DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action corresponds to the filing of application on 07/30/2025 in which Claims 1-15 are presented for examination on the merits.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 07/30/2025, 12/17/2025, and 12/23/2025 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Form PTO-1449 is signed and attached hereto.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 07/30/2025 are accepted by the examiner.
Priority
The application is filed on 07/30/2025 and which claims foreign priority of KR10-2024-0152080 (REPUBLIC OF KOREA) filed on 10/31/2024.
Claim Objections
1. Claims 10-15 are objected to because of the following informalities:
Claims 10-15 recites “..method S1000…provision operation S100, verification operation S110 , generation operation S60 , S70 ..” etc. in the body of claim language which refers to different figures/blocks in the drawing. The aforesaid terms in the claim do not recite any limitations and thus, do not meet the standard structure of claim language. Therefore, it cannot be determined what the limitations of claimed invention is drawn to. The Examiner suggests that “method S1000…provision operation S100, verification operation S110 , generation operation S60 , S70....” in respective claims 10-15 are removed. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. The factual inquiries for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows:
1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art.
2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue.
3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art.
4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness.
5. This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
6. Claims 1, 8, 10, 12-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Malone et al. (US 20140153721 A1, hereinafter, Malone) in view of Stauber et al. (US 20240290476 A1, hereinafter, Stauber).
Regarding claim 1, Malone discloses a camera system for verifying an original and source of a security image, comprising one or more camera devices, wherein the camera device includes an image capturing element (Para 0019: capture device 102 could be a cell phone that has a video camera associated therewith, any type of device having a digital camera associated therewith, an audio system for capturing an audio file, etc. The phone, in one example, can capture and digitize the image, or even a video segment),
a first communication element connected to a client terminal through a network (Para 0061: transmit files over various networks to other recipients (PDA's, cell camera phones) for their review and storage wherein the users' unique identity and certificates are embedded within the file(s).),
a first memory element that stores an executable first program and security image data (Para 0026: send requests to the secure storage facility 138, identify themselves with the appropriate passwords to comply with the security procedures of the secure storage facility 138 and then have the image requested sent thereto. This image can then be stored in a memory 146 and decrypted with a decryption algorithm), and
a first computing element that executes the first program, and the first program includes a first authentication block information generation commands set that generates first authentication block information including first authentication information (Para 0077-0082: recording images associated with authentication certificate and information identifying the creator of the data wherein image data is first compressed using a well-known compression algorithm, producing a compressed image),
which is obtained by hashing at least a portion of the security image data requested from the client terminal connected through the network (Para 0041, 0070-0074: digital image capture device is an image scanner wherein the serial number of the wireless digital recorder (i.e. camera) are securely hashed; Para 0029, 0032: "hash"ing of the captured image file, for example)
[encrypting a first hashing code recorded in frames of the security image data] with a private key of the camera device (Para 0097, 0138: the image is encrypted using the creator's private key wherein the requestor decrypts the random bit stream using the private key corresponding to the public key under which the bit stream was encrypted), and
unique identification information of the camera device (Para 0041: the unique serial number of the wireless digital recorder (i.e. camera) )
Malone does not explicitly state but Stauber from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches encrypting a first hashing code recorded in frames of the security image data (Stauber, Para 0601, 0561-0575. 0665: encrypted data stream associated with QR-code/Serial number associated with the image data of the Capturing unit/Camera).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to encrypt a first hashing code recorded in frames of the security image data as taught by Stauber in the teachings of Malone for the advantage of identifying an object to be modified by the procedure by the terminal device immediately prior to performing the procedure; tracking a position of the person and the at least one object by the terminal device using methods of computer-aided gesture and/or pattern and/or image recognition during the performance of the procedure; instructing the person to perform the procedure by the terminal device during the performance of the procedure (Stauber, Para 0010).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Malone and Stauber discloses the camera system of claim 1, wherein the image clip includes a plurality of frames including a frame header and a frame body, and the first authentication information and the unique identification information of the camera device are included in the frame header (Para 0080: he authentication certificate is obtained by polling a certificate authority wherein Para 0041, 0106: the unique serial number of the wireless digital recorder (i.e. camera) wherein transmission medium is cellular digital packet data).
Regarding claim 10; Claim 10 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 12; Claim 12 is similar in scope to claim 8, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Malone and Stauber discloses the method (S 1000) of claim 10, further comprising a second authentication block information generation operation (S60) of generating second authentication block information including second authentication information (Malone Para 0077-0082: recording images associated with authentication certificate and information identifying the creator of the data wherein image data is first compressed using a well-known compression algorithm, producing a compressed image),
which is obtained by hashing at least a portion of the security image data (Malone Para 0041, 0070-0074: digital image capture device is an image scanner wherein the serial number of the wireless digital recorder (i.e. camera) are securely hashed; Para 0029, 0032: "hash"ing of the captured image file, for example) and
encrypting a second hashing code recorded in the frames of the security image data with a private key of the image recording device, and unique identification information of the image recording device (Stauber, Para 0601, 0561-0575. 0665: encrypted data stream associated with QR-code/Serial number associated with the image data of the Capturing unit/Camera).
Allowable Subject Matter
7. Claims 2-7, 9, 11, and 14-15 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.
Reasons for Allowance
8. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for placing claims 2-7, 9, 11, and 14-15 under allowable subject matters:
The limitation of dependent claims 2-7, 9, 11, and 14-15 are allowed and the corresponding dependent claims including respective and any intervening claims are not disclosed by the any of the prior art of record. For example, the limitations in claim 2 including the intervening claims recites “..wherein the first program further includes a first image clip service commands set that extracts the security image data requested from the client terminal from the first memory element, adds first image clip authentication information to the security image data including the first authentication block information generated by the first authentication block information generation commands set to generate an image clip, and transmits the image clip including the first image clip authentication information to the client terminal, and the first image clip authentication information is information obtained by encrypting a hashing code that is obtained by hashing the first hashing code with the private key of the camera device….” which are not are not taught or fairly suggested by the prior art of record.
The allowable subject matters in above dependent claims are novel and non-obvious in scope over the prior art of record as the prior-art references fail to teach each and every feature of the aforesaid dependent claim(s) including the limitations set forth above.
In view of the foregoing, the scope of claimed subject matters renders the invention patentably distinct as none of the prior art of record, either taken by itself or in any combination, would have anticipated or made obvious the invention of the present application at or before the time it was filed.
Furthermore, the Examiner performed updated search which does not yield other specific references that reasonably, either alone or in combination, would result a proper rejection of all the claimed features presented in each of the dependent claims 2-7, 9, 11, and 14-15 under 35 U.S.C 102 or 35 U.S.C.103 with proper motivation.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
Conclusion
9. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
PALIWAL et al. (US 20210209582 A1) discloses performing banking operation at kiosk unit (an ATM) without the use of conventional physical smart cards. A special type of card called a Virtual Smart Card (V.S.C) is deployed by the bank authority which is portable on any smart device which a user possesses and this V.S.C is such that it can be only accessed in the presence of an interface provided by the bank authority.
HARADA (US 20250391934 A1) discloses performing first confirmation by confirming, by a first apparatus, whether or not a second apparatus is a legitimate apparatus; and performing second confirmation by confirming, by the second apparatus, whether or not the first apparatus is a legitimate apparatus.
10. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHFUZUR RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7638. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yin-Chen Shaw can be reached on 571-272-8878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MAHFUZUR RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2498
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