DETAILED 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 Status
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I directed to claims 1-12, in the reply filed on 06-15-2026 is acknowledged.
Claims 13-20 are withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim. Election was made without traverse in the reply filed on 06-15-2026.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1, 4, 7 and 10 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) or (a)(2) as being anticipated by TOKUNAGA (us 2016/0332597).
Regarding claims 1 and 7,
TOKUNAGA teaches a first electronic device and corresponding method of operation, characterized by:
one or more memories configured to store instructions; and
one or more processors (15) coupled to the one or more memories ([0028]) and configured to execute the instructions to cause the first electronic device to (10, fig. 1):
transmit N challenge packets to a second electronic device (20, fig. 1), wherein N is a first positive integer greater than or equal to 1([0070] teaches that the control system according to the second embodiment enables the RF transceiving unit 11 of the vehicular device 10 to change the radio field strength of a transmission signal in stepwise manner according to an instruction from the controller 15. The control system changes the transmission strength of RF-band challenge signals 1/2 and 2/2 transmitted from the vehicular device 10 to the portable device 20 at two levels, namely, a high level and a low level);
receive N response packets from the second electronic device, wherein the N response packets are in one-to-one correspondence with the N challenge packets ([0082] teaches that the signal strength of each response signal is changed in accordance with the signal strength of the preceding challenge signal, thus teaching a one-to-one correspondence; [0084] teaches the controller 23 controls the RSSI measuring unit 21b to measure the received signal strength of challenge signal when receiving challenge signal at S204 in FIG. 3; fig. 9 shows a one-to-one correspondence between challenge and response);
determine a first verification information according to the N response packets, wherein the first verification information indicates first received signal strength (RSS) information of the N response packets ([0068] teaches that the RSSI measuring unit 11a measures received signal strength (RSSI) of the response signal transmitted from the portable device 20 and outputs a signal indicating the received signal strength (RSSI) to the controller 15);
obtain a second verification information from the second electronic device, wherein the second verification information indicates second RSS information of the N challenge packets ([0090] teaches that the vehicular device 10 includes the RSSI measuring unit 11a to measure the received signal strength of the response signal. A permission unit of the vehicular device 10 may forbid certain manipulations to the vehicle when the received signal strength of the response signal measured by the RSSI measuring unit 11a does not satisfy a predetermined rule corresponding to the information indicating transmission strengths of the RF signals); and
verify an identity of the second electronic device according to the first verification information and the second verification information (in fig. 6, see output of YES or NO at step S209).
Regarding claim 4 and 10,
Tokunaga teaches that the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the first electronic device to: determine K pieces of third RSS information according to the N response packets, wherein each of the K pieces is in correspondence with one of the N response packets, wherein K is a second positive integer greater than or equal to N; and determine the first verification information according to the K pieces ([0010] teaches that the portable device counts a reception time interval of the RF signal received by the RF transceiving unit which performs transceiving of the RF signal, and determines, based on the reception time interval, a second transmission time interval of a response signal to be transmitted in response to the RF signal that is received; [0010] teaches that the vehicular device determines whether a duration time from a transmission of one of the LF signal or the RF signal to a reception of the response signal is within an appropriate range.)
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.
Claim(s) 2, 3, 8 and 9 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over TOKUNAGA (U.S. 2016/0332597) in view of BUTLER (U.S. Patent 9,549,319).
Regarding claims 2 and 8,
TOKUNAGA teaches method/device of claims 1 and 7, but fails to expressly teach that the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the first electronic device to: determine a nonce; transmit the nonce to the second electronic device; and determine the N challenge packets, wherein each of the N challenge packets comprises first encryption information encrypted using a preset key, and wherein the first encryption information comprises the nonce.
BUTLER teaches that the one or more processors are further configured to execute the instructions to cause the first electronic device to: determine a nonce; transmit the nonce to the second electronic device; and determine the N challenge packets, wherein each of the N challenge packets comprises first encryption information encrypted using a preset key, and wherein the first encryption information comprises the nonce (Butler teaches that the communication module 104(1) may compare the signal strengths or RSSIs of the response 122 with the actual RF powers used to transmit the respective beacon frames 116 to determine a correspondence between a transmit sequence and a reception sequence; col. 11:48-51 teaches, "The beacon frame 116(1) may include any suitable content, such as an identifier, a nonce, a randomly generated code or selected object, other identifying data 118, and so forth."; col. 21:59-63 teaches, "some or all of the response 122 may be encrypted in accordance with a scheme specified in the request 120, or as previously established between the respective computing devices 102(1) and 102(2).”).
Before the effective filing date of the invention it would have been obvious to modify the teachings of Tokunaga per the teachings of Butler and determine and transmit a nonce as recited because Butler teaches that the nonce may be randomly or pseudorandomly generated or selected and further used to ensure that previously sent beacon frames or other communications cannot be exploited in a replay attack.
Regarding claims 3 and 9,
Butler teaches that each of the N challenge packets further comprises first check information for verifying data integrity of the first encryption information in each of the N challenge packets (col. 3:10-17 teaches, " The second device then sends a response, or response data, to the first device in accordance with the request. The response data may include the specified RF fingerprint, or other data, that the first device compares to content of the original beacon frames or corresponding portions thereof. For instance, the first device may verify the SSIDs, nonces, or other identifying data of the RF fingerprint that match those sent in the beacon frames.")
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 5, 6, 11 and 12 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to DIONNE PENDLETON whose telephone number is (571)272-7497. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 9a-5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Davetta Goins can be reached at 571-272-2957. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/DIONNE PENDLETON/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2689
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