to EDUARDO D CASTILHO whose telephone number is (571)270-1592. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 8-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Patrick McAtee can be reached at (571) 272-7575. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/EDUARDO CASTILHO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3698
