DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending.
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 .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 11/30/2023 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Morrow et al. (US 2004/0054952 A1) in further view of Chandra et al. (US 7,975,034 B1).
Regarding claim 1, Morrow teaches a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising stored instructions that, when executed by a processor ([0026] The processor may access the file allocation reader in the BIOS to open the file allocation structure on the persistent storage media and to read it.; [0037] processor 62; [0038] executable instructions or a software program 70 for verification of the components (verification software 70)), cause the processor to:
receive a boot input signal to initialize operation of a computing device ([0002] When the gaming machine is started [0011] Placing the verification software in the BIOS is advantages because the code in the BIOS is usually the first code executed upon boot or start-up of the device, making it hard to bypass the verification process.);
execute, upon receipt of the boot input signal, one or more initial boot processes for the computing device ([0011]; [0025]; [0026] The processor may access the file allocation reader in the BIOS to open the file allocation structure on the persistent storage media and to read it.);
load a verification operating system [software program] onto the computing device by the one or more initial boot processes ([0038] Either within the device 10, or in the diagnostic system 140 attachable to the device 10, are executable instructions or a software program 70 for verification of the components (verification software 70), which may itself be one of the components 50 to verify if it is internal to the device 10. The verification software 70 is may be stored on a persistent storage media such as the hard disk device 90, ROM 77, EEPROM 64, in a complementary metal oxide semiconductor memory (CMOS) 72, in safe ram comprising a battery-backed static random access memory (BBRAM) 62, in a flash memory or other type of persistent memory. Preferably, the verification software 70 is stored in a basic input/output system (BIOS) 64 device or chip.);
verify, by the verification operating system [software program], a set of data on a secondary storage of the computing device, the set of data comprised of data storing with a primary operating system for the computing device ([0006] The process of verifying may comprise matching each identification number in a database to determine whether each identification number is valid. In the case where a data file comprises one of a plurality of operating system files, verification of that file, in effect, comprises verifying part of an operating system. For data files, the file names may comprise the identification numbers.; [0049] When the device 10 is in operation in the relevant field of use, to perform a verification of the device 10, the verification software executes a DSA verification of the data files 54 and firmware of the components 50. Also stored in the database 74 is the public key of the private key/public key pair. For each data file 54 and firmware of each component 54, as part of the DSA verification, the processor 60 and verification software 70 first computes the hash value of the digital contents of the component 50 or data file 54 using the SHA-1 algorithm. The verification software 70 contains instructions that cause the processor 60 to then processes or authenticate this computed hash value with the stored signature, using the DSA signature verification algorithm, which also takes, as input, the aforementioned public key stored in the database 74. The verification part of the DSA produces a Boolean result (yes or no) as to whether the inputs solve the algorithm.); and
perform one of:
load, in response to verification of the set of data, the primary operating system onto the computing device or execute a failure handling process in response to no verification of the set of data (Abstract teaches verifying without loading an OS, therefore it reasonably teaches that upon verification, the operating system is loaded and started; [0027]: An example of such a computer program that may benefit from this new functionality in the BIOS or FWH is the verification program described above for verifying software components on the persistent storage media. In that case, operating system files may be verified, and this providing of access to files stored on the storage media through the BIOS allows such verification to take place before the operating system is booted [0049] If the algorithm is not solved by the inputs, then an unexpected result is produced, thereby failing to verify the particular component 50 or data file 54. A tilt message is generated which triggers a shut-down mechanism to prohibit the loading operation of the device 10… Otherwise, use of the device 10 is permitted.).
Morrow does not explicitly teach a verification operating system.
However, Chandra teaches a verification operating system (Fig. 3, Verification Module within SOS 306; Fig. 4; Col. 2, lines 12-24: The computer system may also include a verification module implemented in a basic input/output system (BIOS) layer of the computer system. The verification module may also be implemented by the secondary operating system. In one embodiment, the verification module implements a verification process in the BIOS layer. If the verification process is successful in the BIOS layer, control of the verification module may be passed to the second operating system. A verification process may be implemented in the secondary operating system by the verification module. If the verification process is successful, the secondary operation system may be allowed to boot up.; Claim 10: A verification module implemented by the secondary operating system, the verification module being configured to: receive a request to initiate a secondary operating system, wherein the secondary operating system isolated from a primary operating system by a partition; determine whether the partition isolating the secondary operating system has been altered; denying the request to initiate the secondary operating system and preventing the initiation of the primary operating system if the partition isolating the secondary operating system has been altered… the verification module is configured to deny the request to initiate the secondary operating system and preventing the initiation of the primary operating system).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine Chandra’s teachings of a BIOS verification module running within an operating system with Morrow’s teachings of a verification software prior to loading an operating system. The modification would have been motivated by the desire of combining known methods to yield predictable results.
Regarding claim 2, Morrow teaches wherein the one or more initial boot processes further comprises instructions that when executed causes a processor to execute a Basic Input/Output System operation ([0027] An example of such a computer program that may benefit from this new functionality in the BIOS or FWH is the verification program described above for verifying software components on the persistent storage media. In that case, operating system files may be verified, and this providing of access to files stored on the storage media through the BIOS allows such verification to take place before the operating system is booted, or before any software program is run from the storage media. This makes the verification software completely independent of files stored on the persistent storage media that are being verified.).
Regarding claim 3, Morrow teaches wherein the instructions to load the verification operating system further comprises instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to load the verification operating system from a read-only memory of the computing device ([0011] Either contained in the device, or attachable to the device, is a processor and a memory containing executable instructions or a software program file for verification of the components (verification software), which may itself be one of the components to verify. The verification software may be stored on a persistent storage media such as a hard disk device, read only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), in the aforementioned CMOS memory, battery-backed random access memory, flash memory or other type of persistent memory.).
Regarding claim 4, Morrow teaches wherein the set of data comprises a set of data blocks storing the primary operating system ([0006] More particularly, by way of example and not necessarily by way of limitation, the present invention provides a system and method for verifying a device by verifying the components of that device. The components may comprise, for example, software components, firmware components, hardware components, or structural components of an electronic device. These components include, without limitation, processors, persistent storage media, volatile storage media, random access memories, read-only memories (ROMs), erasable programmable ROMs, data files (which are any collections of data, including executable programs in binary or script form, and the information those programs operate upon), device cabinets (housings) or cathode ray tubes (CRTs). Identification numbers or strings of the components are read and then verified. The process of verifying may comprise matching each identification number in a database to determine whether each identification number is valid. In the case where a data file comprises one of a plurality of operating system files, verification of that file, in effect, comprises verifying part of an operating system. For data files, the file names may comprise the identification numbers.).
Regarding claim 5, Morrow teaches wherein the set of data comprises a set of data files storing the primary operating system ([0006] In the case where a data file comprises one of a plurality of operating system files, verification of that file, in effect, comprises verifying part of an operating system. For data files, the file names may comprise the identification numbers.).
Regarding claim 6, Morrow teaches wherein the set of data further comprises data storing an application on the computing device ([0002] verification of a device may occur by testing the entire contents of a read only memory (ROM) containing the application software for the device to ensure that tampering has not occurred).
Regarding claim 7, Chandra teaches wherein the set of data further comprises data storing user data (Col. 4, lines 23-32: The user activity data 218 may be information regarding the activity of a user that operates the client 102. For example, the user activity data 218 may be a log of programs or applications accessed by the user, a history of executed functions by the user, etc. The server 214 may receive user activity data from multiple client computing devices. In one embodiment, the server may maintain a record of user activity for each of the multiple client computing devices based upon the user activity data.; Col. 5, lines 44-50 For example, when the client 302 is powered on, the verification module 336 may verify whether or not the SOS partition 310 has been tampered with. In addition, the verification module 336 may verify whether the reporting program 308 has been tampered with. For example, the verification module 336 may verify whether or not a user has attempted to circumvent or disable the reporting program 308.).
Regarding claims 8-14, are system type claims having similar limitations as claims 1-7 above. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale above.
Regarding claims 15-20, it is a method type claim having similar limitations as claims 1-4 and 6-7 above. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale above.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JORGE A CHU JOY-DAVILA whose telephone number is (571)270-0692. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 6:00am-5:00pm.
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/JORGE A CHU JOY-DAVILA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2195