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 .
Status of Claims
Claims 1, 4-7, 9-10, 12-26 are pending; of which, claims 21-23 are withdrawn. Claims 2-3, 8, 11, 26 are cancelled.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 1, 4-7, 9, 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 1 recites the following: “bit-alternatingly unzipping the public key to generate the first public key component and the second public key component, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits for the first public key component and the second public key component”. Examiner can find no recitation in the specification and claims which teaches this amended subject matter. The nearest subject matter from the specification can be found on page 29 line 14-29, which recites:
In act 703, the facility separates the token into two segments or portions, a and b. In various embodiments, portions a and b are of equal size, or of unequal size. In various embodiments, the relative size of the portions is determined manually by an administrator, or automatically based upon such factors as the total size or space available in the two types of messages in which the portions are transmitted. In some embodiments, this separation involves selecting a certain number of highest-order bits of the token as portion a, and the remaining bits of the token as portion b. In some embodiments, the facility generates portions a and b using other techniques, such as by "unzipping" a different set of alternating bits or bytes from the token for each of the portions; this is sometimes described as traversing the bits of the token in order, assigning the bits visited in the traversal alternately to portions a and b. In some embodiments, both the public key and the token contain 256 bits, and the facility performs act 703 by selecting the highest-order 128 bits of the token as portion a, and the remainder of the token as portion b. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the lengths of the public key, the token, and the portions can vary as needed.
From the above, it can be seen that separating the token into segments of two unequal sizes is presented as one option, and that “unzipping” is presented as a separate technique. Further, the “unzipping” as described appears to be a symmetrical operation, i.e. alternating between bits; this would result in two segments either having the same number of bits (in the case that the original token had an even number of bits), or one of the segments being 1 bit longer than the other (in the case that the original token had an odd number of bits). In either case, this is not the same as each alternating set of bits being a “separately-defined” number of bits. For these reasons, “bit-alternatingly unzipping the public key to generate the first public key component and the second public key component, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits for the first public key component and the second public key component” fails to comply with the written description requirement. None of claims 4-7, 9, 24-25 fix this and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 10, 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention. Claim 10 recites the corresponding “zippering” process to the “unzipping” process of claim 1; however, the same issues regarding the claimed “separately-defined number of bits” still apply. Claim 10 therefore fails to comply with the written description requirement for the same reasons. None of claims 12-20 fix this and are therefore rejected for the same reasons.
Claims 1, 4-7, 9, 24-25 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 1 recites the following: “bit-alternatingly unzipping the public key to generate the first public key component and the second public key component, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits for the first public key component and the second public key component”. This refers to the process found on page 29 line 14-29 of the specification, as recited above, i.e. the process of traversing the bits of the token in order, assigning the bits visited in the traversal alternately to portions a and b. It is unclear how one would assign a “separately-defined number of bits for the first public key component and the second public key component” using this method, as a complete traversal of the input data would always result in either having the same number of bits per segment (in the case that the original token had an even number of bits), or one of the segments being 1 bit longer than the other (in the case that the original token had an odd number of bits). However, these are inherent properties of the input data and not “separately-defined” characteristics. Therefore, claim 1 is indefinite. None of claims 4-7, 9, 24-25 fix this and are therefore rejected for the same reasons. For the purposes of art rejection, this will be construed as the case where the input data has an odd number of bits, thereby resulting in two segments of unequal length (by 1 bit).
Claims 10, 12-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention. Claim 10 recites the corresponding “zippering” process to the “unzipping” process of claim 1; however, the same issues regarding the claimed “separately-defined number of bits” still apply. Claim 10 is therefore indefinite for the same reasons. None of claims 12-20 fix this and are therefore rejected for the same reasons. For the purposes of art rejection, this will be construed as the case where the input data has an odd number of bits, thereby resulting in two segments of unequal length (by 1 bit).
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, 9, 24-25 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon et al (US 9,510,201), and further in view of Deshpande et al (PGPUB 2018/0183596), Froelicher et al (PGPUB 2017/0264600), Roberts (PGPUB 2022/0182142), and Hebert (PGPUB 2013/0262397).
Regarding Claim 1:
Shimoon teaches a method (abstract, beacon signals generated by transmitting device by partitioning message into plurality of segments), comprising:
generating, by a first mobile communication device, a key pair including a private key and a public key for use by the first mobile communication device in communicating with other mobile communication devices, the public key having information content (col 9 line 50-col 10 line 8, device receiving request for encryption key; encryption key may be generated upon request for the same; encryption key may be any type of encryption key including asymmetric encryption keys, public keys, private keys, combinations thereof);
constructing, by the first mobile communication device, a first public key component and a second public key component from the public key (col 10 line 9-27, encryption key segmented into appropriate size segments that can be carried by a sequence of two or more beacon signals), the first public key component and the second public key component each encoding an incomplete portion of the information content of the public key (col 10 line 28-53, companion device configured to reconstitute the encryption key from the plurality of segments, such as by concatenating the received segments), the first public key component and the second public key component collectively encoding the complete information content of the public key, including (col 10 line 28-53, companion device configured to reconstitute the encryption key from the plurality of segments):
generating, by the first mobile communication device, a first wireless message to be transmitted from the first mobile communication device to other mobile communication devices, wherein a sender identifier field in the first wireless message includes the first public key component (col 10 line 9-27, strings generated that have the corresponding respective segment of the encryption key as the payload; col 10 line 9-27, col 16 line 30-56, encryption key segment carried in SSID data field of WiFi beacon signal);
broadcasting, by the first mobile communication device, the first wireless message as a notification signal for receipt by the other mobile communication devices (col 10 line 28-53, device transmits plurality of beacon signals; beacon signal carrying encryption key segment received by companion device; col 10 line 9-27, encryption key segments carried by beacon signals; col 10 line 9-27, strings generated that have the corresponding respective segment of the encryption key as the payload and the header may include a protocol indicator, a message index, a total number of segments for the message to be transmitted, and a transmission type);
receiving, by the first mobile communication device and from a second mobile communication device in response to the notification signal (col 10 line 28-53, companion device configured to transmit acknowledgement message every time beacon signal carrying encryption key segment is received; acknowledgement message incorporated in and carried on beacon signal in similar fashion as encryption key; col 22 line 5-57, beacon signal 800 may be similar to beacon signals used in WiFi, but may be used with any suitable protocol and/or format of message broadcasting; each of the fields may include one or more bits of data; in example embodiments, the header field 802 may include a media access control (MAC) header; in some example embodiments, the MAC header information may be used to identify a device that is utilizing the message transfer protocols as described herein);
in response to receiving the second wireless message from the second mobile communication device (col 10 line 28-53, device may receive the acknowledgement messages as each of the segments of the message are transmitted by the device; if the device does not receive an acknowledgement message corresponding to a particular segment of the encryption key, then the device may transmit the beacon signal of the non-acknowledged segment of the encryption key again until an acknowledgement corresponding to that segment is received):
generating, by the first mobile communication device, a third wireless message to be transmitted from the first mobile communication device specifically to the second mobile communication device, wherein a payload field in the third message includes the second public key component (col 10 line 9-27, encryption key segmented into appropriate size segments that can be carried by a sequence of two or more beacon signals; col 2 line 29-57, the segments of the authentication credentials may be part of a string that is carried by the SSID field of the WiFi beacon; the string may include… a payload, or the segment of authentication credential being transmitted; the protocol indicator, the message type, the packet index, and the total number of segments associated with the message may collectively be referred to as the packet header; the strings when generated may be carried by each of the one or more beacon signals; in this case the payload may be sized in a manner such that all of the string (e.g., payload in addition to the header) may fit into the SSID field of the respective corresponding WiFi beacon; SSID field carries the payload, and may therefore be considered a payload field); and
transmitting, by the first mobile communication device, the third wireless message that includes the second public key component as the payload of the third wireless message directly to the second mobile communication device (col 10 line 28-53, device may receive the acknowledgement messages as each of the segments of the message are transmitted by the device; if the device does not receive an acknowledgement message corresponding to a particular segment of the encryption key, then the device may transmit the beacon signal of the non-acknowledged segment of the encryption key again until an acknowledgement corresponding to that segment is received; col 4 line 19-48, a sending and/or transmitting entity (e.g., the device or the companion device) may transmit the plurality of beacon signals in sequence of the segment index; the transmitting device may transmit a particular beacon signal for a predetermined time, such as, for example, 0.5 seconds, before transmitting the next beacon signal in the sequence of beacon signals carrying the plurality of message segments; col 10 line 9-27, encryption key segmented into appropriate size segments that can be carried by a sequence of two or more beacon signals).
Shimoon does not explicitly teach broadcasting, without being prompted for the first wireless message by other mobile communication devices;
the second wireless message requesting a connection between the second mobile communication device and the first mobile communication device; and
in response to receiving the second wireless message from the second mobile communication device, transmitting the third wireless message.
However, Deshpande teaches the concept of broadcasting, without being prompted for a first wireless message by other mobile communication devices (paragraph 48, processing begins in the discovery phase 346, where a first peer-to-peer application 306 is in the foreground on a sender device (e.g., 302) and a second peer-to-peer application 308 is in the foreground on a receiver device (e.g., 304); the first user device advertises (310) a first user token (e.g., beacon message) and scan for others (e.g., other devices that are executing a peer-to-peer application and advertising a token), and the second user device advertises (312) a second user token (e.g., beacon descriptor message) and scan for others (e.g., other devices that are executing a peer-to-peer application and advertising a token); the sender device and the receiver device of any implementations described herein can include the sending and receiving functionality as described herein and either device can act as a sender device and/or a receiver device);
a wireless message requesting a connection between a second mobile communication device and a first mobile communication device (paragraph 80-81, data transfer can take place in a Wi-Fi portion of the process 408; in the Wi-Fi portion 408, the sender device can start a Wi-Fi server; the receiver device 404 can send a connection request message, including the Connection Id, to the sender device 402 (414) requesting to connect to the server provided by the sender device 402 via mutual TLS (mTLS) or other suitable protocol); and
in response to receiving the wireless message from the second mobile communication device, transmitting [an additional] wireless message (paragraph 80-81, after validating the receiver (or client) connection request based on the certificate provided by the receiver device 404, the sender device 402 can respond with an acknowledgement message (e.g., connection request grant message) that contains a transfer ID value (416)); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the wireless message is the second wireless message (col 21 line 35-44) and the additional wireless message is the third wireless message (col 10 line 28-53).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the connection request teachings of Deshpande with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon, in order to improve network compatibility and efficiency by signaling to a receiving device that a sending device was requesting a connection, thereby allowing the receiving device to initiate the appropriate protocol to establish a secure connection.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande explicitly teaches considering, by the first mobile communication device, the first public key component as an identifier of the first mobile communication device.
However, Froelicher teaches the concept of considering, by a first mobile communication device, a first public key component as an identifier of the first mobile communication device (abstract, method for authenticating a device for secure network communication; a device may obtain identification data in the device, wherein the identification data is configured as a hash of a public key for identifying at least one of the device and/or a user associated with the device; paragraph 32, a user device may dynamically create and use a secondary source IPv6 address with a unique interface identifier for a portion of the address (e.g., the last 64 bits) as a hash of the public key of a device certificate, website specific information, and/or session specific information; the server can quickly validate the address and with a reliable probability determine the public key it should use to challenge the client with).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the assigning a public key as an identifier teachings of Froelicher with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, with the benefit of connecting a cryptographically secure public key of a device to a dynamic IP address for use in authentication to a network, thereby providing a means of identification which is relatively secure across wide area networks and requires little to no overhead (Froelicher, paragraph 8).
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Froelicher explicitly teaches broadcasting the first wireless message as a notification signal for receipt by the other mobile communication devices that are within line-of-sight communication with the first mobile communication device.
However, Roberts teaches the concept of broadcasting a first wireless message as a notification signal for receipt by other mobile communication devices that are within line-of-sight communication with the first mobile communication device (abstract, devices for infrared (IR) communications; paragraph 5, the IR communication systems provide for a unique ability for devices to expand communication and readily identify each other in real space and in line of sight (“LOS”); the IR communication systems may allow for additional features by allowing devices the ability to quickly recognize and/or track each other in real space in line of sight and interact and communicate and/or perform tasks more efficiently and effectively by utilizing the unique sight driven data transmission of IR; paragraph 76, the second IR device 118 may transmit (502, 504) the IR signal 226 as a periodic beacon (i.e., beacon signal) so that it may be recognized by a first IR device 114).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the line-of-sight communication network teachings of Roberts with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande and Froelicher, with the benefit of incorporating the advantages of IR style line-of-sight networks as identified by Roberts, e.g. allowing devices the ability to quickly recognize and/or track each other in real space in line of sight and interact and communicate and/or perform tasks more efficiently and effectively by utilizing the unique sight driven data transmission of IR (Roberts, paragraph 5).
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Froelicher nor Roberts explicitly teaches bit-alternatingly unzipping the public key to generate the first public key component and the second public key component, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits for the first public key component and the second public key component.
However, Hebert teaches the concept of bit-alternatingly unzipping data to generate a first data component and a second data component, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits for the first data component and the second data component (paragraph 37, the data file 105 may be understood to be represented in digital form using a binary string of ones and zeros; thus, the splitter 112 may divide the data file 105 at a bit level by alternating placement of each succeeding bit within the data files 105A, 105B; for example, in a highly shortened and simplified example, the data file 105 may include a series of bits 10111001; then, the splitter 112 may construct the first portion 105A as including bits 1110, and may construct the second portion 105B as including the bits 0101; that is, as just referenced, the splitter 112 may alternate placement of each bit within the portions 105A, 105B; paragraph 38, it may be appreciated that each of the portions 105A, 105B become individually useless with respect to obtaining or otherwise determining content of the original data file 105; that is, as may be observed, an unauthorized user who obtains access to an individual one of the portions 105A, 105B would be unable to gain access to any of the content of the original data file 105; EXAMINER’S NOTE: a data file 105 comprising an odd number of bits would therefore be split into two sets of unequal numbers of bits); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the data is the public key (col 9 line 50-col 10 line 8, device receiving request for encryption key; encryption key may be generated upon request for the same; encryption key may be any type of encryption key including asymmetric encryption keys, public keys, private keys, combinations thereof).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the bit-alternatingly unzipping of a data file teachings of Hebert with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, and Roberts. A person of ordinary skill in the art, faced with the problem of splitting data (e.g. a “public key”), would have looked to a finite number of potential options, such as dividing alternating bits into two separate components, with a reasonable expectation of success. The claims are therefore obvious because it would have been obvious to try the known methods of data splitting to achieve the predictable result of dividing a data element.
Regarding Claim 9:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Shimoon teaches the method, further comprising:
in response to receiving the second wireless message from the second mobile communication device:
extracting a third public key component from a second identifier of the second mobile communication device from the second wireless message (col 10 line 9-27, col 16 line 30-56, encryption key segment carried in SSID data field of WiFi beacon signal; col 21 line 7-20, method 700 for reconstituting a message received via a plurality of wireless beacon signals, in accordance with example embodiments of the disclosure; the method 700 may be performed by either the device 130 and the processors 200 thereon or the companion device 120 and the processors 300 thereon; col 21 line 45-65, the message carried by the beacon signals may be reconstituted based at least in part on the identified payload and sequence of the strings);
after transmitting the third wireless message to the second mobile communication device, receiving a fourth wireless message transmitted by the second mobile communication device (col 4 line 19-48, a sending and/or transmitting entity (e.g., the device or the companion device) may transmit the plurality of beacon signals in sequence of the segment index; the transmitting device may transmit a particular beacon signal for a predetermined time, such as, for example, 0.5 seconds, before transmitting the next beacon signal in the sequence of beacon signals carrying the plurality of message segments);
determining that the fourth wireless message is a handshake message (col 3 line 38-col 4 line 18, the payload, or message segment or encrypted message segment, may be combined with a header corresponding to each of the segments to generate the string corresponding to the message segment; the header for each segment may include an indicator that this message transfer protocol (e.g., where the message is broadcast via a wireless network beacon signal, such as WiFi) is being used; therefore, based at least in part on the protocol indicator, the message may be carried by, and may be identified as carrying a message from similar beacon signals that are used for networking and/or handshaking functionality with existing communications protocols);
in response to determining that the fourth wireless message is a handshake message, extracting a fourth public key component from the fourth wireless message (col 10 line 9-27, col 16 line 30-56, encryption key segment carried in SSID data field of WiFi beacon signal; col 21 line 7-20, method 700 for reconstituting a message received via a plurality of wireless beacon signals, in accordance with example embodiments of the disclosure; the method 700 may be performed by either the device 130 and the processors 200 thereon or the companion device 120 and the processors 300 thereon; col 21 line 45-65, the message carried by the beacon signals may be reconstituted based at least in part on the identified payload and sequence of the strings); and
constructing a complete second public key used by the second mobile communication device from a combination of the third public key component with the fourth public key component (col 18 line 39-48, the public encryption key may be reconstituted based at least in part on the one or more beacon signals carrying the public encryption key; once all of the beacon signals carrying the public encryption key have been received, the corresponding payloads, that may have been stored, such as in memory 310, may be concatenated to generate the public encryption key).
Regarding Claim 24:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Hebert teaches wherein bit-alternatingly unzipping the data comprises:
assigning every odd bit in the data in order to the first data component (paragraph 37, the data file 105 may be understood to be represented in digital form using a binary string of ones and zeros; thus, the splitter 112 may divide the data file 105 at a bit level by alternating placement of each succeeding bit within the data files 105A, 105B; EXAMINER’S NOTE: either data file can be seen as the first or second component; therefore, one component will comprise odd bits, and the other component will comprise even bits); and
assigning every even bit in the data in order to the second data component (paragraph 37, the data file 105 may be understood to be represented in digital form using a binary string of ones and zeros; thus, the splitter 112 may divide the data file 105 at a bit level by alternating placement of each succeeding bit within the data files 105A, 105B; EXAMINER’S NOTE: either data file can be seen as the first or second component; therefore, one component will comprise odd bits, and the other component will comprise even bits); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the data is the public key (col 9 line 50-col 10 line 8, device receiving request for encryption key; encryption key may be generated upon request for the same; encryption key may be any type of encryption key including asymmetric encryption keys, public keys, private keys, combinations thereof).
The rationale to combine Shimoon and Hebert is the same as provided for claim 1 due to the overlapping subject matter between claims 1 and 24.
Regarding Claim 25:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the method of claim 1. In addition, Hebert teaches wherein bit-alternatingly unzipping the data comprises:
assigning every odd bit in the data in order to the first data component (paragraph 37, the data file 105 may be understood to be represented in digital form using a binary string of ones and zeros; thus, the splitter 112 may divide the data file 105 at a bit level by alternating placement of each succeeding bit within the data files 105A, 105B; EXAMINER’S NOTE: either data file can be seen as the first or second component; therefore, one component will comprise odd bits, and the other component will comprise even bits); and
assigning every even bit in the data in order to the second data component (paragraph 37, the data file 105 may be understood to be represented in digital form using a binary string of ones and zeros; thus, the splitter 112 may divide the data file 105 at a bit level by alternating placement of each succeeding bit within the data files 105A, 105B; EXAMINER’S NOTE: either data file can be seen as the first or second component; therefore, one component will comprise odd bits, and the other component will comprise even bits); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the data is the public key (col 9 line 50-col 10 line 8, device receiving request for encryption key; encryption key may be generated upon request for the same; encryption key may be any type of encryption key including asymmetric encryption keys, public keys, private keys, combinations thereof).
The rationale to combine Shimoon and Hebert is the same as provided for claim 1 due to the overlapping subject matter between claims 1 and 25.
Claim(s) 4, 6 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Ohta et al (PGPUB 2004/0174824).
Regarding Claim 4:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the method of claim 1.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Froelicher nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches the method, further comprising:
performing an obfuscating transformation on the public key to obtain an obfuscated public key, and
wherein the first and second public key components are constructed from the obfuscated public key.
However, Ohta teaches a method, comprising:
performing an obfuscating transformation on a public key to obtain an obfuscated public key (paragraph 238, unit 108b calculates the public key YA=xA*G; unit 108b divides the public key YA to generate public-key packets, and sequentially transmits the generated packets to terminal 30c via encryption unit 102 and communication unit 101; paragraph 241, public-key packet 305 is then transmitted to terminal 30c after encryption unit 102 has encrypted the IP payload), and
wherein first and second public key components are constructed from the obfuscated public key (paragraph 238, unit 108b divides the public key YA to generate public-key packets, and sequentially transmits the generated packets to terminal 30c via encryption unit 102 and communication unit 101).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the obfuscating a public key teachings of Ohta with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, and Hebert, in order to improve the security environment by encrypting a transmitted public key, thereby ensuring that only authorized recipients were able to decipher the transmitted key, and preventing interception and malicious usage/impersonation by unauthorized users and devices.
Regarding Claim 6:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta teaches the method of claim 4. In addition, Ohta teaches wherein performing the obfuscating transformation comprises encrypting the public key using a global encryption key, the global encryption key being stored by at least two mobile communication devices that include the first mobile communication device (paragraph 241, public-key packet 305 is then transmitted to terminal 30c after encryption unit 102 has encrypted the IP payload; paragraph 84-85, encryption and decryption algorithms used by encryption unit 102 are, as one example, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms; here, key information is shared in advance between devices that are to communicate, and stored in a tamper-resistant area; encryption unit 102 receives contents from content storage unit 109, and reads shared keys stored by key generation unit 108; unit 102 encrypts received contents using shared keys to generate encrypted contents, and outputs the encrypted contents to communication unit 101; paragraph 316, in the above embodiments, an encryption key used by an encryption unit to encrypt/decrypt the IP payload of IP packets is a global secret key).
The rationale to combine Shimoon and Ohta is the same as provided for claim 4 due to the overlapping subject matter between claims 4 and 6.
Claim(s) 5 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta, and further in view of Luo (PGPUB 2019/0281449).
Regarding Claim 5:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta teaches the method of claim 4.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Froelicher nor Roberts nor Hebert nor Ohta explicitly teaches wherein performing the obfuscating transformation comprises using the private key to sign a reference message, the reference message being stored by at least two mobile communication devices that include the first mobile communication device.
However, Luo teaches the concept wherein performing an obfuscating transformation comprises using a private key to sign a reference message, the reference message being stored by at least two mobile communication devices that include the first mobile communication device (paragraph 69-71, if unique device ID and public key values are received before the timeout condition is triggered, the server 103 saves the device ID and public key in the database 236, as provided at 539; after the unique device ID and public key for the peripheral device 101 are obtained, the server 103 generates the security certificate for the peripheral device 101; the generated certificate signs the server 103's URL, the unique device ID, and the public key of the peripheral device 101 using the server 103's private key; the server 103 also transmits an ‘OK’ message with the certificate 542 of the peripheral device 101 to the host device 102; at 544, the host device 102 saves the URL and public key of the server 103 in its public key database 222 for use in a subsequent pairing process 450).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the shared reference certificate teachings of Luo with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta, in order to incorporate public key certificates which are well-known in the art, allowing the sending and receiving devices to establish trust through use of digital signatures and trusted certificate authorities which are secured through cryptographic means, thereby improving the security environment.
Claim(s) 7 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta, and further in view of Cannon et al (PGPUB 2022/0116203).
Regarding Claim 7:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, and Ohta teaches the method of claim 4.
In addition, Shimoon teaches wherein the obfuscated public key is comprised of a number of ordered bits (col 4 line 49-61, the message may be incorporated in a service set identifier field of the beacon signal; in example embodiments, this SSID field may be up to 32 bytes in length; in these example embodiments, if the packet (e.g., header and payload/message segment) of the beacon signal is encoded in ASCII encoding, or 1 byte/character, then each beacon signal, in example embodiments, may be configured to carry a maximum of 32 characters of header and payload and may the message to be transmitted may be segmented appropriately; EXAMINER’S NOTE: 1 byte=8 bits; col 5 line 52-col 6 line 7, the companion device 120 may be configured to identify the received beacon signal may as carrying a message, or segments thereof, such as an encryption key 150, based at least in part on symbols, bits, or other information carried by the beacon signal).
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Froelicher nor Roberts nor Hebert nor Ohta explicitly teaches wherein constructing the first public key component comprises extracting the highest-order half of the obfuscated public key's bits, and
wherein constructing the second public key component comprises extracting the lowest half of the obfuscated public key's bits.
However, Cannon teaches wherein constructing a first public key component comprises extracting the highest-order half of an obfuscated public key's bits (paragraph 40, upon sending the encrypted response to smart device 110, the split key transmitter 132 may split the generated key into two or more pieces according to previously received configuration preferences (step 212); in embodiments, the split key transmitter 132 may split the generated key into two halves, two unequal sized pieces, three thirds, three unequal sized pieces, etc), and
wherein constructing a second public key component comprises extracting the lowest half of the obfuscated public key's bits (paragraph 40, upon sending the encrypted response to smart device 110, the split key transmitter 132 may split the generated key into two or more pieces according to previously received configuration preferences (step 212); in embodiments, the split key transmitter 132 may split the generated key into two halves, two unequal sized pieces, three thirds, three unequal sized pieces, etc).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the key splitting methods of Cannon with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Froelicher, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta. When faced with the problem of splitting a key, a person of ordinary skill in the art would choose from a finite number of choices to accomplish the task, such as the non-limiting selection of choices presented by Cannon. It would therefore be obvious to combine Shimoon and Cannon in order to accomplish the objective of splitting the bits of a key.
Claim(s) 10, 15 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon, and further in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert.
Regarding Claim 10:
Shimoon teaches one or more memories collectively having contents configured to cause a first mobile communication device to perform a method, the method comprising:
receiving a first wireless message broadcasted by a second mobile communication device (col 10 line 28-53, device transmits plurality of beacon signals; beacon signal carrying encryption key segment received by companion device; col 10 line 9-27, encryption key segments carried by beacon signals);
determining that the first wireless message is a notification signal for receipt by the other mobile communication devices (col 10 line 9-27, strings generated that have the corresponding respective segment of the encryption key as the payload and the header may include a protocol indicator, a message index, a total number of segments for the message to be transmitted, and a transmission type);
in response to determining that contents of the first wireless message is a notification signal:
extracting a first public key component from an identifier of the first mobile communication device from the first wireless message (col 10 line 9-27, col 16 line 30-56, encryption key segment carried in SSID data field of WiFi beacon signal; col 21 line 7-20, method 700 for reconstituting a message received via a plurality of wireless beacon signals, in accordance with example embodiments of the disclosure; the method 700 may be performed by either the device 130 and the processors 200 thereon or the companion device 120 and the processors 300 thereon; col 21 line 45-65, the message carried by the beacon signals may be reconstituted based at least in part on the identified payload and sequence of the strings);
transmitting a second wireless message addressed to the second mobile communication device (col 21 line 35-44, an acknowledgement beacon signal corresponding to the received beacon signal carrying a segment of the message may be generated and transmitted; the beacon signals may be constructed by incorporating the identified index of the received string into a pre-existing standard beacon signal for an existing protocol, such as WiFi, WiFi direct, or Bluetooth; in certain example embodiments, the beacon signal may be generated by incorporating the acknowledgement message into an SSID data field of the beacon signal); and
after transmitting the second wireless message:
receiving a third wireless message transmitted by the second mobile communication device directly to the first mobile communication device (col 4 line 19-48, a sending and/or transmitting entity (e.g., the device or the companion device) may transmit the plurality of beacon signals in sequence of the segment index; the transmitting device may transmit a particular beacon signal for a predetermined time, such as, for example, 0.5 seconds, before transmitting the next beacon signal in the sequence of beacon signals carrying the plurality of message segments);
determining that the third wireless message is a handshake message (col 3 line 38-col 4 line 18, the payload, or message segment or encrypted message segment, may be combined with a header corresponding to each of the segments to generate the string corresponding to the message segment; the header for each segment may include an indicator that this message transfer protocol (e.g., where the message is broadcast via a wireless network beacon signal, such as WiFi) is being used; therefore, based at least in part on the protocol indicator, the message may be carried by, and may be identified as carrying a message from similar beacon signals that are used for networking and/or handshaking functionality with existing communications protocols);
in response to determining that the third wireless message is a handshake message, extracting a second public key component from a payload of the third wireless message (col 2 line 29-57, the segments of the authentication credentials may be part of a string that is carried by the SSID field of the WiFi beacon; the string may include… a payload, or the segment of authentication credential being transmitted; col 10 line 28-53, device transmits plurality of beacon signals; beacon signal carrying encryption key segment received by companion device; col 18 line 39-48, the public encryption key may be reconstituted based at least in part on the one or more beacon signals carrying the public encryption key; once all of the beacon signals carrying the public encryption key have been received, the corresponding payloads, that may have been stored, such as in memory 310, may be concatenated to generate the public encryption key); and
constructing a complete public key used by the second mobile communication device from a combination of the first public key component with the second public key component (col 18 line 39-48, the public encryption key may be reconstituted based at least in part on the one or more beacon signals carrying the public encryption key; once all of the beacon signals carrying the public encryption key have been received, the corresponding payloads, that may have been stored, such as in memory 310, may be concatenated to generate the public encryption key).
Shimoon does not explicitly teach determining that the first wireless message is a notification signal that was broadcast by the second mobile communication device without being prompted for the first wireless message by the first mobile communication device;
transmitting a second wireless message using the first public key component as the identifier of the second mobile communication device, the second wireless message having contents identifying the second wireless message as a connection request; and
determining that the third wireless message is a handshake message in response to the connection request.
However, Deshpande teaches the concept determining that a first wireless message is a notification signal that was broadcast by a second mobile communication device without being prompted for the first wireless message by a first mobile communication device (paragraph 48, processing begins in the discovery phase 346, where a first peer-to-peer application 306 is in the foreground on a sender device (e.g., 302) and a second peer-to-peer application 308 is in the foreground on a receiver device (e.g., 304); the first user device advertises (310) a first user token (e.g., beacon message) and scan for others (e.g., other devices that are executing a peer-to-peer application and advertising a token), and the second user device advertises (312) a second user token (e.g., beacon descriptor message) and scan for others (e.g., other devices that are executing a peer-to-peer application and advertising a token); the sender device and the receiver device of any implementations described herein can include the sending and receiving functionality as described herein and either device can act as a sender device and/or a receiver device);
transmitting a second wireless message using a first public key component as an identifier of the second mobile communication device, the second wireless message having contents identifying the wireless message as a connection request (paragraph 80-81, data transfer can take place in a Wi-Fi portion of the process 408; in the Wi-Fi portion 408, the sender device can start a Wi-Fi server; the receiver device 404 can send a connection request message, including the Connection Id, to the sender device 402 (414) requesting to connect to the server provided by the sender device 402 via mutual TLS (mTLS) or other suitable protocol; after validating the receiver (or client) connection request based on the certificate provided by the receiver device 404, the sender device 402 can respond with an acknowledgement message (e.g., connection request grant message) that contains a transfer ID value (416)); and
determining that [an additional] wireless message is a handshake message in response to the connection request (paragraph 80-81, receiver device 404 can send a connection request message, including the Connection Id, to the sender device 402 (414) requesting to connect to the server provided by the sender device 402 via mutual TLS (mTLS) or other suitable protocol; after validating the receiver (or client) connection request based on the certificate provided by the receiver device 404, the sender device 402 can respond with an acknowledgement message; if the peer-to-peer connection is a first connection, the sender device can include its public key in the connection info and discover the receiver's public key during the mTLS handshake); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the wireless message is the second wireless message (col 21 line 35-44); and
the additional wireless message is the third wireless message (col 10 line 28-53).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the connection request teachings of Deshpande with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon, in order to improve network compatibility and efficiency by signaling to a receiving device that a sending device was requesting a connection, thereby allowing the receiving device to initiate the appropriate protocol to establish a secure connection.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande explicitly teaches a notification signal for receipt by the other mobile communication devices that are within line-of-sight communication with the second mobile communication device.
However, Roberts teaches the concept of a notification signal for receipt by other mobile communication devices that are within line-of-sight communication with a second mobile communication device (abstract, devices for infrared (IR) communications; paragraph 5, the IR communication systems provide for a unique ability for devices to expand communication and readily identify each other in real space and in line of sight (“LOS”); the IR communication systems may allow for additional features by allowing devices the ability to quickly recognize and/or track each other in real space in line of sight and interact and communicate and/or perform tasks more efficiently and effectively by utilizing the unique sight driven data transmission of IR; paragraph 76, the second IR device 118 may transmit (502, 504) the IR signal 226 as a periodic beacon (i.e., beacon signal) so that it may be recognized by a first IR device 114).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the line-of-sight communication network teachings of Roberts with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, with the benefit of incorporating the advantages of IR style line-of-sight networks as identified by Roberts, e.g. allowing devices the ability to quickly recognize and/or track each other in real space in line of sight and interact and communicate and/or perform tasks more efficiently and effectively by utilizing the unique sight driven data transmission of IR (Roberts, paragraph 5).
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts explicitly teaches alternatingly zippering the first public key component with the second public key component to reconstruct the complete public key, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits from the first public key component and the second public key component.
However, Hebert teaches the concept of alternatingly zippering a first data component with a second data component to reconstruct the complete data, wherein each alternating set of bits is a separately-defined number of bits from the first data component and the second data component (paragraph 37, the data file 105 may be understood to be represented in digital form using a binary string of ones and zeros; thus, the splitter 112 may divide the data file 105 at a bit level by alternating placement of each succeeding bit within the data files 105A, 105B; for example, in a highly shortened and simplified example, the data file 105 may include a series of bits 10111001; then, the splitter 112 may construct the first portion 105A as including bits 1110, and may construct the second portion 105B as including the bits 0101; that is, as just referenced, the splitter 112 may alternate placement of each bit within the portions 105A, 105B; paragraph 38, it may be appreciated that each of the portions 105A, 105B become individually useless with respect to obtaining or otherwise determining content of the original data file 105; that is, as may be observed, an unauthorized user who obtains access to an individual one of the portions 105A, 105B would be unable to gain access to any of the content of the original data file 105; EXAMINER’S NOTE: a data file 105 comprising an odd number of bits would therefore be split into two sets of unequal numbers of bits); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the data is the public key (col 9 line 50-col 10 line 8, device receiving request for encryption key; encryption key may be generated upon request for the same; encryption key may be any type of encryption key including asymmetric encryption keys, public keys, private keys, combinations thereof).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the bit-alternatingly unzipping of a data file teachings of Hebert with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande and Roberts. A person of ordinary skill in the art, faced with the problem of splitting data (e.g. a “public key”), would have looked to a finite number of potential options, such as dividing alternating bits into two separate components, with a reasonable expectation of success. The claims are therefore obvious because it would have been obvious to try the known methods of data splitting to achieve the predictable result of dividing a data element.
Regarding Claim 15:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 10. In addition, Shimoon teaches the method further comprising using the constructed public key in communicating with the second mobile communication device (col 10 line 54-col 11 line 8, the companion device 120 may be configured to encrypt the authentication credentials using the encryption key 150; the encrypted authentication credentials 160 may then be segmented and transmitted via two or more strings, in a similar fashion as described for the broadcast of the encryption key 150; on the receiving end, the device 130 may be configured to receive the plurality of beacon signals, such as WiFi beacon signals, carrying the segments of the authentication credentials and reconstruct the encrypted authentication credentials therefrom; the device 130 may still further be configured to decrypt the encrypted authentication credentials such as by using the encryption key or the inverse thereof).
Claim(s) 12, 14 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Ohta.
Regarding Claim 12:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 10.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches wherein the constructing comprises:
combining the first public key component with the second public key component to obtain a token; and
performing an obfuscation reversal operation against the token to obtain the constructed public key used by the second mobile communication device.
However, Ohta teaches the concept wherein constructing comprises:
combining a first public key component with a second public key component to obtain a token (paragraph 238, unit 108b divides the public key YA to generate public-key packets, and sequentially transmits the generated packets to terminal 30c via encryption unit 102 and communication unit 101; paragraph 242, key-generation unit 108b receives public-key packets from terminal 30c via communication unit 101 and encryption unit 102, accumulates the received public-key packets, and generates public key YB using the accumulated public-key packets); and
performing an obfuscation reversal operation against the token to obtain a constructed public key used by a second mobile communication device (paragraph 241, public-key packet 305 is then transmitted to terminal 30c after encryption unit 102 has encrypted the IP payload; paragraph 84-85, encryption and decryption algorithms used by encryption unit 102 are, as one example, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms; here, key information is shared in advance between devices that are to communicate, and stored in a tamper-resistant area; encryption unit 102 receives contents from content storage unit 109, and reads shared keys stored by key generation unit 108; unit 102 encrypts received contents using shared keys to generate encrypted contents, and outputs the encrypted contents to communication unit 101; paragraph 316, in the above embodiments, an encryption key used by an encryption unit to encrypt/decrypt the IP payload of IP packets is a global secret key).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the obfuscation reversal teachings of Ohta with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, in order to improve the security environment by encrypting and decrypting a transmitted public key, thereby ensuring that only authorized recipients were able to decipher the transmitted key, and preventing interception and malicious usage/impersonation by unauthorized users and devices.
Regarding Claim 14:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta teaches the one or more memories of claim 12. In addition, Ohta teaches wherein performing the obfuscation reversal operation comprises decrypting the token using a token decryption key stored by both the first and second mobile communication devices (paragraph 241, public-key packet 305 is then transmitted to terminal 30c after encryption unit 102 has encrypted the IP payload; paragraph 84-85, encryption and decryption algorithms used by encryption unit 102 are, as one example, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms; here, key information is shared in advance between devices that are to communicate, and stored in a tamper-resistant area; encryption unit 102 receives contents from content storage unit 109, and reads shared keys stored by key generation unit 108; unit 102 encrypts received contents using shared keys to generate encrypted contents, and outputs the encrypted contents to communication unit 101; paragraph 316, in the above embodiments, an encryption key used by an encryption unit to encrypt/decrypt the IP payload of IP packets is a global secret key).
The rationale to combine Shimoon and Ohta is the same as provided for claim 12 due to the overlapping subject matter between claims 12 and 14.
Claim(s) 13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta, and further in view of Luo.
Regarding Claim 13:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta teaches the one or more memories of claim 12. In addition, Ohta teaches wherein performing the obfuscation reversal operation comprises performing a public key recovery technique against (1) the token (paragraph 316, in the above embodiments, an encryption key used by an encryption unit to encrypt/decrypt the IP payload of IP packets is a global secret key).
The rationale to combine Shimoon and Ohta is the same as provided for claim 12 due to the overlapping subject matter between claims 12 and 13.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert nor Ohta explicitly teaches performing a public key recovery technique against (2) a reference message stored by both the first and second mobile communication devices, the reference message having been signed by the second communication device with a private key corresponding to the public key used by the second communication device to produce the token.
However, Luo teaches the concept of performing a public key recovery technique against (2) a reference message stored by both first and second mobile communication devices, the reference message having been signed by the second communication device with a private key corresponding to a public key used by the second communication device to produce a token (paragraph 69-71, if unique device ID and public key values are received before the timeout condition is triggered, the server 103 saves the device ID and public key in the database 236, as provided at 539; after the unique device ID and public key for the peripheral device 101 are obtained, the server 103 generates the security certificate for the peripheral device 101; the generated certificate signs the server 103's URL, the unique device ID, and the public key of the peripheral device 101 using the server 103's private key; the server 103 also transmits an ‘OK’ message with the certificate 542 of the peripheral device 101 to the host device 102; at 544, the host device 102 saves the URL and public key of the server 103 in its public key database 222 for use in a subsequent pairing process 450).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the shared reference certificate teachings of Luo with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, Hebert, and Ohta, in order to incorporate public key certificates which are well-known in the art, allowing the sending and receiving devices to establish trust through use of digital signatures and trusted certificate authorities which are secured through cryptographic means, thereby improving the security environment.
Claim(s) 16 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Schmidt (PGPUB 2021/0377255).
Regarding Claim 16:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 15.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches the method further comprising elevating the constructed public key to determine whether it is a proper public key for the second mobile communication device, and
wherein using the constructed public key in communicating with the second mobile communication device is performed only in response to determining that the constructed public key is a proper public key for the second mobile communication device.
However, Schmidt teaches the concept of a method comprising elevating a public key to determine whether it is a proper public key for a second mobile communication device (paragraph 24-25, the first request may comprise the network credentials; for example, the client device may send the public key to the network device as part of the first request; the network device may determine that the public key associated with the client device is still valid based on the TTL element of the public key), and
wherein using the public key in communicating with the second mobile communication device is performed only in response to determining that the constructed public key is a proper public key for the second mobile communication device (paragraph 24-25, the first request may comprise the network credentials; for example, the client device may send the public key to the network device as part of the first request; the network device may determine that the public key associated with the client device is still valid based on the TTL element of the public key); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the public key is a constructed public key (col 18 line 39-48).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the validating a received public key teachings of Schmidt with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, in order to improve the security environment by validating a public key prior to use, thereby determining whether the key provided is a legitimate key and was transmitted without errors which would delay or damage the secure network connection or introduce inefficiencies.
Claim(s) 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Lee et al (PGPUB 2017/0078881).
Regarding Claim 17:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 10.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches wherein using the constructed public key in communicating with the second mobile communication device comprises using the constructed public key to negotiate with the second mobile communication device a session key usable to encrypt communications between the first and second mobile communication devices.
However, Lee teaches the concept wherein using a constructed public key in communicating with a second mobile communication device comprises using the constructed public key to negotiate with the second mobile communication device a session key usable to encrypt communications between a first and second mobile communication devices (paragraph 58-60, the electronic device 220 having received all the partial keys transmitted from the electronic device 210 generates the public key Pub.sub.Dby conjugating the partial keys, and generates its public key Pub.sub.Chaving the same length L as the public key Pub.sub.D; the electronic device 210 determines that the electronic device 210 succeeds in authentication in step 350 and generates a shared key S.sub.1 based on the public key Pub.sub.C and/or Pub.sub.D; in the same manner, the electronic device 220 generates the shared key S2 based on the public key Pub.sub.C and/or Pub.sub.D in step 355; the electronic device 210 and the electronic device 220 exchange encrypted data based on the shared keys).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the shared key negotiation teachings of Lee with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert. It is well-known in the art to use public/private keys to generate a shared session key prior to conducting encrypted communication, because shared symmetric keys typically require less processing power to use; therefore a person of ordinary skill in the art would be motivated to combine Shimoon and Lee in order to use shared keys which are securely generated through use of public/private keys, thereby ensuring security through public key infrastructure while improving efficiency in a manner which does not reduce the general security level.
Claim(s) 18 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Huang (PGPUB 2022/0408247).
Regarding Claim 18:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 10.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches wherein using the constructed public key in communicating with the second mobile communication device comprises either or both of:
using the constructed public key to decrypt a message sent by the second mobile communication device that has been encrypted with a private key used by the second mobile communication device that corresponds to the constructed public key; or
using the constructed public key to verify a signature on a message sent by the second mobile communication device, the signature having been formed using the private key used by the second mobile communication device.
However, Huang teaches the concept wherein using a public key in communicating with a second mobile communication device comprises either or both of:
using the constructed public key to decrypt a message sent by the second mobile communication device that has been encrypted with a private key used by the second mobile communication device that corresponds to the constructed public key; or
using the constructed public key to verify a signature on a message sent by the second mobile communication device, the signature having been formed using the private key used by the second mobile communication device (paragraph 118, the mobile phone may encrypt the public key 1 of the mobile phone by using the first shared key, and send the encrypted public key 1 to the corresponding IoT device; in this case, after receiving the encrypted public key 1, the IoT device may decrypt the public key 1 of the mobile phone by using the first shared key and store the public key 1; subsequently, after the IoT device receives a message on which the mobile phone performs digital signature by using the private key 1, the IoT device may verify the digital signature in the message by using the public key 1 of the mobile phone, to verify identity validity of a sender (e.g., the mobile phone)); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the public key is a constructed public key (col 10 line 28-53, companion device configured to reconstitute the encryption key from the plurality of segments, such as by concatenating the received segments).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the public key signature verification teachings of Huang with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert. It is well-known in the art to use public/private key digital signatures in order to securely authenticate the sender of a message as well verify the integrity of the transmitted message. It would therefore have been obvious to combine Shimoon and Huang to improve the security environment by incorporating PKI digital signature verification methods.
Claim(s) 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Leppanen et al (PGPUB 2011/0223937).
Regarding Claim 19:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 10.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches the method further comprising using the constructed public key in communicating with the second mobile communication device in an ad hoc mesh wireless network.
However, Leppanen teaches the concept of a method comprising using a public key in communicating with a second mobile communication device in an ad hoc mesh wireless network (paragraph 85, the awareness services module 111 identifies one or more communities of wireless nodes 101 by using, for instance, community identifiers (CIDs) corresponding to the one or more communities; paragraph 124, the CIDs may be provided with respective public keys for encryption and decryption of associated messaging transmitted over the ad-hoc mesh network 109); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the public key is a constructed public key (col 10 line 28-53, companion device configured to reconstitute the encryption key from the plurality of segments, such as by concatenating the received segments).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the ad hoc network teachings of Leppanen with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, in order to improve the capabilities of a system of network devices by distributing public keys in an ad hoc mesh network, thereby combining the versatility of ad hoc mesh networks with the added security provided by public key distribution systems, thus improving the security environment.
Claim(s) 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, and further in view of Austin et al (PGPUB 2023/0199489).
Regarding Claim 20:
Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert teaches the one or more memories of claim 10.
Neither Shimoon nor Deshpande nor Roberts nor Hebert explicitly teaches the method further comprising storing the constructed public key in an entry of a participant table maintained by the first mobile communication device that corresponds to the second mobile communication device.
However, Austin teaches the concept of a method comprising storing a public key in an entry of a participant table maintained by a first mobile communication device that corresponds to a second mobile communication device (paragraph 70, the example memory device 202 is configured to maintain a record as to which mobile security apparatuses 20 are registered and/or authenticated; the memory device 202 may include manifest file or data structure 204 that provides a one-to-one mapping of serial numbers of each mobile security apparatus 20 to a corresponding public key (each mobile security apparatus 20 is provided with a private key)); and
Shimoon teaches wherein the public key is a constructed public key (col 18 line 39-48).
It would have been obvious to one or ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the public key storage table teachings of Austin with the transmitting a divided public key teachings of Shimoon in view of Deshpande, Roberts, and Hebert, in order to introduce a data structure which can keep track of a set of network devices from which public keys had been received, thereby maintaining long-term security and improving efficiency by eliminating the need to redistribute public keys when initiating future sessions between the same devices.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed 9/19/2025 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Regarding the rejection of claims under 35 USC 112:
Applicant’s amendments have overcome the previous 35 USC 112 rejections. However, applicant’s amendments have necessitated a new ground(s) for rejection under 35 USC 112(a) and 35 USC 112(b), as shown above.
Regarding the rejection of claims under 35 USC 103:
Regarding applicant’s arguments, page 11 paragraph 1-page 12 paragraph 3, the examiner responds: Examiner disagrees, noting that the very recitation from MPEP, §2141.01 cited by applicant states that a reference is analogous art to the claimed invention if “(2) the reference is reasonably pertinent to the problem faced by the inventor (even if it is not the same field of endeavor as the claimed invention).” This is the case with Hebert. The teachings of Hebert are concerned with dividing data for transmission to a remote party. Claim 1, similarly, is concerned with dividing data, in this case a public key, for transmission to a remote party. Although Hebert discusses data transmission in the context of virtual file systems, the solution proposed is therefore pertinent to the data transmission problem faced by the claimed invention, i.e. dividing data for transmission. Therefore, Hebert applies.
Regarding applicant’s arguments, page 12 paragraph 4-page 13 paragraph 2, the examiner responds: In response to applicant's argument that the examiner's conclusion of obviousness is based upon improper hindsight reasoning, it must be recognized that any judgment on obviousness is in a sense necessarily a reconstruction based upon hindsight reasoning. But so long as it takes into account only knowledge which was within the level of ordinary skill at the time the claimed invention was made, and does not include knowledge gleaned only from the applicant's disclosure, such a reconstruction is proper. See In re McLaughlin, 443 F.2d 1392, 170 USPQ 209 (CCPA 1971).
For similar reasons regarding Hebert, Roberts also qualifies as analogous art; Roberts is directed to solving data transmission problems in line-of-sight systems; claim 1, similarly, is concerned with notification broadcasts in line-of-sight communication systems. This is as relevant in line-of-sight systems using IR communication as it is in other comparable systems, e.g. laser (claim 1 is non-specific in this regard). Therefore, Roberts applies.
Regarding applicant’s arguments, page 13 paragraph 3-page 14 paragraph 1, the examiner responds: The amended subject matter of claim 1 raises 112(a) and (b) issues, as noted above. In view of this, Examiner takes the interpretation that “bit-alternatingly unzipping” data will always result in either the two components having the same size (provided the data originally had an even number of bits), or different sizes (provided the data originally had an odd number of bits), absent any explicit reference to padding (i.e. adding bits to achieve a particular desired length); Hebert contains no such reference to padding, and can therefore be seen to apply to the limitation as interpreted herein.
Applicant’s arguments with regard to independent claim 10 are similar to those regarding claim 1 and are therefore responded to in a similar way.
Applicant further argues that the dependent claims are allowable due to depending on an allowable independent claim. However, as shown above, the independent claims are not allowable.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to FORREST L CAREY whose telephone number is (571)270-7814. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00AM-5:30PM M-F.
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/FORREST L CAREY/Examiner, Art Unit 2491
/AMIR MEHRMANESH/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2491