Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 19, 2026
Application No. 18/648,844

SECURE SIGNALING TECHNIQUES FOR AMBIENT POWER DEVICES

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
Apr 29, 2024
Examiner
NOAMAN, BASSAM A
Art Unit
2497
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Qualcomm Incorporated
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
78%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
2y 9m
To Grant
99%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 78% — above average
78%
Career Allow Rate
208 granted / 265 resolved
+20.5% vs TC avg
Strong +46% interview lift
Without
With
+45.7%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 9m
Avg Prosecution
24 currently pending
Career history
289
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
7.0%
-33.0% vs TC avg
§103
57.2%
+17.2% vs TC avg
§102
9.8%
-30.2% vs TC avg
§112
17.2%
-22.8% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 265 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
DETAILED ACTION This Non Final Office Action is in response to Application filed on 04/29/2024. Claims 1-30 filed on 04/29/2024 are being considered on the merits. 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 . Drawings The drawings filed on 04/29/2024 are accepted. Claim Objections Claim 9 objected to because of the following informalities: Claim 9 recites “…configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: wherein”. Emphases in bold. Examiner recommends rephrasing the claim limitation by e.g. adding a verb after “to” or removing “configured…to” . Appropriate correction is required. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status. 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. The factual inquiries set forth in Graham v. John Deere Co., 383 U.S. 1, 148 USPQ 459 (1966), that are applied for establishing a background for determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. 103 are summarized as follows: 1. Determining the scope and contents of the prior art. 2. Ascertaining the differences between the prior art and the claims at issue. 3. Resolving the level of ordinary skill in the pertinent art. 4. Considering objective evidence present in the application indicating obviousness or nonobviousness. Claims 1-2, 4, 6-8, 10, 12, 16-17, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and 30 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1). Regarding claim 1, Lu teaches an ambient power wireless device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (Lu [0078] Figure 12 Tag 120 comprising memory and microcontroller), the processing system configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: receive an energizing signal for supplying power to one or more radio frequency components of the ambient power wireless device (Lu [0078] “Typically, an RIFD tag 120 contains an antenna 128 and memory 124. In the invention that is disclosed here, the tag 120 also comprises a microcontroller 122 that performs tasks such as hash function evaluation. In operation, the reader 100 sends out radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic wave (i.e. energizing signal) through its antenna 108. When the tag 120 is in the vicinity of the reader 100, its antenna 124 will pick up the electromagnetic wave and provide electric power to the tag 120. The reader 100 can then send commands for the tag 120 to execute. This may include the authentication procedure that the present invention discloses.”); receive a query message including a first random number, the query message indicating a request for data from the ambient power wireless device (Lu Reader 100 R sending a message/query/request to Tag 120 T including a first random number [0062] “as illustrated in FIG. 6. In the first phase, the reader R sends a "Request" with a random number r.sub.1 (a nonce) to tag T.sub.i.”); [[generate a security key in response to receiving the query message, the security key generated using at least the first random number, a second random number different from the first random number, and a master security key]]; and transmit, based at least in part on power applied to the one or more radio frequency components, a response message indicating the data and the second random number, [[wherein the data, the response message, or both are secured using the security key]] (Lu [0062] “…In the second phase, upon receiving "Request", tag T.sub.i generates a random number r.sub.2 (a nonce) and calculates a series of hash values …T.sub.i replies to R with a message U=(r.sub.2, h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.p[0]), h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.p[1]), . . . , h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.p[d-1]), h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.l)). For simplicity, we denote the elements in U as u, v.sub.o, v.sub.1, . . . , v.sub.d-1, v.sub.d where u=r.sub.2 and v.sub.j=h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.j), j=0 . . . d-1, v.sub.d=h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.l). In the third phase, R identifies T.sub.i using the key tree S and the received U.”, where the response message from the tag 120, powered by the radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic wave as disclosed in [0078], includes a second random number and cryptographic hash values based on the first random number, the second random number and a key construed as a security key). Lu does not explicitly disclose the below limitation. Gammel discloses generate a security key in response to receiving the query message, the security key generated using at least the first random number, a second random number different from the first random number, and a master security key (Gammel Figure 4 discloses generating session key k0 in response to receiving message P2, where k0 is generated, by the reader and the tag, using random numbers rp and rt from the tag and the reader and a key kiv construed as master security key), wherein the data, the response message, or both are secured using the security key (Gammel [0033] “Figure 1…The cryptographic part of the protocol consists of two parts: authentication 10 and subsequent data transfer 12.”, [0037] “…The protection of the data transfer 12 is bound to the authentication 10 by the session key k.sub.0 determined during previous authentication.”, [0039] “For privacy protection, the session key k.sub.0 is used as a basic key for encrypting data packages transmitted.” Further in [0122]) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 23, claim 23 recites similar limitations to claim 1, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 1. Regarding claim 2, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: generate the second random number in response to the query message (Lu [0062] (“…In the second phase, upon receiving "Request", tag T.sub.i generates a random number r.sub.2 (a nonce))). Lu does not explicitly disclose the below limitation. Gammel discloses wherein the security key is specific to the received query message based at least in part on the second random number generated in response to the query message (Gammel Figure 4 illustrates the session key k0 is generated based and specific to the message P2 since it is based on both rp and rt, i.e. second random number, generated based on the received message P2, [0008] “…This means that a session-specific one-time key (session key) can be derived from an individual "root key" of one of the terminals in order to authenticate and secure subsequent data transfer between two communication partners. Thus, deriving the session key is based on making use of random numbers which in accordance with embodiments may be exchanged between the two communication partners. Providing the random numbers by a third party, a so-called trusted third party, is also conceivable.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 24, claim 24 recites similar limitations to claim 2, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 2. Regarding claim 4, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1. Lu does not disclose the below limitation. Gammel discloses wherein, to generate the security key, the processing system is configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: generate the security key based at least in part on the first random number, the second random number, the master security key, and an identifier associated with the ambient power wireless device (Gammel Figure 4 illustrates generating the session key k0 based on rp, rt and Kiv, where Kiv is based on IV, i.e. identifier of the tag, i.e. ambient power wireless device, as disclosed in [0048] “On the part of a reader T, the means for obtaining the secret information k.sub.IV may be configured to obtain the secret information k.sub.IV based on an apparatus-specific identification IV of the chip card P and a general key k.sub.M. Thus, the general key k.sub.M and the apparatus-specific identification IV may be fed to a key-extracting function KD in order to determine k.sub.IV.”, where the apparatus-specific identification IV is included in the initial message P2 in Figure 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 25, claim 25 recites similar limitations to claim 4, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 4. Regarding claim 6, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: determine a set of message integrity check bits based at least in part on the security key, wherein the response message includes the set of message integrity check bits (Lu [0066] Figure 9 76 illustrates the integrity check to determine, in the response message, whether the tag is valid) Regarding claim 26, claim 26 recites similar limitations to claim 6, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 6. Regarding claim 7, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 6, wherein the set of message integrity check bits are included in the response message instead of a frame check sequence (Lu [0066] Figure 9 76 illustrates the integrity check, which is included in the response message, to determine, in the response message, whether the tag is valid, where the hash in 76 is part of the response message U). Regarding claim 8, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1. Lu does not explicitly disclose the below limitation. Gammel discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: encrypt the response message, the data, or both using the security key (Gammel [0039] “…the session key k.sub.0 is used as a basic key for encrypting data packages transmitted.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 10, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1, wherein the energizing signal and the query message are received from a same device (Lu [0078] “Typically, an RIFD tag 120 contains an antenna 128 and memory 124. In the invention that is disclosed here, the tag 120 also comprises a microcontroller 122 that performs tasks such as hash function evaluation. In operation, the reader 100 sends out radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic wave through its antenna 108. When the tag 120 is in the vicinity of the reader 100, its antenna 124 will pick up the electromagnetic wave and provide electric power to the tag 120. The reader 100 can then send commands for the tag 120 to execute. This may include the authentication procedure that the present invention discloses.”, where the reader 100, corresponding to the same device, is sending the RF electromagnetic wave to the tag as well as the request as disclosed in [0062]). Regarding claim 12, Lu teaches a wireless communication device, comprising: a processing system that includes processor circuitry and memory circuitry that stores code (Lu [0078] Figure 12 Reader 100 comprising memory and microcontroller), the processing system configured to cause the wireless communication device to: transmit, to an ambient power wireless device, a first query message including an indication of a first random number, the first query message indicating a request for data from the ambient power wireless device (Lu Reader 100 R sensing a message/query/request to Tag 120 T including a first random number [0062] “as illustrated in FIG. 6. In the first phase, the reader R sends a "Request" with a random number r.sub.1 (a nonce) to tag T.sub.i.”); and receive, from the ambient power wireless device, a first response message indicating at least the data and a second random number different from the first random number (Lu [0062] “…In the second phase, upon receiving "Request", tag T.sub.i generates a random number r.sub.2 (a nonce) and calculates a series of hash values …T.sub.i replies to R with a message U=(r.sub.2, h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.p[0]), h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.p[1]), . . . , h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.p[d-1]), h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.l)). For simplicity, we denote the elements in U as u, v.sub.o, v.sub.1, . . . , v.sub.d-1, v.sub.d where u=r.sub.2 and v.sub.j=h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.j), j=0 . . . d-1, v.sub.d=h(r.sub.1, r.sub.2, k.sub.i.sup.l). In the third phase, R identifies T.sub.i using the key tree S and the received U.”, where the response message from the tag 120, powered by the radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic wave as disclosed in [0078], includes a second random number and cryptographic hash values based on the first random number, the second random number and the key parts construed as a security key). Lu does not explicitly disclose security key. Gammel discloses wherein the data, the first response message, or both are secured in accordance with a security key that is based at least in part on at least the first random number, the second random number, and a master security key (Gammel Figure 4 discloses generating session key k0 in response to receiving message P2, where k0 is generated using random numbers rp and rt from the tag and the reader and a key kiv), [0033] “Figure 1…The cryptographic part of the protocol consists of two parts: authentication 10 and subsequent data transfer 12.”, [0037] “In accordance with embodiments, only one of the protection modes can be used at a certain time for data transfer 12 between the two communication partners P and T. The protection of the data transfer 12 is bound to the authentication 10 by the session key k.sub.0 determined during previous authentication.” Further in [0039] “For privacy protection, the session key k.sub.0 is used as a basic key for encrypting data packages transmitted.”) It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 27, claim 27 recites similar limitations to claim 12, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 12. Regarding claim 16, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: verify that the first response message is from the ambient power wireless device based at least in part on the master security key (Lu Figure 9 (70-76) illustrate verification that the tag, i.e. ambient power wireless device, is a valid tag, based on k.sub.i.sup.l, and is using valid keys at different node levels). Regarding claim 30, claim 30 recites similar limitations to claim 16, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 16. Regarding claim 17, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 16. Lu does not explicitly disclose the below limitation. Gammel discloses wherein, to verify that the first response message is from the ambient power wireless device, the processing system is configured to cause the wireless communication device to: decrypt the first response message, the data, or both, based at least in part on the security key; and perform an integrity check for the first response message, the data, or both, based at least in part on a set of message integrity check bits (Gammel illustrates in Figure 4 Cp and Ct in the response messages being verified by comparing with generated C’p and C’t with Cp and Ct, respectively, for the devices to authenticate each other, Gummer further decrypt data exchanged between the tag and the reader as disclosed in e.g. [0046] “In accordance with an embodiment, the means 24 for calculating the session key k.sub.0 includes a hardware module for encryption and/or decryption.”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 20, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 12. Lu does not explicitly disclose the below limitation. Gammel discloses wherein the security key is based at least in part on the first random number, the second random number, the master security key, and an identifier associated with the ambient power wireless device (Gammel Figure 4 illustrates generating the session key k0 based on rp, rt and Kiv, where Kiv is based on IV, i.e. identifier of the tag, i.e. ambient power wireless device, as disclosed in [0048] “On the part of a reader T, the means for obtaining the secret information k.sub.IV may be configured to obtain the secret information k.sub.IV based on an apparatus-specific identification IV of the chip card P and a general key k.sub.M. Thus, the general key k.sub.M and the apparatus-specific identification IV may be fed to a key-extracting function KD in order to determine k.sub.IV.”, where the apparatus-specific identification IV is included in the initial message P2 in Figure 4). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu to incorporate the teaching of Gammel to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring secure mutual authentication and data transfer protection between two communication partners, as recognized by (Gammel Abstract and throughout). Regarding claim 22, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: transmit an energizing signal for supplying power to one or more radio frequency components of the ambient power wireless device, wherein receiving the first response message is based at least in part on transmitting the energizing signal (Lu [0078] “Typically, an RIFD tag 120 contains an antenna 128 and memory 124. In the invention that is disclosed here, the tag 120 also comprises a microcontroller 122 that performs tasks such as hash function evaluation. In operation, the reader 100 sends out radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic wave (i.e. energizing signal) through its antenna 108. When the tag 120 is in the vicinity of the reader 100, its antenna 124 will pick up the electromagnetic wave and provide electric power to the tag 120. The reader 100 can then send commands for the tag 120 to execute. This may include the authentication procedure that the present invention discloses.”) Claim 3 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1) and Flink (US 20180082050 A1). Regarding claim 3, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 2. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose relating the random number to a time stamp. Flink discloses wherein the second random number is generated using a time stamp as a seed (Flink [0128] discloses obtaining random number from a time stamp). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Flink to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of making it more difficult for an attacker to break into a system , as recognized by (Flink [0128] and throughout). Claims 5 and 21 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1) and Duo (US 11997635 B2). Regarding claim 5, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 4. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose relating the random number to a time stamp. Duo discloses wherein the identifier comprises a medium access control address (Duo Col. 10 line 20-25 “This temporary key may have been generated using the first nonce, the second nonce, a machine (MAC) address of the mobile device, a MAC address of host 206”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Duo to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of uniquely identifying the party associated with the generated key. Regarding claim 21, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 20, wherein the identifier comprises a medium access control address (Duo Col. 10 line 20-25 “This temporary key may have been generated using the first nonce, the second nonce, a machine (MAC) address of the mobile device, a MAC address of host 206”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Duo to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of uniquely identifying the party associated with the generated key. Claims 9 and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1) and Hamid (US 20220377510 A1). Regarding claim 9, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitations. Hamid discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the ambient power wireless device to: wherein the response message be transmitted within a time interval of receiving the query message (Hamid [0058] “… For instance, the connected function 201 may attempt to transmit the request over the first interface 122, but may determine that the connected function 201 has not received the response to the request within a threshold time period of transmitting the request. Once the connected function 201 determines that the CHF 114 is unreachable”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Hamid to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring the requested device is reachable, as recognized by (Hamid [0058] and throughout). Regarding claim 19, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 12. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitations. Hamid discloses wherein the first response message is received within a time interval of transmitting the first query message (Hamid [0058] “… For instance, the connected function 201 may attempt to transmit the request over the first interface 122, but may determine that the connected function 201 has not received the response to the request within a threshold time period of transmitting the request. Once the connected function 201 determines that the CHF 114 is unreachable”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Hamid to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of ensuring the requested device is reachable, as recognized by (Hamid [0058] and throughout). Claims 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1) and Sun (US 20250094755 A1). Regarding claim 11, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the ambient power wireless device of claim 1. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitations. Sun discloses wherein the energizing signal is received from a first device and the query message is received from a second device different from the first device (Sun [0027] “… in some examples, the first circuit 132 may be configured to request supplemental power from the second tag 120 in response to the first RF signal received at block 205. Upon receipt of supplemental power from the second tag 120, the first circuit 132 may be configured to process the data request”, where the request is received from reader 108-1 as disclosed in [0025] “The method 200 is initiated at block 205, where the first antenna 128 receives a first RF signal, for example from the first reader 108-1. In particular, the first RF signal may be within a first frequency band within which the first tag 116 is configured to operate. The first RF signal may be, for example, an interrogation of the first tag 116, and hence may include a data request for information about the first tag 116”and the power is received from the second tag 120 in Figure 1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Sun to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of power sharing different tags as needed, as recognized by (Sun Abstract and throughout). Claims 13-15 and 28-29 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1) and Luc (US 20210203483 A1). Regarding claim 13, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 12. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitations. Luc discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: receive a second query message from an application server, wherein transmitting the first query message to the ambient power wireless device is triggered by the second query message (Luc Figure 2 illustrates the reader 10 receiving message/request 310 from 11, i.e. application server, where 310 includes a first random number A1 and accordingly the reader 10 transmits to the tag 20, i.e. ambient power wireless device, the message/request 110 including A1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Luc to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of authenticating the tag by the reader and the encryption module 11, as recognized by (Luc [0163] and throughout). Regarding claim 28, claim 28 recites similar limitations to claim 13, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 13. Regarding claim 14, Lu in view of Gammel and Luc teaches the wireless communication device of claim 13. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitations. Luc discloses wherein: the second query message includes an indication of the first random number, and transmitting the first query message including the first random number is based on receiving the second query message including the indication of the first random number (Luc Figure 2 illustrates the reader 10 receiving message/request 310 from 11, i.e. application server, where 310 includes a first random number A1 and accordingly the reader 10 transmits to the tag 20, i.e. ambient power wireless device, the message/request 110 including A1). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Luc to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of authenticating the tag by the reader and the encryption module 11, as recognized by (Luc [0163] and throughout). Regarding claim 15, Lu in view of Gammel and Luc teaches the wireless communication device of claim 13. Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitations. Luc discloses wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: transmit a second response message to the application server based at least in part on receiving the first response message, the second response message comprising at least the data and the second random number (Luc illustrates in Figure 2 11 receiving from the reader 10 response messages 410-420, construed as second response, in response to the reader 10 receiving 210-220, where the response comprising second random number A2 and data/results). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Luc to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of authenticating the tag by the reader and the encryption module 11, as recognized by (Luc [0163] and throughout). Regarding claim 29, claim 29 recites similar limitations to claim 15, therefore rejected with the same rationale and motivation applied to claim 15. Claims 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Lu (US 20100045442 A1) in view of Gammel (US 20100316217 A1) and Quan (US 20090109929 A1). Regarding claim 18, Lu in view of Gammel teaches the wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein the processing system is further configured to cause the wireless communication device to: Lu in view of Gammel does not disclose the below limitation. Quan discloses perform a channel access procedure, wherein transmitting the first query message and receiving the first response message is based at least in part on the channel access procedure (Quan discloses utilizing channel access procedure: [0055] “Meanwhile, the reader in the SS signal sensing status (105) switches to the LBT sensing status (106) when the SS signal having the specific RSSI pattern is sensed (13), and competes with other readers by using the LBT technique to occupy a channel. A reader, which has succeeded (8) in the channel competition, switches to the reader-tag communication status (104).” [0056-0059] further discloses the utilizing the LBT for requests/response, where the listen before talking (LBT) is interpreted as channel access procedure consistent with the instant application in publication paragraph [0159]). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Lu in view of Gammel to incorporate the teaching of Quan to utilize the above feature, with the motivation of providing efficient scheduling and utilization of readers in dense reader environments, as recognized by (Quan Abstract, [0003] and throughout). Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Peer (US 20210345105 A1) discloses 4-way handshake optimization. CHHABRA (US 20170346852 A1) discloses secure wireless ranging. Hinz (US 20150071441 A1) discloses methods and system for secure communication between an rfid tag and a reader Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BASSAM A NOAMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-2705. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 8:30 AM-5:00PM. 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, Eleni A. Shiferaw can be reached at (571) 272-3867. 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. /BASSAM A NOAMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2497
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Prosecution Timeline

Apr 29, 2024
Application Filed
Jan 09, 2026
Non-Final Rejection — §103 (current)

Precedent Cases

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Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
78%
Grant Probability
99%
With Interview (+45.7%)
2y 9m
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 265 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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