DETAILED ACTION
This Office Action is in response to Applicant’s Arguments /Remarks filed on 01/21/2026.
In the instant Amendment, claims 2 and 4 were cancelled; claims 1, 3, 5-7, 10-14 and 17-20 have been amended; and claims1, 10, 17 are independent claims. Claims 1, 3 and 5-20 have been examined and are pending. This Action is made FINAL.
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 01/21/2026 was filed after the mailing date of the Non-final Rejection on 10/29/2025. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments in the instant Amendment, filed on 01/21/2026, with respect to limitations listed below, have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Referring to what the applicant recites on previously presented claim 4, recited: “transmitting a key of second symmetric encryption keys in the third data stream portion" (emphasis added). Is not clear as it contradicts with fig. 6, which according to the usual notation for symmetric key encryption implies that the key K2enc is used to encrypt the data and does not mean that the key itself is included in the data to be transmitted. You can see here inconsistency between the claims and the spec.
The amendment of independent claims 1, 10 and 17 omits the transmitting of the previous claim 4 which incorporates to independent claims which clearly reads on paras. 0024-0025 of Nix reference.
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, 3, 5-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Nix, Pub. No.: US 2020/0280436 in view of Xu et. al. (hereinafter Xu), Pub. No.: US 2023/0037251.
Referring to claim 1, Nix teaches a method of device authentication (para. 0023), the method comprising:
a first data stream portion including unencrypted data that includes an ephemeral public key of an ephemeral key pair (para. 0018; ‘the device can send the device ephemeral public key’; fig. 2b, para. 0199, ‘ephemeral public key’), and at least one encryption algorithm identifier (para. 0199, ‘cryptographic parameters A 104a’, para. 0288, ‘cryptographic suite’);
a second data stream portion including encrypted data (figs. 2a, 2b, ‘ciphertext1 209b’) that includes a first counter value (fig. 2a, 2b ‘Random1’) and an identity of the first endpoint device (para. 0199, ‘device identity comprise ID. device 103i is included in ciphertext 209b’; fig. 2a, 2b, ‘Device PK 121’. Para 0150, ‘device public key’) and a key of first symmetric encryption keys, wherein the first symmetric encryption keys are determined using an ephemeral secret key of the ephemeral key pair and a public key of the second endpoint device (paras. 0024-0025, The server can conduct a key derivation step with the point X4 in order to mutually derive a second symmetric ciphering key K2.);
a third data stream portion (fig. 2a, ‘297a’) including encrypted data that includes a second counter value (para. 0194, ‘random number 2’, fig. 2a, 211a)) and an identity of the second endpoint device (para. 0194, ‘the value m 227c output from a key validation’); and a key of second symmetric encryption keys, wherein the second symmetric encryption keys are determined using a secret key of the first endpoint device, which is part of a secret/public key pair of the first endpoint device that includes a public key of the first endpoint device, and the public key of the second endpoint device (paras. 0024-0025, The device can derive the second symmetric ciphering key K2 using shared secret X4 and a key derivation function);
authenticating, by the second endpoint device, the first endpoint device using the first, second (para. 0167, ‘server 101 can then conduct a decryption step 221 (i) using the key K1 206a output from key exchange step 218 in order to (ii) convert ciphertext 209b from message 297 into plaintext.’; para. 0023, ‘the successful decryption of the first ciphertext can indicate that the device is authenticated’), and third data stream portions (para. 0195, device 103 can be further securely authenticated with server 101 (where the receipt and use of a random number random 221 1a is more resistant to replay attacks than a message 297’; para. 0196).
Nix does not explicitly disclose receiving a data stream from a first endpoint device to an offline second endpoint device.
However, in an analogous art, Xu teaches receiving a data stream from a first endpoint device to an offline second endpoint device (paras. 0013-0014, message sent when the device offline).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention (AIA ) to combine the teachings of Nix with the method and system of Xu, wherein receiving a data stream from a first endpoint device to an offline second endpoint device to provide the user with a means for the field of communications technologies and the field of smart home technologies, and in particular, to a device sharing method and an electronic device (Xu: para. 0002).
Referring to claim 3, Nix and Xu teach the method of claim 2. Nix further teaches determining, by the second endpoint device, the first symmetric encryption keys using the ephemeral public key of the first data stream portion and a secret key of a secret/public key pair of the second endpoint device that includes the public key of the second endpoint device (Nix: para, 0163 and fig. 2d).
Referring to claim 5, Nix and Xu teach the method of claim 1. Nix further teaches authenticating, by the second endpoint device, the first endpoint device using the first and second symmetric encryption keys and keys received from the first endpoint device in the second data stream portion and the third data stream portion, wherein the second symmetric encryption keys are determined by the second endpoint device using the public key of the first endpoint device and a secret key of a secret/public key pair of the second endpoint device that includes the public key of the second endpoint device (Nix: paras. 0019-0022; para, 0185 and fig. 3a).
Referring to claim 6, Nix and Xu teach the method of claim 1. Nix further teaches wherein the identity of the first endpoint device includes the public key of the first endpoint device; and the identity of the second endpoint includes a public key of a second public/secret key pair of the endpoint device (Nix: para. 0199 and figs. 2a-2b).
Referring to claim 7, Nix and Xu teach the method of claim 1. Nix further teaches wherein the identity of the first endpoint device includes the public key of the first endpoint device signed by a certification authority (Nix: para. 0069).
Referring to claim 8, Nix and Xu teach the method of claim 1. Nix further teaches wherein the encryption algorithm identifier identifies an asymmetric encryption algorithm (Nix: para. 0288).
Referring to claim 9, Nix and Xu teach the method of claim 1. Nix further teaches wherein the encryption algorithm identifier identifies a symmetric encryption algorithm (Nix: para. 0288).
Referring to claim 10, This claim is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 11, Nix and Xu teach the first end point of claim 10. Nix further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate the first symmetric encryption keys (Nix: paras. 0024-0025).
Referring to claim 12, Nix and Xu teach the first end point of claim 11. Nix further teaches wherein the processing circuitry is configured to generate the second symmetric encryption keys (Nix: paras. 0024-0025).
Referring to claim 13, This claim is similar in scope to claim 5, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 14, This claim is similar in scope to claim 7, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 15, This claim is similar in scope to claim 8, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 16, This claim is similar in scope to claim 9, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 17, This claim is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 18, This claim is similar in scope to claim 3, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 19, This claim is similar in scope to claim 5, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Referring to claim 20, This claim is similar in scope to claim 6, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Please see the attached PTO-892.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. 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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/YONAS A BAYOU/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2499 03/13/2026