DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1.The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
2. According to applicant remarks filed on 11/04/2025, Applicant elected Group I, encompassed by claims 1-12 and 29-37 without traverse.
Claim Objections
3. Claim 37 is objected to because of the following informalities:
The dependent claim recite: “The key provisioning computing device of claim 113, wherein the computing device is further configured to..”. There is no 113 independent claim. Examiner believes that this is a typo error, so there is a need to clarify the dependency of claim 37.
Appropriate correction is required.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
4. 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.
5.Claims 30-35 and 36 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.
6. Claims 30 and 36 recites the limitation; “a computing device configured to receive a request for the key from the client computing device and configured to generate a transient key, in the case of encryption, or regenerating the transient key with the subcomponent identifier in the case of decryption, by determining a set of values for a polynomial or quadratic equation, calculating a manifold with an at least one facet, selecting a point on the at least one facet, solving the polynomial or quadratic equation for an intersection point with the manifold and the selected point on the at least one facet and generating a key based on this solution together with an at least one subcomponent identifier, wherein the key is returned to the client computing device along with the least one subcomponent identifier if the client is encrypting the data object”.
The step for “generating the transient key” is not clearly written in the claims. Also, it is not clear how the polynomial or quadratic equation value are being determined, what the variables for the equation are, and how the manifold with at least one facet is being calculated.
Appropriate clarification is required.
7. Claims 31-35 don’t cure the deficiency of claim 30 and are rejected under 35 USC 112 (b) for their dependency upon claim 21.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
8.35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
9. Claims 1-12 and 29-37 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Step 1
Independent claims 1,29,30 and 36 do fall into one of the four statutory categories of method and system. Nevertheless, the claim still are considered as abstract idea for the following prongs and reasons.
Step 2A Prong One
In Step 2A prong 1, claim 1 recites a mathematical formula or calculation that is used to generate a transient encryption key. The method of generating a transient encryption key (ephemeral symmetric encryption key) for providing the transient cryptographic key in an encryption security system to perform cryptographic functions including encryption and decryption on a data object in a data network;…requesting from a secure manifold server a manifold, a manifold mesh comprised of facets, and an at least one manifold table object representing the manifold and the manifold mesh facets, the manifold having one or more facets thereon and a set of associated identifiers with each facet stored in the manifold table object; generating randomly an initial key seed value; determining an at least one facet on the manifold surface from the at least one manifold table object in combination with the initial key seed value; locating a facet location; generating a polynomial or quadratic equation with an at least one polynomial or quadratic equation coefficient; solving for an at least one surface intersection point whereby the polynomial or quadratic equation is solved at a point on the facet location such that the surface point is calculated at an interface of the at least one polynomial or quadratic equation and the manifold object as a surface intersection point; generating a transient encryption key using at least the combination of the surface intersection point solution in combination with a key seed identifying the at least one facet and the at least one polynomial or quadratic equation coefficients;. Thus, the claim recites a mathematical concept. For example, generating the transient encryption key (ephemeral symmetric encryption key) step is determined to recite a mathematical concept because the claim explicitly recites a mathematical formula or calculations. Claims 29,30 and 36 recites similar features and therefore, claims 29,30 and 36 are also directed to the abstract idea.
Step 2A Prong Two
In Step 2A prong 2, the judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because the combination of additional elements in the claims (“ transmitting the transient encryption key to the cryptographic engine on a client in the data network, requesting the transient symmetric cryptographic key for encrypting the data object using the calculated transient cryptographic key to form a protected data object together with an at least one encrypted unique subcomponent key identifier; rendering the key unavailable and irretrievable as a unitary key; and returning the protected data object without an available unitary key on or in the protected data object or stored on the system”) integrates the exception into a practical application. In particularly, the combination of additional elements use the mathematical formulas and calculations in a specific manner that sufficiently limits the use of the mathematical concepts to the practical application of transmitting the transient key to a cryptographic engine on a client device. Thus, the mathematical concept are integrated into a process that implements a unique key establishment protocol and process to compute a symmetric cryptographic key for the minimum duration of encrypting a data object or decrypting a protected data object. The key establishment protocol is a component of the system and a method to generate and regenerate a deterministic cryptographic key. Thus, the claims is not directed to the recited judicial exception and the claim is eligible.
Step 2B
In Step 2B, the claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because computer system, memory and processor are general purpose computer components, which are well-understood, routine and conventional, performing the steps recited in the claims and are not sufficient to transform a judicial exception into a patentable invention.
Regarding claims 2-12, claims 31-35 and 37 recite the elements “issuing…”, “selecting…”,… “locating..,”.. “transmitting..”,…”determining…”, “generating”. However, these features do not add meaningful limitation to the abstract idea because they are use the mathematical formula and calculation in a specific manner (selection of manifold, determine/select the facet location, locating a center of the generated polynomial or quadratic equation) and extra-solution activity (issuing of the key request from a cryptographic engine on a client device).
The elements recited in claims 1-12, 29,30-35 and 36-37 when considered individually or in an ordered combination, fail to amount to significantly more than the abstract idea. Accordingly, claims 1-12, 29,30-35 and 36-37 are not eligible.
Examiner Note: If any questions or concerns remains, Examiner respectfully request that applicant to contact and arrange an interview (also the contact number on the remarks filed on 11/04/2025 doesn’t work, so examiner request the applicant to provide a valid number).
10. The closest prior art of the record are:
Chen et.al. (US Pat.No.11,218,303) discloses a quantum attack-resistant system for processes of cryptography key exchange comprises a linear space computing module, a manifold computing module, and a Banach space computing module. The system implements the technologies of homotopy morphing and key cloaking for facilitating the processes of key exchange to perform quantum attack-resistant operations in a mathematics space which is different from the spaces that generic quantum attacks work on, and then retrieve the original key in a Hilbert space after the processes of key exchange. The system not only avoids quantum attacks on key exchange processes, but also avoids the defects of current PQC solutions, the vulnerability of the main streamed symmetric & asymmetric encryption systems, and the limitation of quantum key operation in a Hilbert space. Both legacy key solution and quantum key solution are provided and implemented without requiring expensive devices.
Spalka et.al. (US Pub.No.2011/0185177) discloses a method, computer readable medium, and data processing system for generation of an asymmetric cryptographic key pair including reception of an arbitrarily selectable login name, calculation of a first data object key, whereby a random value and the login name are included in the calculation, and calculation of a second data object key from the first data object key, whereby the first and second data object keys form the asymmetric cryptographic key pair.
Ibrahim et.al. (US Pub.No.2006/0029220) discloses a method involves assembling a data string including information to be transferred from sending correspondent to receiving correspondent. A complimentary mathematical operation is performed using elliptic points that satisfy an elliptic polynomial equation. The points are forwarded over a communication channel to the receiving correspondent, and mathematical cryptographic operations are performed to decrypt the string.
Akiyama et.al. (US Pub.No.2007/0110232) discloses an apparatus has a plaintext embedding section configured to embed plaintext obtained by concatenating a message to a random number as coefficients of plaintext polynomial. A polynomial generating section is configured to generate random polynomials with three variables on the basis of a hash value of the plaintext. A one-variable irreducible polynomial generating device is configured to generate a random one-variable irreducible polynomial. An encrypting section is configured to generate encrypted text from the plaintext polynomial by an encrypting process.
Perlman et.al. (US Pub.No.2002/0191797) discloses a method and apparatus for securely communicating ephemeral information from a first node to a second node. In a first embodiment, the first node encodes and transmits an ephemeral message encrypted at least in part with an ephemeral key, from the first node to the second node. Only the second node has available to it the information that is needed to achieve decryption by an ephemeral key server of a decryption key that is needed to decrypt certain encrypted payload information contained within the message communicated from the first node to the second node. In a second embodiment the first node transmits to the second node an ephemeral message that is encrypted at least in part with an ephemeral key. The ephemeral message includes enough information to permit the second node to communicate at least a portion of the message to an ephemeral key server and for the ephemeral key server to verify that the second node is an authorized decryption agent for the message. After verifying that the second node is an authorized decryption agent for the message, the ephemeral key server returns to the second node an encrypted decryption key that is needed to decrypt the encrypted message. The ephemeral message may comprise an encrypted decryption key that may be used after decryption of the decryption key to decrypt other encrypted information communicated to the second node.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DEREENA T CATTUNGAL whose telephone number is (571)270-0506. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri : 7:30 AM-5 PM EST.
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/DEREENA T CATTUNGAL/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2431