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 .
Response to Amendment
Receipt is acknowledged of applicant’s amendment filed on 5/4/26. Claims 5, 11, 15, amended. Claims 1-20 are pending and an action on the merits is as follows.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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) 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102a1/a2 as being anticipated by Hubbard et al. US Publication No. 2020/0342507.
Re Claim 1, Hubbard discloses a system for unlocking of an aerosol delivery device (100), the system comprising:
an aerosol delivery device (100, 1104) having a locked state and an unlocked state (P62, P117, Fig. 11); and
a computing device, comprising a processor and a memory communicatively connected to the processor, the memory containing instructions configuring the processor to:
receive a first identification data comprising a first user metadata from a user (P127-P130, P134, P140);
retrieve a second identification data comprising a second user metadata from a data store ( P127-130 the users (1105, 1205, or 1207) may provide identity information to the decentralized identity information 1102 or the decentralized age verification 1202. Both decentralized structures may be based on Blockchain technology. The identity information provided may include the information described with respect to FIG. 13. This data can then be used different ways, including for age verification of age-restricted products, such as alcohol 1206 and cigarettes 1204) ;
generate a verification datum by comparing at least a portion of the first user metadata to at least a portion of the second user metadata (P131, Biometrics 1316 may include facial recognition. The facial recognition technology may be used for comparing two images to either confirm identity match, reject identity verification, or flag the verification to request additional identification information) ;
store at least one of the verification datum, the first user metadata, or the second user metadata, in a blockchain (P130-142);
transmit the object action datum to the aerosol delivery device (P137, P139).
Re Claim 2, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first user metadata comprise a date of birth of the user obtained from a user ID P127-P130, P134, P140).
Re Claim 3, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the data store is maintained at a remote server (P118).
Re Claim 4, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the aerosol delivery device comprises a radio frequency chip including at least one of an NFC chip or a Bluetooth chip (P140, P141, P124).
Re Claim 5, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first identification data further comprises a unique identifier corresponding to the aerosol delivery device and wherein the unique identifier includes an object manufacture data of the aerosol delivery device (P144, Fig. 20).
Re Claim 6, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 5, wherein the processor is further configured to store the unique identifier in the blockchain (P118).
Re Claim 7, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the computing is a mobile device (P117, P121, P139).
Re Claim 8, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the first identification data includes a first biometric data and the second identification data includes a second biometric data of the user, and the generation of the verification datum further comprises comparing at least a portion of the first biometric data and the second biometric data (P131).
Re Claim 9, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the storage of at least one of the verification datum, the first user metadata, or the second user metadata further includes storage of a cryptographically secured timestamp on the blockchain (P34, P118-121, P129 conventional in the art : block in a blockchain contains a built-in timestamp that records the exact time it was mined and added to the network).
Re Claim 10, Hubbard discloses the system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to convert the first identification data into a cryptographic hash (P118, P119, P121, P133, P139).
Re Claim 11, Hubbard discloses a method of unlocking of an aerosol delivery device, the method comprising:
providing an aerosol delivery device(P62, P117, Fig. 11);
providing a computing device: obtaining, using the computing device, a first user metadata from a user (P127-P130, P134, P140);
retrieving, using the computing device, a second identification data comprising a second user metadata from a data store ( P127-130 the users (1105, 1205, or 1207) may provide identity information to the decentralized identity information 1102 or the decentralized age verification 1202. Both decentralized structures may be based on Blockchain technology. The identity information provided may include the information described with respect to FIG. 13. This data can then be used different ways, including for age verification of age-restricted products, such as alcohol 1206 and cigarettes 1204);
generating, using the computing device, a verification datum by comparing at least a portion of the first user metadata to at least a portion of the second user metadata (P131, Biometrics 1316 may include facial recognition. The facial recognition technology may be used for comparing two images to either confirm identity match, reject identity verification, or flag the verification to request additional identification information);
storing at least one of the verification datum, the first user metadata, and the second user metadata, in a blockchain(P130-142;
generating, using the computing device, an object action datum based on the verification datum, the object action datum comprising an unlocking command; transmitting the object action datum from the computing device to the aerosol delivery device to convert the aerosol delivery device from a locked to an unlocked state (P130-142, P62, P117, Fig. 11); ).
Re Claim 12., Hubbard discloses the method of claim 11, the obtaining of the first user metadata comprises scanning a user ID (P140).
Re Claim 13, Hubbard discloses The method of claim 11, wherein the data store is maintained at a remote server (P118).
Re Claim 14, Hubbard discloses The method of claim 11, wherein the transmitting of the object action datum comprises radio frequency communication including at least one of NFC and Bluetooth communication (P140, P141, P124).
Re Claim 15, Hubbard discloses (currently amended) The method of claim 11, wherein the first identification data further comprises a unique identifier corresponding to the aerosol delivery device, and wherein the unique identifier includes an object manufacture data of the aerosol delivery device (P144, Fig. 20).
Re Claim 16, Hubbard discloses the method of claim 15, further comprising the unique identifier in the blockchain(P118).
Re Claim 17, Hubbard discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the computing device is a mobile device(P117, P121, P139).
Re Claim 18, Hubbard discloses the method of claim 11, wherein the first identification data includes a first biometric data and the second identification data includes a second biometric data of the user, and the generation of the verification datum further comprises comparing at least a portion of the first biometric data and the second biometric data (P131).
Re Claim 19, Hubbard discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the storage of at least one of the verification datum, the first user metadata, or the second user metadata further includes storage of a cryptographically secured timestamp on the blockchain (P34, P118-121, P129 conventional in the art : block in a blockchain contains a built-in timestamp that records the exact time it was mined and added to the network).
Re Claim 20. Hubbard discloses the method of claim 11, further comprising converting the first identification data into a cryptographic hash(P118, P119, P121, P133, P139).
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 11 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Conclusion
The following reference is cited but not relied upon:
Daugherty discloses receiving an optical signal including an unlock code for unlocking an aerosol provision device.
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SONJI N. JOHNSON
Examiner
Art Unit 2876
/SONJI N JOHNSON/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2876
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