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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been received. The certified copy has been filed on May 21st, 2025.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement filed on May 21st, 2025 is being considered by the examiner.
Specification
The title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Objections
Claims 1, 7, and 8 are objected to
because of the following informalities:
Claim 1, extra space after “server ,”;
Claim 7, extra space after “interface”; and
Claim 8, extra space after “authenticated.”
Appropriate correction is required.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 8 and 17 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.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-5, 7, 9-14, 16, and 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. (a)(2) as being anticipated by Yan et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0007851).
As per claims 1, 10, and 19, Yan teaches a control method of an electronic device, the control method comprising:
obtaining temporary registration information of a first external device temporarily registered to a server; (Yan, see paragraphs 0313-0317 and fig. 4A-1, the second device discovers the first device S401, then paragraph 0320-0324 and S402-S404 the second device requests and receives a registration code; the code is temporary before activation of the first device, see paragraph 0331 and subsequent steps through S409)
outputting a graphical user interface (GUI) for final authentication of user access authority for the first external device based on the obtained temporary registration information; based on a user input corresponding to the output GUI, finally authenticating the user access authority for the first external device; and (Yan, paragraphs 0339-0344 and steps S410-S411; GUI example per fig. 4B interfaces)
transmitting final authentication information of the first external device and user account information corresponding to the user access authority to the server, (Yan, see paragraphs (Yan, step S411 and paragraphs 0345-0351)
wherein the temporary registration information is identified by a second external device based on a first signal received from the first external device, and transmitted to the server by the second external device (Yan, see paragraphs 0313-0319 and fig. 4A-1, the second device discovers the first device S401, discussion of variety of first signals to identify the first external device).
As per claims 2, 11, and 20, Yan teaches the system further wherein the obtaining the temporary registration information comprises:
obtaining the temporary registration information of the first external device registered to the server based on at least one of a second signal received from the server or a third signal received from the first external device (Yan, see paragraphs 0313-0319 and fig. 4A-1, the second device discovers the first device S401, discussion of variety of first signals to identify the first external device).
As per claims 3 and 12, Yan teaches the system further wherein the obtaining the temporary registration information comprises:
identifying whether temporary account information of the first external device obtained based on at least one of the second signal or the third signal matches the user account information of the electronic device; and (Yan, see paragraphs 0313-0319 and fig. 4A-1, the second device discovers the first device S401, discussion of variety of first signals to identify the first external device)
based on the temporary account information matching the user account information, obtaining the temporary registration information of the first external device, and wherein the temporary account information is associated with an account identified by the second external device or an account interlocked with an account identified by the second external device (Yan, see paragraphs 0323-0325 account matching based on linked account information).
As per claims 4 and 13, Yan teaches the system further wherein the obtaining the temporary registration information comprises:
identifying whether the first external device is associated with a user of the electronic device based on the obtained temporary registration information of the first external device, and the outputting the GUI comprises: based on the first external device being unassociated with the user of the electronic device, outputting a GUI for re-registration of the first external device as a device of the user (Yan, see login process of S410-S413 and paragraphs 0339-0349, process where the user logs in because the first device is unassociated with the user of the electronic device).
As per claims 5 and 14, Yan teaches the system further wherein the obtaining the temporary registration information comprises:
based on the temporary account information not matching the user account information, identifying whether the first external device is associated with a user of the electronic device, and the outputting the GUI comprises: based on the first external device being associated with the user of the electronic device, outputting a GUI for re-registration of the first external device as a device of the user (Yan, see login process of S410-S413 and paragraphs 0339-0349, process where the user logs in because the first device is unassociated with the user of the electronic device).
As per claims 7 and 16, Yan teaches the system further wherein the finally authenticating the user access authority comprises:
based on receiving the user input corresponding to the output GUI, transmitting, to the server, a fourth signal releasing a temporary registration of the first external device to the server (Yan, step S411 and paragraphs 0345-0351).
As per claims 9 and 18, Yan teaches the system further wherein the user account information is corresponding to a user account or an account interlocked with the user account (Yan, step S411 and paragraphs 0345-0351, user account information and relationships).
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.
Claim 6 and 15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yan et al. (U.S. PGPub 2024/0007851) in view of Biedermann et al. (U.S. PGPub 2020/0274760).
As per claims 6 and 15, Yan teaches the above, including Wi-Fi Aware functionality to determine the presence of the first external device (paragraph 0313), and received temporary registration information (paragraphs 0313-0317 and fig. 4A-1) and a GUI interface (fig. 4B), but is silent as to the system further wherein the outputting the GUI comprises:
identifying information on an access point (AP) communicatively connected with the first external device based on the received temporary registration information;
based on receiving an AP signal corresponding to the identified AP information, identifying whether the first external device is located in a space in which the electronic device is located; and
based on the first external device being located in the space in which the electronic device is located, outputting a GUI for final authentication of the user access authority for the first external device.
However, in a similar field of endeavor, Biedermann teaches an Access Point (AP) communicatively connected with a variety of Internet of Things (IoT) and other devices (paragraph 0025-0027), based on the AP information, devices are determined whether or not they are located in a local space (paragraphs 0028-0033). Based on onboarding/local space decision-making, user authentication via user access rights securities policies is enforced (paragraphs 0069-0071 and 0079).
It would have been obvious for one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the invention to modify the teaching of Yan by the system of Biedermann, because the combination would enable location-based security through verification of physical presence (Biedermann, paragraph 0015).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. PGPub 2017/0353859, which describes a method of using an access point/gateway to register Internet of Things devices;
U.S. PGPub 2024/0317364, which describes a method of endpoint device profile and functionality detection; and
U.S. PGPub 2018/0199303, which describes a method of network authentication management of endpoint devices based on their capabilities.
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/NICHOLAS R TAYLOR/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2443
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