Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This office action is final and is in response to claims filed on 01/09/2026 via amendment. Claims 1-21 and 23 are pending examination. Claims 1, 8, and 16-17 are currently amended. Claims 2-7, 9-15, and 18-21 as originally filed. Claim 23 is newly presented.
Response to Arguments
Claim Objections
Applicant has cancelled or amended the claims at issue. Therefore, the previous claim objections have been withdrawn.
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112
Applicant has canceled or amended the claims at issue. Therefore, the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 have been withdrawn.
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101
Applicant’s arguments, see Remarks, filed 01/09/2026, with respect the rejections of claims 1-7 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered and are persuasive. The previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been withdrawn.
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103
Applicant has canceled the claim at issue. Therefore, the previous rejections under 35 U.S.C. 103 have been withdrawn.
Claim Objections
Claim 1 is objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 1 recites “the method comprising for each first operand and the corresponding second operand: , for each first operand and the corresponding second operand:”. This should be changed to “the method comprising .
Appropriate correction is required.
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 1-7 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 claims 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 “generating, in the second phase, a power consumption profile substantially equivalent to a power consumption profile of the first phase to obscure timing information”. The specification fails to explain what a “power consumption profile” is and how said profiles are generated. The specification also fails to describe what the “timing information” is and how it is being obscured.
Claims 1-7 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.
The term “substantially equivalent” in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term “substantially equivalent” is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention. It is unclear in what way the “power consumption profile” of the second phase is substantially equivalent to the “power consumption profile” of the first phase. It is also unclear what the parameters are for the “power consumption profiles” to be substantially equivalent. It is also unclear what the range is for the “power consumption profiles” to be substantially equivalent.
Claims 2-7 are rejected for being dependent on an above rejected claim.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-21 and 23 would be allowable if rewritten to overcome the rejections under 35 U.S.C. 112 and the objections set forth in this Office action and to include all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Choi et al. (US 20210105134 A1) teaches performing multiplications that are resistant to side channel attacks. They teach of shuffling the order of execution for the multiplications to conceal them. They fail to teach of performing a false multiplication to conceal outputting the most significant words of a first multiplication.
Kaluzhny et al. (US 20170286063 A1) also teaches performing multiplications on operands A and B that are resistant to side channel attacks. They teach of generating a random number, determining two moduli based on a number and the random number. They then perform two modular products based on the two original operands and the two moduli. Then they output the multiplication of A and B based on the two modular products. They fail to teach of performing a false multiplication to conceal outputting the most significant words of a first multiplication.
While prior art does teach of side channel resistant multiplication, they fail to teach of the specifics of concealing the output of the most significant words of a first multiplication by using a second, false, multiplication.
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.
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/J.O.G./Examiner, Art Unit 2151
/James Trujillo/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2151
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