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 .
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.
Claim 1, 2, 4-11, 13-16, 19, and 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.
Claims 1, 9, and 15 recite the amended claim language “responsive to receiving and validating the encryption key, terminating the integrity check in the RAM of the client device and switching to application code...”. However, the specification (paras 6, 8, 15, 16, 21, 23) does not describe how applicants perform the “...validating the encryption key...”. While this language is present as part of the originally filed (10/13/2022) claims 3, 12, and 18, the remainder of the disclosure does not provide sufficient detail describing how applicants perform this key validation process that would reasonably convey to one skilled in the art that the inventor had possession of the claimed invention at the time the application was filed. There are a multitude of methodologies for performing encryption key validation that existed before and at the time of filing of the applicants’ application. Without sufficient description from applicants on how they perform their specific method of encryption key validation, one of ordinary skill would not be apprised of how to make applicants’ invention as required under 35 U.S.C. 112(a).
Claims 2, 4-8, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 19, and 20 depend from claims 1, 9, and 15 and are rejected for the inherited issues stemming from their dependence as their further limiting features do not resolve the above described 35 U.S.C. 112(a) possession of invention issues in claims 1, 9, and 15.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Hughes (US 20160134626 A1) - Device notarization
Lewis (US 20160241398) - System and method for computing device with improved firmware service security using credential-derived encryption key
Balard et al. (US 20040025036 A1/US 7539868 B2) - Run-time firmware authentication
Nix (US 2020/0162247 A1) - Secure firmware transfer from a server to a primary platform
Zarakas et al. (US 20160306977 A1) - System and methods for secure firmware validation
Marr et al. (US 8971538 B1) - Firmware validation from an external channel
Ostrikov et al. (US 20190386966 A1) - Secured communication from within non-volatile memory device
Fu et al. (CN 104462965 A) - Application Integrity Verification Method And Network Device
Hoch (WO 2014076116 A1) - Manipulation-proof installation of building control software in authorised runtime environments
Yano (US 20230269078 A1) - Key sharing method, key sharing system, authentication device, authentication target device, recording medium, and authentication method
Ngoc-Ai Lu (US 20190052468 A1) - Multi-level authentication for secure supply chain asset management
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 Oscar Louie whose telephone number is (571) 270-1684 and E-mail address is OSCAR.LOUIE@USPTO.GOV. Note that a form SB-439 must be on file in order to conduct correspondence by E-mail, however, E-mail may be utilized to arrange time(s) for interview(s) without the SB-439 form. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday through Thursday between 05:30AM-03:30 PM.
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/OSCAR A LOUIE/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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