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 .
DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to the application 19/277,740 filed on 07/23/2025.
Claims 1-12 have been examined and are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS), submitted on 09/09/2025, is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Priority
This application is a continuation of U.S. Patent Application No. 18/664,515, filed May 15, 2024 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,395,467), which is a continuation of U.S. application No. 17/051,803, filed on October 30, 2020 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,021,840), which application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/667,814, filed on May 7, 2018.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); and In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
“The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp. “
Claims 1-12 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 2-3, 5-7, 9-10 and 12-14 of U.S. Patent Application No. 18/664,515 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,395,467). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because pending application has all the limitations of U.S. patent No. patent No. 12,395,467. The examiner underlined the difference in claim language.
Current Application No. 19/277,740
Patent Application No. 18/664,515 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,395,467)
Claims 1 and 7. A (method/ an apparatus) performed by a distributed ledger system for interworking with a service system, the method comprising:
receiving, from the service system via a distributed ledger proxy, a message comprising data for the service system to be stored at the distributed ledger system, wherein the service system is a middleware layer system providing service capabilities to a plurality of applications through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs);
confirming a transaction generated at the distributed ledger proxy based on the data for the service system in accordance with one or more specifications of the distributed ledger system; and
sending to the service system via the distributed ledger proxy, a response indicating that the transaction has been confirmed by the distributed ledger system.
Claims 1 and 8. A (method/ an apparatus) performed by a distributed ledger proxy for interworking a service layer system and a distributed ledger system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a service layer entity, a message comprising data for the service layer system to be stored at the distributed ledger system, wherein the service layer system is a middleware layer system providing service capabilities to a plurality of applications through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs);
generating, at the distributed ledger proxy and based on the data for the service layer system, a transaction in accordance with one or more specifications of the distributed ledger system;
sending, to the distributed ledger system, information associated with the transaction;
receiving, from the distributed ledger system, an indication that the transaction has been confirmed by the distributed ledger system; and
sending, to the service layer entity, a response to the indication that the transaction has been confirmed by the distributed ledger system.
Claims 2-6 and 8-12
Claims 2-3, 5-7, 9-10 and 12-14
Claims 1-12 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 2-3, 5-7, 9-10 and 12-14 of U.S. Patent Application No. 17/051,803 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,021,840). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because pending application has all the limitations of U.S. patent No. patent No. 12,021,840. The examiner underlined the difference in claim language.
Current Application No. 19/277,740
Patent Application No. 17/051,803 (Now U.S. patent No. 12,021,840)
Claims 1 and 7. A (method/ an apparatus) performed by a distributed ledger system for interworking with a service system, the method comprising:
receiving, from the service system via a distributed ledger proxy, a message comprising data for the service system to be stored at the distributed ledger system, wherein the service system is a middleware layer system providing service capabilities to a plurality of applications through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs);
confirming a transaction generated at the distributed ledger proxy based on the data for the service system in accordance with one or more specifications of the distributed ledger system; and
sending to the service system via the distributed ledger proxy, a response indicating that the transaction has been confirmed by the distributed ledger system.
Claims 1 and 8. A (method/ an apparatus) performed by a distributed ledger proxy for interworking a service layer system and a distributed ledger system, the method comprising:
receiving, from a service layer entity of the service layer system, a message comprising data for the service layer system to be stored at the distributed ledger system, wherein the service layer system is a middleware layer system providing service capabilities to a plurality of applications through a set of application programming interfaces (APIs);
generating, at the distributed ledger proxy and based on the data for the service layer system, a transaction in accordance with one or more specifications of the distributed ledger system;
sending, to the distributed ledger system, information associated with the transaction;
receiving, from the distributed ledger system, an indication that the transaction has been confirmed by the distributed ledger system; and
sending, to the service layer entity of the service layer system, the indication that the transaction has been confirmed by the distributed ledger system.
Claims 2-6 and 8-12
Claims 2-3, 5-7, 9-10 and 12-14
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 would be allowable if the rejection(s) under the nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting rejection(s), set forth in this Office action is resolved.
The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for allowance:
As to claims 1-12, the closest prior arts, over Kiyomoto "On blockchain-based authorization architecture for beyond-5G mobile services", (provided in the IDS), in view of Periaswamy (US 2020/0231194), in view of Li (US 2018/0337847) and further in view of Ortiz (US 2019/0073666), alone or in combination fails to anticipate or render obvious the claim invention.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to SANCHIT K SARKER whose telephone number is (571)270-7907. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8:30 AM-5:30 PM.
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/SANCHIT K SARKER/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2495
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