DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application filed on 05/27/2025 having claims 1-7 pending.
Claims 1-7 are examined and being considered on the merits.
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 .
Oath/Declaration
The applicant’s oath/declaration has been reviewed by the examiner and is found to conform to the requirements prescribed in 37 C.F.R. 1.63.
Specification
The Specification filed on 05/27/2025 is accepted for examination purpose.
Drawings
The Drawings filed on 05/27/2025 are accepted for examination purpose.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/27/2025 was filed after the mailing date. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of applicant’s claim for foreign priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 (a)-(d). The certified copy has been filed in parent Application No. JP 2024-088142, filed on 05/30/2024.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 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 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.
Claims 1, 3-7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palanisamy (US 10,904,002) and in view of Major et al. (US 2017/0116427) hereinafter Major and further in view of Wu (CN 111294337 A).
As per Claim 1, Palanisamy teaches a token control system (Palanisamy, Col. 3, lines 10-14; “In the token scenario, the previously provisioned token will become invalid, and can no longer be used as a substitute for the sensitive information. A new token can be requested from a token server (e.g., a network token system) to replace the previously provisioned token.” … Col. 8, lines 39-43; “FIG. 1 shows a block diagram illustrating a system 100 for securely storing sensitive information on a communication device 120, according to some embodiments. System 100 may include a communication device 120, an application provider 104, and a token server 102.” … Col. 9, lines 15-19; “Token server 102 can be part of a network token system that provides sensitive information or tokens as substitutes for sensitive information. Token server 102 may issue a token in response to a request from application provider 104.”) comprising:
a communication device that communicates with an external device (Palanisamy, Col. 3, lines 22-30; “A “communication device” may be a device that includes one or more electronic components (e.g., an integrated chip) that can communicate with another device. A “portable communication device” may be one form of a communication device that can be transported and operated by a user. A portable communication device may provide remote communication capabilities to a network, and can be configured to transmit and receive data or communications to and from other devices.” … Col. 9, lines 61-64; “Communications subsystem 209 may include one or more RF transceivers and / or connectors that can be used by portable communication device 200 to communicate with other devices and/or to connect with external networks.”); and
a token controller including a processor, and configure to control a token necessary for executing an application that acts on a platform, when the processor executes a token control program (Palanisamy, Col. 9, lines 15-19; “Token server 102 can be part of a network token system that provides sensitive information or tokens as substitutes for sensitive information. Token server 102 may issue a token in response to a request from application provider 104.” … Col. 10, lines 28-32; “Application 212 can be an application that uses, accesses, and/or stores sensitive information or tokens. For example, application 212 can be a wallet or payment application that uses a token to conduct transactions via communication device 200.” … Col. 10, lines 43-46; “Download manager 218 can be configured to provide functionalities to communicate with an application provider associated with application 212 to download information via the application provider.” … Col. 12, lines 10-16; “Token request module 308 may then request the sensitive information or token from a token server for use on the communication device. When token request module 308 receives the sensitive information or token from the token server, token request module 308 may send the sensitive information or token to the application executing on the communication device.” … Col. 12, lines 54-56; “Token server computer 400 may include a processor 401 coupled to a network interface 402 and a computer readable medium 406.” … Col. 12, lines 61-64; Processor 401 may include one or more microprocessors to execute program components for performing the token management functions 430 of token server computer 400.”),
[wherein the token is key-value type data including a key serving as identification information of the token, and values representing contents of the token], and
[when the communication device receives the key transmitted from a user terminal, and the tokens published by the platform, and stored in a predetermined token storage, include a token including the key received by the communication device], the token controller authorizes the user terminal to execute the application (Palanisamy, Col. 9, lines 15-19; “Token server 102 can be part of a network token system that provides sensitive information or tokens as substitutes for sensitive information. Token server 102 may issue a token in response to a request from application provider 104.” … Col. 10, lines 28-32; “Application 212 can be an application that uses, accesses, and/or stores sensitive information or tokens. For example, application 212 can be a wallet or payment application that uses a token to conduct transactions via communication device 200.” … Col. 10, lines 43-46; “Download manager 218 can be configured to provide functionalities to communicate with an application provider associated with application 212 to download information via the application provider.” … Col. 12, lines 10-16; “Token request module 308 may then request the sensitive information or token from a token server for use on the communication device. When token request module 308 receives the sensitive information or token from the token server, token request module 308 may send the sensitive information or token to the application executing on the communication device.” … Col. 19, lines 9-11; “At block 710, the decrypted token or sensitive information can be temporarily stored on the communication device to allow the application to use this information.”).
Palanisamy does not expressly teach:
wherein the token is key-value type data including a key serving as identification information of the token, and values representing contents of the token;
when the communication device receives the key transmitted from a user terminal, and the tokens published by the platform, and stored in a predetermined token storage, include a token including the key received by the communication device
However, Major teaches:
wherein the token is key-value type data including a key serving as identification information of the token, and values representing contents of the token (Major, Parag. [0034]; “Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which shows one example of a token 166 structure or format. In this example, the token 166 includes fields for a version number 202 (i.e., token ID), a device serial number 204, a processor ID number 206, an expiry date 208, a token type 210, a payload 212, and a signature 214 (i.e., token contents).”).
Palanisamy and Major are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method and system for authorizing an application to execute based on a generated token.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Major system into Palanisamy system, with a motivation to provide a method for providing a token in a key-value pair format in order to execute the application once verified (Major, Parag. [0034]).
The combination of Palanisamy and Major does not expressly teach:
when the communication device receives the key transmitted from a user terminal, and the tokens published by the platform, and stored in a predetermined token storage, include a token including the key received by the communication device
However, Wu teaches:
when the communication device receives the key transmitted from a user terminal, and the tokens published by the platform, and stored in a predetermined token storage, include a token including the key received by the communication device (Wu, Page 8, Parag. 6; “In some possible embodiments, the first client may generate the service request according to an operation of the user. The first client may send the service request to the server, and accordingly, the server receives the service request. The service request may be for requesting service data. It can be understood that the server may allocate a token to each client, and when the client requests service data from the server, the token may carry the token allocated to the client by the server, and the token may be used for authentication, that is, to identify whether the client is a legitimate client authorized by the server. The service request may include a first identification of the first client and a first token, and the first token may include a first token identification and first version data. The first identifier may be used to uniquely identify the first client, and the first version data may be a version number of the first token.” … Page 8, Parag. 7; “The first client may be a terminal such as a mobile phone (i.e., communication device), a portable computer, a desktop computer, or a browser, an application program, etc. on the terminal.”).
Palanisamy, Major and Wu are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method and system for authorizing an application to execute based on a generated token.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Wu system into Palanisamy-Major system, with a motivation to provide a method for verify a matching of the key provided by the user and the key of the token in order to authorized the application to execute (Wu, Page 8, Parag. 6-7).
As per claim 3, the combination of Palanisamy, Major and Wu teach the token control system according to claim 1. Major teaches wherein, when the token including the key received by the communication device is not included in the tokens stored in the token storage, the token controller notifies failure in authentication to the user terminal, through the communication device (Major, Parag. [0045]; “If the production key does not result in validation of the software, then the bootloader 132 may determine if a pre-release token is present on the device, as indicated by operation 308. In some embodiments, the bootloader 132 is configured to directly check for a stored pre-release token. In some embodiments, the bootloader 132 generates and sends a request to the token management service 134. The bootloader 132 or the token management service 134, as the case may be, may determine that no such token is stored on the device, in which case the software launch fails, as indicated by operation 310.”).
As per claim 4, it is a computer-readable, non-transitory recording medium claim that recites similar limitations as presented on independent claim 1. Therefore, claim 4 is rejected based on same rationale applied to claim 1.
As per claim 5, it is an application provision system claim that recites similar limitations as presented on independent claim 1. Therefore, claim 4 is rejected based on same rationale applied to claim 1.
In addition, Palanisamy teaches:
a platform (Palanisamy, Col. 8, lines 60-62; “Application provider 104 can be a provider that provides a software application or services associated with the application installed on communication device 120.” … Col. 8-9 lines 67-5; In some embodiments, application provider may perform functions such as provisioning or otherwise providing the application installed on communication device 120 with sensitive information or tokens that can be used as substitute for the sensitive information used by the application.”);
an application that acts on a platform (Palanisamy, Col. 8, lines 60-62; “Application provider 104 can be a provider that provides a software application or services associated with the application installed on communication device 120.” … Col. 8-9 lines 67-5; In some embodiments, application provider may perform functions such as provisioning or otherwise providing the application installed on communication device 120 with sensitive information or tokens that can be used as substitute for the sensitive information used by the application.”)
As per claim 6, the combination of Palanisamy, Major and Wu teach the application provision system according to claim 5. Palanisamy teaches wherein the token storage includes a random-access memory (Palanisamy, Col. 12, lines 54-60; “Token server computer 400 may include a processor 401 coupled to a network interface 402 and a computer readable medium 406. In some embodiments, token server computer 400 may also include a hardware security module (HSM) 420. Token server computer 400 may also include a token registry 404 that may be internal or external to token server computer 400.” … Col. 13, lines 3-7; “Computer readable medium 406 may include any combination of one or more volatile and/or non-volatile memories, for example, RAM, DRAM, SRAM, ROM, flash, or any other suitable memory components”).
As per claim 7, the combination of Palanisamy, Major and Wu teach the application provision system according to claim 5. Palanisamy teaches further comprising a database for managing information utilized by the application and the platform, separately from the token storage (Palanisamy, Col. 11, lines 23-26; “Application provider computer 300 may also include or otherwise has access to a user database 303 that may be internal or external to application provider computer 300.”),
wherein the application acquires the contents of the token retained by the token storage (Palanisamy, Col. 21, lines 30-35; “(Palanisamy, Col. 11, lines 23-26; “Network token system 802 may include a token registry database 802A (may also be referred to as token registry or token vault) and a token processing computer 802B. Token registry database 802A may store and maintain issued or generated tokens as well as any other relevant information to the tokens.”).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Palanisamy (US 10,904,002) in view of Major et al. (US 2017/0116427) hereinafter Major and further in view of Wu (CN 111294337 A), as applied to claim 1, and further in view of Reisswig (US 2023/0206000).
As per claim 2, the combination of Palanisamy, Major and Wu teach the token control system according to claim 1, [wherein the token is data having a data structure of a document format].
The combination of Palanisamy, Major and Wu does not expressly teach:
wherein the token is data having a data structure of a document format.
However, Reisswig teaches:
wherein the token is data having a data structure of a document format (Reisswig, Parag. [0065]; “A “token” is a data item representing one or more portions of a body of text such as a document. Commonly, a “simple token” can represent a word or other sequence of printable characters delimited by whitespace or punctuation, however this is not a requirement. Some tokens (e.g. dates or hyphenated names) can represent character strings which include certain punctuation symbols.”).
Palanisamy, Major, Wu and Reisswig are from similar field of technology. Prior to the instant application’s effective filling date, there was a need for a method and system for authorizing an application to execute based on a generated token.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Reisswig system into Palanisamy-Major-Wu system, with a motivation to provide a method where the generated token used to authorize the application to execute is in a document format (Reisswig, Parag. [0065]).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Lindsay (US 2022/0067207) relates to multiple types of tokens can be generated and utilized in a highly structured document with freeform text. For example, a tokenization system may receive a request for tokenizing a document with a first portion having structured content and a second portion having unstructured or semi-structured content. In response, the tokenization system identifies sensitive information in the first portion of the document, generates format-preserving tokens for the sensitive information in the first portion of the document, identifies sensitive information in the second portion of the document, and generates self-describing tokens for the sensitive information in the second portion of the document. The self-describing tokens reference the sensitive information in the first portion of the document. The tokenization system may then communicate the format-preserving tokens and the self-describing tokens to the first client computing system or to a second client computing system.
Sterling et al. (US 10,726,144) relates to a token-based storage service may comprise a repository of key-value data. In response to a request to store a data item, the storage service may generate a token comprising a namespace and a unique identifier. The token may be used as a key to store and retrieve the data item from the repository. Requests to access the data may be validated based on ownership information stored with the data item and information indicative of the origin of the request for access. In response to a request to store a new version of the data item, a new token may be generated.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ALEX D CARRASQUILLO whose telephone number is (571)270-5045. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 6:00 pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yin-Chen Shaw can be reached at 571-272-8878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/A.D.C./Examiner, Art Unit 2498
/YIN CHEN SHAW/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2498
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