DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-26 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 Objection
Claims 1-26 are objected to for the following reasons: The claims use the variables “r, h, d and n” and “x” but what they represent are not defined. Examiner suggests including what each variable represents to overcome this objection.
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 1-26 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to a judicial exception without significantly more. Claim recites the judicial exception of the abstract idea of a mathematical concept. See MPEP 2106.04(a). This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because there are not details about a real-world context using the described conversion of points from one elliptical curve to another. The claim does not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because it is not explained in a meaningful way how the invention is improving its application in the context of when in the real world this abstract idea would be applied. See MPEP 2106.04(d).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the rejection of claims 1-26 under 35 U.S.C. 101 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. As per all claims, Applicant reiterates that the claimed inventions are integrated into a practical application and that there is a real-world problem that is being solved. Applicant points out the instant specification at [0035]-[0036] states a purpose of: “Montgomery curve based elliptic curve primitives and twisted Edwards curve based primitives are important new cryptographic primitives that have been standardized by IETF RFC 8032 and RFC 7748 and recently also in FIPS 186-5 and SP800-186. Both are taking state-of-the-art cryptographic developments into account that were not available in 1999 when the first NIST ECC parameters came out.” Applicant further explains that the invention “allow a high-level user to implement the newly proposed algorithms based on existing cryptographic capabilities and interfaces thus allowing for interoperability with older products.” Examples provided by the Applicant include: a key-derivation function used in the QuVanstone Implicit Certificate Scheme (ECQV) to derive an elliptic curve scalar K1 from another elliptic curve scalar Ko, to generate cryptographic signatures for Schnorr signature generation and ECDAA signature generation, or to perform operations for an RSA public or private interface.
Examiner agrees and suggests including some of this language into the claim. Examiner acknowledges the new amendments mentions transitioning between two types of curves but this is still interpreted to be an abstract mathematical concept. And while the new amendments state the purpose of the transitioning “to enable use of newer cryptographic processes with pre-existing processes, this is slightly broader than the language provided by Applicant in the response remarks. Examiner reiterates that merely stating an intended use isn’t sufficient to overcome this rejection.
In the current form, the rejection of the claims are maintained.
To expedite prosecution, Examiner has some suggestions to overcome the current rejections/objections: 1) removing the last amendment; 2) amending the independent claims to include: “…a cryptographic processor with a fixed interface required to use a first elliptic curve, comprising:”; and 3) defining the variables "r, h, d and n" and x.
Examiner notes these are only suggestions and is open to discussing any other proposed amendments the Applicant has.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Roettler et al. (US PGPUB No. 2018/0336015), Brown (US Patent No. 10,129,026), Loiseau et al. (US PGPUB No. 2019/0081786), Keerthi et al. ("Elliptic curve cryptography for secured text encryption," 2017 International Conference on Circuit ,Power and Computing Technologies (ICCPCT), Kollam, India, 2017, pp. 1-5, doi: 10.1109/ICCPCT.2017.8074210) all disclose various aspects of elliptical curve cryptography and converting points between two curves.
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 on 571-272-3862. 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.
/PETER C SHAW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493 January 28, 2026