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 Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 3-5, 7-11, 13, 23-25 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.
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/6/2026 has been entered.
Drawings
The drawings are objected to under 37 CFR 1.83(a). The drawings must show every feature of the invention specified in the claims. Therefore, the “receiving from the remote system an encrypted communication encrypted using the authentication information as a secret input to a cryptographic function; and decrypting the encrypted communication from the remote system” must be shown or the feature(s) canceled from the claim(s). No new matter should be entered. The closest mention of providing authentication information is Fig. 4-6, but it does not mention encryption using an cryptographic function and also the decrypting feature of the claims.
Corrected drawing sheets in compliance with 37 CFR 1.121(d) are required in reply to the Office action to avoid abandonment of the application. Any amended replacement drawing sheet should include all of the figures appearing on the immediate prior version of the sheet, even if only one figure is being amended. The figure or figure number of an amended drawing should not be labeled as “amended.” If a drawing figure is to be canceled, the appropriate figure must be removed from the replacement sheet, and where necessary, the remaining figures must be renumbered and appropriate changes made to the brief description of the several views of the drawings for consistency. Additional replacement sheets may be necessary to show the renumbering of the remaining figures. Each drawing sheet submitted after the filing date of an application must be labeled in the top margin as either “Replacement Sheet” or “New Sheet” pursuant to 37 CFR 1.121(d). If the changes are not accepted by the examiner, the applicant will be notified and informed of any required corrective action in the next Office action. The objection to the drawings will not be held in abeyance.
Specification
The disclosure is objected to because of the following informalities: the specifications needs to be updated with reference to figures and elements to the reflect the drawings that needs to be updated.
Appropriate correction is required.
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(s) 1, 3-5, 7-11, 13, 23-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over US Patent Pub 2019/0156429 to Beckmann in view of IVEC: Off-Chip Memory Integrity Protection for Both Security and Reliability to Huang1.
Regarding Claim 1, 11, 13, Beckmann discloses A computer-implemented method for anti-replay protection of a memory of a device, wherein the memory is used by and external to a secure element of the device, characterized in that the method comprises the following steps, wherein the steps are performed in the device after a content of the memory is modified comprising:
modifying the memory to create a modified state of a content of the memory(Abstract & Fig. 2 item 210-220, the series of transaction over time is received into transactions data store);
generating device state data by combining data indicative of a history of past modifications state-of the content of the memory with current data from the modified state of the content of the memory(Fig. 2 item 230-250, the hash of transaction represents the history for verification):
transmitting the device state data to a remote system for updating an authentication key of the device stored in a data storage of the remote system and for use by the remote system in an authentication procedure(Par. 0061-0062, the audit identifiers and historic stat information is part of signature process & Par. 051, keys are used for signatures & Fig. 8 item 890, the keys values & Par. 0061); and providing encrypted authentication information based on the device state data authentication key of the device from the secure element to the remote system in the authentication procedure between the device and the remote system to verify a validity of the modified state of the content of the memory (Fig. 3 item 350, 360 & Par. 0043-0045, the verification of transaction via comparing signatures & Par. 0061-0062 & par. 0051, the relevant key value used to verify the insurer & Par. 0041-0045 & Par. 0048 & par. 0041-0045 & Par. 0048 & Par. 0061, the encrypted transactions based on key for the insurer).
Beckman does not disclose receiving from the remote system an encrypted communication encrypted using the authentication information as a secret input to a cryptographic function; and decrypting the encrypted communication from the remote system.
In the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention, Huang discloses receiving from the remote system an encrypted communication encrypted using the authentication information as a secret input to a cryptographic function(3.1 Cryptographic Primitives, MAC generated only for parties with secret keys, i.e. authentication information being used for cryptographic function); and decrypting the encrypted communication from the remote system(3.2 Hash/MAC trees, the verification based on decrypting and comparing MAC & Fig. 1 item Encryption and Integrity Verification & 3.4 Security).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of claimed invention to modify Beckman invention to incorporate receiving from the remote system an encrypted communication encrypted using the authentication information as a secret input to a cryptographic function; and decrypting the encrypted communication from the remote system for the advantage of authenticated parties to verify the integrity of block of data as taught in Huang see 2.1 Security Model.
Regarding Claim 3. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the validity of the modified state of the content of the memory relates to at least one of:
an authenticity of the modified state of the content of the memory (Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified);
an integrity of the modified state of the content of the memory( Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified); and
version information of the modified state of the content of the memory Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified).
Regarding Claim 4. Beckmann discloses method according to claim 1, wherein the secure element is one of: a protected software application running on the device(par. 0056-0058); a trusted execution environment in a chipset of the device(par. 0056-0058); and an integrated secure element of the device(par. 0056-0058).
Regarding Claim 5. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the modified state of the content of the memory device state data comprises at least one of:
a counter value(par. 0060).; a data value indicative of a software version(par. 0060 & Fig. 8).; and a value representing an integrity of the memory(par. 0060 & Fig.8).
Regarding Claim 7. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the authentication key comprises at least one of:
at least part of the device state data( Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified);a function of at least pa-li-part of the device state data( Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified); and an updated version of a pre-shared authentication key computed from at least part of the device state data(Par. 0066-0067, the signatures are compared)
Regarding Claim 8. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the modified state of the content of the memory device state data comprises a monotonic counter value obtained from a monotonic counter in the device, and wherein the authentication information includes the monotonic counter value(Fig. 19).
Regarding Claim 9. Beckmann discloses method according to claim 1, wherein the authentication procedure is performed as a separate step before allowing the device to perform an operation with the remote system( Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified).
Regarding Claim 10. Beckmann discloses method according to claim 1, wherein the authentication procedure is performed implicitly when performing an operation with the remote system as a part of a communication protocol between the device and the remote system(Par. 0065, protocols are used).
Regarding Claim 23. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the secret input is an encryption key(par. 0048 & Par. 0051, the keys are used).
Regarding Claim 24. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein the secret input is a seed to the cryptographic function(par. 0048 & Par. 0051, the keys are used).
Regarding Claim 25. Beckmann discloses The method according to claim 1, wherein generating device state data by combining the data indicative of the history of past modifications of the content of the memory with the current data from the modified state of the content of the memory comprises hashing together the data indicative of the history of past modifications of the content of the memory and the current data from the modified state of the content of the memory to generate the device state
data( Par. 0060-0062, the audit state are update and verified & Par. 0067-0068).
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Venkat Perungavoor whose telephone number is (571)272-7213. The examiner can normally be reached 9-5.
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/VENKAT PERUNGAVOOR/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2492 Email: venkatanarayan.perungavoor@uspto.gov
1 The NPL is already in file as of 1/5/2026.
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