DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are pending in this 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 § 101
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.
Claims 1-20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea of mathematical computation without significantly more. In the claim language of independent claims 1 and 6, this judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because how the calculations are used in a real-world/commercial/practical setting is not provided. The claim language does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because all steps are part of the abstract math calculations and thus do not raise the claim above the base judicial exception. Furthermore, the claim language in the dependent claims do not remedy these deficiencies. Examiner notes and appreciates that the amended preamble of claim 1 does now recite a real-world application, however, it is unclear how the steps of the method are related to this application. There is nothing mentioned in the claim language that can be the subject of a fault attack. Furthermore, this real-world application is not recited in independent claim
Accordingly, based on the remaining issues described above, the rejections are maintained.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect the rejection of claims 1-20 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As mentioned above, Examiner acknowledges that a real-world application has been added to the preamble of claim 1, “preventing fault attacks.” However, the steps of the method of claim 1 do not include any relation to this application in part due to there not being anything mentioned in the claim language that could be the subject of a fault attack. Furthermore, claim 6 does not recite a real-world application.
To expedite prosecution, Examiner is open to conducting an after-final interview to discuss claim amendments to overcome the current rejection and/or place the application in condition for allowance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Zhang et al. (US PGPUB No. 2022/0366006), Yamada (US PGPUB No. 2018/0254902), Yamada (JP-2018146766-A), Fiex et al. (US PGPUB No. 2012/0221618), Lamberger et al. (US PGPUB No. 2025/0030543), Roetteller et al. (US PGPUB No. 2018/0336015), Germouty et al. (WO-2025002711-A1), all generally discuss features in the claimed invention including improvements in elliptic curve point verifications using Frobenius mappings.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER C SHAW whose telephone number is (571)270-7179. The examiner can normally be reached Max Flex.
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, Carl Colin can be reached at 571-272-3862. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/PETER C SHAW/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493 March 28, 2026