Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 27, 2026
Application No. 18/122,656

Iterative Multiplicative Reduction Circuit

Non-Final OA §102§103
Filed
Mar 16, 2023
Priority
Sep 22, 2022 — provisional 63/409,201
Examiner
YAARY, MICHAEL D
Art Unit
Tech Center
Assignee
Intel Corporation
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
0m
Est. Remaining
95%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
896 granted / 1026 resolved
+27.3% vs TC avg
Moderate +8% lift
Without
With
+8.0%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 1m
Avg Prosecution
17 currently pending
Career history
1051
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
25.1%
-14.9% vs TC avg
§103
35.7%
-4.3% vs TC avg
§102
19.8%
-20.2% vs TC avg
§112
8.7%
-31.3% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 1026 resolved cases

Office Action

§102 §103
DETAILED ACTION 1. Claims 1-20 are pending in the application. Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 2. 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 § 102 3. In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. 4. Claim(s) 1-2 and 4-13 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Suresh et al (hereafter Suresh)(US Pub. 20190205093). 5. As to claim 1, Suresh discloses circuitry (abstract) comprising: polynomial multiplication circuitry to multiply a first input value to a second input value to compute a result (fig. 1 multiplier); and modular reduction circuitry to perform modular reduction on multiplicative components of the result independently while other multiplicative expansion components of the result are still be calculated by the polynomial multiplication circuitry (fig. 1 reduction circuit 102). 6. As to claim 4, Suresh discloses wherein the circuitry is implemented in programmable logic and digital signal processing (DSP) blocks ([0020]) of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) ([0113]). 7. As to claim 5, Suresh discloses wherein the modular reduction circuitry performs modular reduction by multiplicative modular reduction to generate a modular reduction result that is a sum of multiple individual multiplicative reduction results ([0033]-[0034] summation). 8. As to claim 6 and 12, Suresh discloses wherein the modular reduction circuitry comprises a lookup table having entries that are used in the multiplicative modular reduction ([0066] lookup table). 9. As to claim 7, Suresh discloses a state register that stores an operation read address for the lookup table as an index in a current iteration ([0068] store address unit). 10. As to claim 8, Suresh discloses wherein the state register comprises an embedded memory of a digital signal processing (DSP) block of field programmable gate array (FPGA) circuitry. 11. As to claim 9, Suresh discloses clock circuitry to operate at an overclocked frequency ([0114]). 12. As to claims 10 and 13, Suresh discloses wherein the polynomial multiplication circuitry and the modular reduction circuitry are pipelined with multiple levels of pipelining using a plurality of intermediate registers, wherein different groups of the registers operate on different clocks ([0063]-[0064] and fig 10a-10b in order and execution pipeline). 13. As to claim 11, the claim is rejected for similar reasons as claim 1 above. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 14. 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. 15. Claim(s) 2 and 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Suresh in view of Renes et al (hereafter Renes)(US Pub. 20210377026). 16. As to claim 2, Suresh does not disclose wherein the first input value and the second input value comprise a plurality of limbs, and wherein the polynomial multiplication circuitry multiplies the first input value to the second input value from a most significant limb to a least significant limb. However, Renes discloses wherein the first input value and the second input value comprise a plurality of limbs, and wherein the polynomial multiplication circuitry multiplies the first input value to the second input value from a most significant limb to a least significant limb ([0008] limbs). 17. Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the teachings of Suresh by incorporating a plurality of limbs, and wherein the polynomial multiplication circuitry multiplies the first input value to the second input value from a most significant limb to a least significant limb, as in Renes, for the benefit of multiplying two polynomials for a cryptographic application efficiently using existing co-processors (Renes [0003]). 18. As to claim 3, the combination of Suresh and Renes discloses wherein the polynomial multiplication circuitry generates the first component of the product as a partial product corresponding to multiplying the most significant limb of the first input value to the most significant limb of the second input value (Renes [0007]-[0010]). Allowable Subject Matter 19. Claims 14-20 are allowed. The following is a statement of reasons for the indication of allowable subject matter: Claim 14 recites at least performing error checking on the first output; determining that the first output is not erroneous; after a second of the plurality of iterations has completed, storing a second output of the second of the plurality of iterations; performing error checking on the second output; determining that the second output is erroneous; retrieving the first output; and ignoring operations performed between the first output and the second output and iteratively performing the multiplication and modular reduction operations at an iteration based on the first output. The closest prior art of record US Pub. 20190205093 teaches iteratively performing multiplication and modular reduction operations using integrated circuitry. However, the prior art of record does not teach or suggest at least performing error checking on the first output; determining that the first output is not erroneous; after a second of the plurality of iterations has completed, storing a second output of the second of the plurality of iterations; performing error checking on the second output; determining that the second output is erroneous; retrieving the first output; and ignoring operations performed between the first output and the second output and iteratively performing the multiplication and modular reduction operations at an iteration based on the first output. Conclusion 20. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. US Pub. 20220188072 – related to data encryption, and more specifically to techniques for performing multiplication operations associated with homomorphic encryption. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL D YAARY whose telephone number is (571)270-1249. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri 9-5:30. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, James Trujillo can be reached at (571)272-3677. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /MICHAEL D. YAARY/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2151
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Mar 16, 2023
Application Filed
May 11, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Oct 05, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §102, §103 (current)

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
87%
Grant Probability
95%
With Interview (+8.0%)
3y 1m (~0m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 1026 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

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