DETAILED ACTION
Response to Amendment
This is in response to Applicants amendment filed 02/27/2026 which has been entered. Claims 1, 11 and 12 have been amended. No Claims have been cancelled. No Claims have been added. Claims 1-12 are still pending in this application, with Claims 1, 11 and 12 being independent.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to Claim(s) 1-12 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claim(s) 1-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over PAGANI et al (2023/0394476 A1) in view of DUTTA (2021/0409447 A1), and further in view of COCIGLIO (2023/0009799 A1).
As per Claim 1, Pagani teaches a method for establishing a connection between a first node and a second node of a packet-switched communication network (Figure 1 – References 101, 102a, 102b, 103a, 103b and 104; Page 2, Paragraph [0029]; Page 3, Paragraph [0035]; Page 5, Paragraph [0045]). (Note: In paragraph [0029], Pagani describes a packet-switched network that is home to a plurality of blockchain nodes [i.e. servers] arranged to form a peer-to-peer [P2P] network. In paragraphs [0035] and [0045], Pagani describes 2 users – Alice and Bob [i.e. clients A and B])
Pagani also teaches a) by said first node, transmitting to said second node a first connection establishing packet (Figure 4; Page 10, Paragraphs [0103] – [0105]; Page 11, Paragraphs [0107] and [0112]); b) by said second node, transmitting to said first node a second connection establishing packet in response to reception of said first connection establishing packet (Figure 4; Page 10, Paragraphs [0103] – [0105]; Page 11, Paragraphs [0107] and [0112]); and c) by said first node, transmitting to said second node a third connection establishing packet in response to reception of said second connection establishing packet (Figure 4; Page 10, Paragraphs [0103] – [0105]; Page 11, Paragraphs [0107] and [0112]).
(Note: Figure 4 is an illustration of the execution of a hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] request sent from a client network element to a server element over transport layer protocol [TCP] + transport layer security [TLS] compared to the same HTTP request over quick user datagram protocol [UDP] internet connections [QUIC]. In this case the client shown in Figure 4 is being considered as the recited first node; and the server shown in Figure 4 is being considered as the recited second node)
(Note: In paragraph [0103], Pagani describes a HTTP connection being initialized by a three-way handshake [i.e. transmitting to said second node a first connection establishing packet]. In paragraph [0104], Pagani indicates that the initial QUIC handshake combines the three-way handshake with the TLS handshake; and further indicates that the QUIC handshake only requires a single round-trip between client and server to complete compared to the two round trips required by TCP+TLS/SSL)
(Note: In paragraphs [0107] and [0112], Pagani describes Alice send an HTTP request message to Bob and indicates that there are three phases of a QUIC connection: 1) a handshake phase, an open connection phase and a closed connection phase. The handshake phase is used to exchange communication identifiers. The open connection phase is where one or more messages are exchanged between communicating parties. Lastly, the closed connection phase involves the QUIC channel being closed)
Pagani does not teach wherein said first node transmits said third connection establishing packet in response to reception of said second connection establishing packet after a predefined wait time Tw has lapsed since reception of said second connection establishing packet. However, Dutta teaches wherein said first node transmits said third connection establishing packet in response to reception of said second connection establishing packet after a predefined wait time Tw has lapsed since reception of said second connection establishing packet (Figure 16 – References 1625 and 1645; Page 10, Paragraphs [0165] and [0166]).
(Note: In paragraphs [0165] and [0166], Dutta describes a making a determination as to whether a QUIC packet is pending to be sent to a peer [i.e. a server]. If the client does not send a QUIC packet immediately or if an optimum size of the QUIC packet is not filled with necessary information the client or server waits for a predetermined time interval. Following a determination as to whether a QUIC packet is or is not pending wither the existing QUIC packet is delivered or a new generic stream frame is created)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani with the method taught by Dutta to improve multiplexing because unlike TCP, which treats data as a single ordered stream, QUIC can handle multiple independent streams concurrently over a single connection which means a lost packet on one stream does not block others improving performance in web browsing which uses multiple requests at once.
The combination of Pagani and Dutta does not teach obfuscating an end-to-end round-trip time (RTT) of communication between the first node and the second node. However, Cociglio teaches obfuscating an end-to-end round-trip time (RTT) of communication between the first node and the second node (Page 6, Paragraph [0097]; Page 8, Paragraph [0120]). (Note: In paragraph [0097], Cociglio describes a first node delaying reflection by a time TR in order to “hide” [i.e. obfuscate] any information from which the RTT between nodes 1 and 2 may be inferred)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claims 2 and 3, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein said first connection establishing packet initializes said establishing of said connection between the first node and said second node; and wherein said steps a), b) and c) are part of a three-way handshake procedure for establishing said connection between said first node and said second node as described in Claim 1.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 4, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein the value of said wait time Tw is selected by said first node, said value of said wait time Tw being unknown to parties non-authorized by an entity managing said first node. (Note: In paragraph [0165], Dutta describes a client/server waiting for a predetermined time interval [i.e. wait time] that the Examiner is considering as having been selected by said first node)
(Note: It is found to be obvious for the value of the wait time to not be divulged to parties non-authorized by an entity managing said first node as by the concealing handshake or connection establishment time, QUIC makes it more difficult for attackers to time their attacks or correlate user activity across networks thereby improving overall network security and privacy)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 5, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein said first node selects the value of said wait time Tw in a random way from a predefined selection range as described in Claims 1 and 5. (Note: It is found to be obvious to randomize the value of the wait time as by not having a fixed or predictable handshake or connection establishment time, QUIC makes it more difficult for attackers to time their attacks or correlate user activity across networks thereby improving overall network security and privacy)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 6, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein a probability density function of said value of said wait time Tw in said predefined selection range is non uniform. (Note: A probability density function is an illustration of a continuous random variable [i.e. wait time] is distributed over a range [e.g. 0 ms to 100 ms]. A non-uniform distribution is where different outcomes have different probabilities meaning the overall probability density is not constant [i.e. every outcome is equally likely])
(Note: It is found to be obvious that a probability density function of the wait time Tw in said predefined selection range is non uniform as a desired goal is to avoid having a fixed or predictable handshake or connection establishment time. Establishing that through the use of QUIC makes it more difficult for attackers to time their attacks or correlate user activity across networks thereby improving overall network security and privacy)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 7, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein said first node periodically changes the value of said wait time Tw as described above in Claims 4 and 5 above. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 8, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein said first node changes the value of said wait time Tw when it is assigned a new IP address. (Note: It is found to be obvious after assigning a new IP address to a node that the node would change the value associated with the wait time as by not having a fixed or predictable handshake or connection establishment time, QUIC makes it more difficult for attackers to time their attacks or correlate user activity across networks thereby improving overall network security and privacy)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 9, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches wherein said first node runs more than one application establishing one or more connections with said second node, each one of said more than one application applying a same value of said wait time Tw. (Note: It is found to be obvious that in a circumstance where a first node runs more than one application establishing one or more connections with said second node that each one of said more than one application applying a same value of said wait time Tw as to establish a same, consistent wait time [i.e. low jitter] across multiple applications promoting system stability, predictability and performance in coordinates tasks)
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 10, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches before said predefined wait time Tw has lapsed, at least part of an operation of processing said received second connection establishing packet and generating said third connection establishing packet which will be transmitted after said predefined wait time Tw has lapsed as described in Claim 1 above.
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 11, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches a method and a node for a packet-switched communication network, said node being configured to establish a connection with a further node of said packet-switched communication network as described in Claim 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and apparatus taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method and apparatus taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
As per Claim 12, the combination of Pagani, Dutta and Cociglio teaches a method and a packet-switched communication network as described in Claim 1. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the method and network taught by Pagani and Dutta with the method and network taught by Cociglio to prevent attackers from analyzing, mapping, or exploiting the timing characteristics of network traffic through the introduction artificial delays or dynamic routing to disguise the true latency to help systems achieve higher levels of stealth, privacy, and resilience against sophisticated attacks.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Norbutas (11,196,712 B1), Hegar et al (11,632,326 B1), Joch (2022/0329508 A1), Norbutas (11,196,833 B1) and Skuratovich et al (10,362,069 B2). Each of these describes systems and methods of implementing handshaking within packet-based networks.
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). 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 KHARYE POPE whose telephone number is (571)270-5587. The examiner can normally be reached Monday - Friday 8AM - 4PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ahmad Matar can be reached at 571-272-7488. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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KHARYE POPE
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2693
/KHARYE POPE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2693