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 .
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
Preliminary Amendment
Cancellation of claims 1-118 in the submission filed 10/30/2024 is acknowledged and accepted.
New Claims 119-164 are acknowledged and accepted.
Amendments to specification and Abstract are acknowledged and accepted.
Pending Claims are 119-164.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I (claims 119-129) in the reply filed on 7/21/2026 is acknowledged. Claims 130-164 withdrawn from further consideration pursuant to 37 CFR 1.142(b) as being drawn to a nonelected invention, there being no allowable generic or linking claim.
Drawings
The drawings with 15 Sheets of Figs. 1-15 received on 7/21/2026 are acknowledged and accepted.
Claim Objections
Claim 126 objected to because of the following informalities:
Claim 126 recites “electromagnetic signal (428)” in line 5. This appears to be a typographical error and it is suggested to be replaced with -- electromagnetic signal--.
Appropriate correction is required.
an electromagnetic signal (428)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 119-129, as best understood, rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Claim 119 recites “data bus” in line 13 and “internal data bus” in line 15. It is not clear whether internal data bus is the same as the data bus. From specification, it appears that data bus is the same as the internal data bus. For the purposes of examination, the internal data bus is taken to be the same as the data bus.
Claims 120-129 are dependent on claim 119 and hence inherits its deficiencies.
Claim 127 recites “for example, execute a secured device, or an activation key for a protected device to perform a secured procedure”. The phrase "for example" renders the claim indefinite because it is unclear whether the limitation(s) following the phrase are part of the claimed invention. See MPEP § 2173.05(d). For the purposes of examination, the phrase is taken to be part of the claimed invention.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
Claim(s) 119-121, 124-127, as best understood, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami et al (US 2016/0277183 A1) in view of Grivas et al (US 2007/0216320 A1).
Regarding Claim 119, Murakami teaches (fig 1-3) a single-photon transmission device (transmitter 1 of quantum-key distribution system 100, para 23) for enabling secure authentication, comprising:
a single-photon source (laser, “The transmitter 1 is an apparatus that transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons that are generated by a laser”, para 24),
a control device (controller 14, para 42) which is configured to actuate the single-photon source (“The photon transmitter 10 is a functional unit that shares a stream of photons with the photon receiver 20 by transmitting the stream of photons composed of single photons, which are generated to be in a polarizing state based on basis information generated by randomly selected bases with respect to a photon bit string that is bit information generated by random number”, para 43), and
an optical sub device (photon transmitter 10, para 43) which is configured to combine single-photon streams of photons emitted by the single-photon source (laser, para 24) to form a QKD coupling beam consisting of a common stream of single photons (“The photon transmitter 10 is a functional unit that shares a stream of photons with the photon receiver 20 by transmitting the stream of photons composed of single photon”, para 43),
an actuating device (laser is driven by a power source which is considered an actuating device) for the single-photon source (laser, para 24) wherein the light source emits polarized single photons or single photons of different polarization, which are polarized by polarization filters (“transmitter 1 transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons, which are generated to be in a polarizing state based on basis information”, para 37),
at least one data bus (bus 89, para 39),
at least one microcontroller core (CPU 80, para 39) which is configured to control the actuating device (laser is driven by a power source which is considered an actuating device) via internal data bus (bus 89, para 39),
wherein the power source of each single-photon source (laser, para 24) is configured to adjust a single- photon rate of respective associated light source depending on signaling of a control line associated with the respective power source, depending on control data for the single-photon sources transmitted by the actuating device, and thus a photon density of a light emission of the single-photon sources (single photon sources has a photon rate and photon density depending on control data of the power source) (“The optical processing device 87 of the transmitter 1 transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons, which are generated to be in a polarizing state based on basis information that is generated by randomly selected bases with respect to a bit string (a photon bit string) that is bit information generated by random numbers”, para 37), and
wherein the single-photon source (laser, “The transmitter 1 is an apparatus that transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons that are generated by a laser”, para 24) is configured to feed the respective single-photon stream into the QKD coupling beam (“The transmitter 1 is an apparatus that transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons that are generated by a laser and are the basis of encryption key generation to the receiver 2 via the optical fiber link 3”, para 24) depending on the control by the actuating device (laser is driven by a power source which is considered an actuating device).
However, Murakami does not teach
a plurality of single-photon sources,
a control device which is configured to separately actuate one of the single-photon sources at a time
an actuating device for each of the single-photon sources, each of the actuating devices comprising a respective light source and a respective power source, wherein the respective light source emits polarized single photons or single photons of different polarization, which are polarized by polarization filters,
at least one control line, which connects the actuating device to an adjustable voltage regulator,
at least one energy supply for the single-photon sources, configured to regulate an operating voltage of the single-photon source, by a linear regulator,
wherein the actuating device is configured to adjust a voltage between a supply voltage line of the single-photon sources and a reference potential by the control line,
wherein the actuating device is configured to control an electric current through the respective power source of the respective single-photon sources,
Murakami and Grivas are related as light sources.
Grivas teaches (fig 1)
a plurality of light sources (102-105, para 37),
a control device (illumination controller 107, para 27) which is configured to separately actuate one of the single-photon sources at a time (“when the predetermined duty cycle 203 is active, each of the plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105 may be active for the same amount of time, a proportional amount of time, longer amount of time, or a lesser amount of time”, para 31)
an actuating device (“Through the actuation of plurality of current sources 208,209,210,211, the plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105 may be turned on and off”, para 35) for each of the single-photon sources, each of the actuating devices comprising a respective light source (one of light sources 102-105, para 37) and a respective power source (current sources 208,209,210,211, para 35),
at least one control line, which connects the actuating device to an adjustable voltage regulator (“a regulator 212 may be coupled serially between the power source 219 and the plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105”, para 37),
at least one energy supply for the light sources, configured to regulate an operating voltage of the light source, by a linear regulator (“Other applications may dictate the use of other power regulation systems, including buck regulators, linear regulators and so forth”, para 37),
wherein the actuating device (“Through the actuation of plurality of current sources 208,209,210,211, the plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105 may be turned on and off”, para 35) is configured to adjust a voltage between a supply voltage line of the single-photon sources (“plurality of light sources 102-105”, para 37) and a reference potential by the control line,
wherein the actuating device (“Through the actuation of plurality of current sources 208,209,210,211, the plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105 may be turned on and off”, para 35) is configured to control an electric current through the respective power source of the respective single-photon source (“plurality of light sources 102-105”, para 37)
wherein the light sources (“plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105”, para 37) are configured to feed the respective photon streams into the coupling beam depending on the control by the actuating device (“As such, the light source actuation information may be indicated by a predetermined duty cycle 203 defined by a proportion of active signal time. In such an embodiment, when the predetermined duty cycle 203 is active, each of the plurality of light sources 102,103,104,105 may be active for the same amount of time, a proportional amount of time, longer amount of time, or a lesser amount of time”, para 31).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the single photon light source of Murakami to include the plurality of light sources of Grivas for the purpose of using an improved setup with reduced output voltage ripple (para 37).
Regarding Claim 120, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device of claim 119,
further comprising at least one quantum process-based generator which is configured to generate true random numbers (“the transmitter 1 transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons, which are generated to be in a polarizing state based on basis information that is generated by randomly selected bases with respect to a bit string (a photon bit string) that is bit information generated by random numbers”, para 37, Murakami, this indicates a random number generator ).
Regarding Claim 121, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device of claim 120,
wherein the at least one quantum process-based generator (“the transmitter 1 transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons, which are generated to be in a polarizing state based on basis information that is generated by randomly selected bases with respect to a bit string (a photon bit string) that is bit information generated by random numbers”, para 37, Murakami, this indicates a random number generator ) is configured to generate one or a plurality of random numbers, upon request by the at least one microcontroller core (CPU 80, para 39).
Regarding Claim 124, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device of claim 119,
wherein the at least one microcontroller core (CPU 80, para 39, Murakami) is configured to generate one or a plurality of keys (“the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2 are to generate and share the identical encryption keys”, para 25) by a respective program stored in one or a plurality of its memory elements (RAM 82, para 39) and based on one or plurality of generated random numbers (“the transmitter 1 transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons, which are generated to be in a polarizing state based on basis information that is generated by randomly selected bases with respect to a bit string (a photon bit string) that is bit information generated by random numbers”, para 37).
Regarding Claim 125, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device according to claim119,
wherein the at least one microcontroller core (CPU 80, para 39, Murakami) is configured to encrypt and/or decrypt data with aid of a respective program of related microcontroller core (CPU 80, para 39, Murakami) and with the aid of a respective key of generated keys (“the transmitter 1 and the receiver 2 are to generate and share the identical encryption keys”, para 25), which data is exchanged by the at least one microcontroller core via at least one data interface of the single-photon transmission device (transmitter 1 of quantum-key distribution system 100, para 23) with devices (“ The receiver 2 is an apparatus that receives the stream of photons composed of single photons that are the basis of encryption key generation from the transmitter 1 via the optical fiber link 3”, para 25) outside the single-photon transmission device.
Regarding Claim 126, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device according to claim 119,
wherein the single-photon transmission device (transmitter 1 of quantum-key distribution system 100, para 23, Murakami) further comprises at least one wireless data interface (“The communication I/F 85 is an interface to perform data communication via a classical communication channel such as a network like a local area network (LAN), or a wireless network”, para 35) for communication with another computer system, via a respective antenna of the at least one wireless data interface,
wherein the respective antenna is configured to emit an electromagnetic signal which the single-photon transmission device (transmitter 1 of quantum-key distribution system 100, para 23) exchanges with a single-photon receiving device (“The transmitter 1 is an apparatus that transmits a stream of photons composed of single photons that are generated by a laser and are the basis of encryption key generation to the receiver 2 via the optical fiber link 3.”, para 24) in a wired or wireless manner.
Regarding Claim 127, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device according to claim 119,
wherein the single-photon transmission device (transmitter 1 of quantum-key distribution system 100, para 23, Murakami) is in a mobile unit, a cell phone, a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet PC (display device 84, para 31, Murakami, this indicates a laptop or a tablet PC), a key, a vehicle key, a security key for a weapon or other military device, a key for activating and/or controlling an aircraft, watercraft, or projectile, an access key to a secured area, a vault, or a safe, an activation key for a secured mechanism, an activation key for a protected procedure to, for example, execute a secured device, or an activation key for a protected device to perform a secured procedure.
Claim(s) 122 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami et al (US 2016/0277183 A1) in view of Grivas et al (US 2007/0216320 A1) and further in view of Sharpe et al (GB 2466299 A).
Regarding Claim 122, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device of claim 119.
However, Murakami-Grivas does not teach
further comprising at least one ground circuit which is configured to protect the single-photon transmission device against polarity reversal and attacks via a ground line.
Murakami-Grivas and Sharpe are related as transmission devices.
Sharpe teaches (fig 1, 12a), a quantum communication system (“a quantum communication system having a detection system of fig 1, page 10)
further comprising at least one ground circuit (ground 7, page 11) which is configured to protect the single-photon transmission device (“a sender (Alice) 201 sends photons to a receiver (Bob) 203”, page 21) against polarity reversal and attacks via a ground line
It is respectfully noted that intended use and/or other types of functional language must result in a structural difference between the claimed invention and the prior art in order to patentably distinguish the claimed invention from the prior art. If the prior art structure is capable of performing the intended use, then it meets the claim. In a claim drawn to a process of making, the intended use must result in a manipulative difference as compared to the prior art. In re Casey, 152 USPQ 235 (CCPA 1967); In re Otto, 136 USPQ 458, 459 (CCPA 1963). Note that Applicant has burden of proof in such cases, as the above case law makes clear.
As to the present grounds of rejection under section 103(a), the function and/or use of the ground circuit, for preventing polarity reversal and attacks via a ground line, is considered to be intended use and/or functional language. This type of description does not affect the structure of the final device. See MPEP ' 2112 that discusses “product claims claimed in terms of function” and recommends the alternative (' 102 / ' 103) grounds of rejection.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Murakami-Grivas device to include the ground circuit of Sharpe for the purpose of using commonly known way of preventing safety compromising issues
Claim(s) 123 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami et al (US 2016/0277183 A1) in view of Grivas et al (US 2007/0216320 A1) and further in view of Wang et al (US 2008/0292102 A1).
Regarding Claim 123, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device of claim 119.
However, Murakami-Grivas does not teach
further comprising at least one watchdog timer which is configured to monitor processing of various program components by the at least one microcontroller core, the at least one watchdog timer being integrated into at least one security monitoring and security control circuit.
Murakami-Grivas and Wang are related as transmission device.
Wang teaches (fig 1)
further comprising at least one watchdog timer (electrical frame clock signal 124, para 41) (“Wireless transmitter module 118 may be used to transmit an electrical frame clock signal 124, for example, a MHz signal, to receiver 104 via wireless communications link 108 so that both the transmitter and the receiver will operate on the same clock”, para 41) which is configured to monitor processing of various program components by the at least one microcontroller core (electrical frame clock signal 124 is given by CPU or microcontroller), the at least one watchdog timer (electrical frame clock signal 124, para 41) being integrated into at least one security monitoring and security control circuit (QKD creates a secure communications environment, para 4 and hence quantum key is securely transmitted.
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Murakami-Grivas device to include the ground circuit of Wang for the purpose of synchronization of clock and times in the quantum transmission device (para 41).
Claim(s) 128,129, is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Murakami et al (US 2016/0277183 A1) in view of Grivas et al (US 2007/0216320 A1) and further in view of Wang et al (US 2022/0269976 A1, hereafter Wang’976).
Regarding Claim 128, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device of claim 119.
However, Murakami-Grivas does not teach
wherein the single-photon transmission device further comprises at least one biometric sensor.
Murakami-Grivas and Wang’976 are related as transmission device.
Wang’976 teaches (fig 1)
wherein the single-photon transmission device (“wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d”, para 56) further comprises at least one biometric sensor (peripherals 138, biometric sensor, para 78).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Murakami-Grivas device to include the biometric sensor of Wang’976 for the purpose of functionality of security and authentication (para 78).
Regarding Claim 129, Murakami-Grivas teach the single-photon transmission device according to cliam119.
However, Murakami-Grivas does not teach
wherein the single-photon transmission device is further configured to identify a person.
Murakami-Grivas and Wang’976 are related as transmission device.
Wang’976 teaches (fig 1)
wherein the single-photon transmission device (“wireless transmit/receive units (WTRUs) 102a, 102b, 102c, 102d”, para 56) is further configured to identify a person (peripherals 138, biometric sensor, para 78).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the Murakami-Grivas device to include the biometric sensor of Wang’976 for the purpose of functionality of security and authentication (para 78).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Harrison et al (US 2013/0163759 A1) teaches a QKD transmission apparatus (12) with a random number generator and a QKD receiver (22).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JYOTSNA V DABBI whose telephone number is (571)270-3270. The examiner can normally be reached M-Fri: 9:00am-5:00pm.
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/JYOTSNA V DABBI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2872 9/11/2026
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