CTNF 18/717,638 CTNF 84351 Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status 07-03-aia AIA 15-10-aia The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103 07-06 AIA 15-10-15 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. 07-20-aia AIA 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. 07-23-aia AIA The factual inquiries 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. 07-21-aia AIA Claim s 1-22 and 24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Ward et al (2021/0281553) in views of Liu et al (2022/0294614) . For claim 1 , Ward teaches a method, executed in a user equipment (UE), for protecting a machine learning (ML) model hosted in a network node ( Ward teaches that computer-readable storage media for assessing the reliability and trustworthiness of devices operating within a network environment with route reflectors as Ward teaches in abstract and par.20 ), comprising: sending an original request to the ML model hosted in the network node ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains, over a communications network 116 (e.g., Internet, etc.), a request from an operator 118 of the network enclave 102 to obtain proof that the network enclave 102 is secure and trustworthy. The operator 118 may include an administrator, network operator, or other user of the network enclave 102. The request may be submitted in the form of an application programming interface (API) call to the enclave manager 104. Through this API call, the operator 118 may indicate what data or status information for the set of devices and other components of the network enclave 102 are required for validation of the set of devices and other components by the operator 118 as Ward teaches in par.21 and 71) ; receiving, from the network node, a request for establishing a secure connection to a post processing module to be installed in a secure enclave of the UE ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) information or bulletins detailing known vulnerabilities relevant to the various components of the network enclave 102 and the network enclave to determine whether these devices are in compliance with acceptable load or behavior requirements as Ward teaches in par.70-72 and 102) ; installing the post processing module in the secure enclave and sending, to the network node ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager may indicate, in the summary, whether the network enclave is executing specific software versions installed on particular device types, any PSIRT information or proof that enclave devices are free of any vulnerabilities identified in the PSIRT information as Ward teaches in par.97 ), receiving, in the post processing module in the secure enclave, a response to the original request to the ML model from the network node ( Ward teaches that in response to the API call, the enclave manager 104 may identify the configured state of the components of the network enclave 102. For instance, the enclave manager 104 may query these components to obtain the configuration information for each of these components. Alternatively, the components may provide the configuration information themselves over time to the enclave manager 104, which may retain this configuration information in a repository or database as Ward teaches in par.72, 75 and 77 ); processing the response to the original request to the ML with the post processing module installed in the secure enclave, thereby protecting the ML model ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 may perform the various evaluations described above to determine the trustworthiness of the various components of the network enclave 102 and of the network enclave 102 as a whole periodically or in response to a triggering event (e.g., detection of a security issue, receipt of a security bulletin or other information indicating a possible security threat to the network, etc.) as Ward teaches in par.77 ); and obtaining the processed response from the secure enclave, for use by the UE ( Ward teaches that the response from the enclave manager 104 may further include boot-to-application level attestation (e.g., validation tokens, integrity data, etc.) of the enclave manager 104, which the operator 118 may evaluate to determine whether the provided response can be trusted as Ward teaches in par.72 ). Ward fails to teach that an address for reaching the post processing module through the secure connection in the secure enclave. Liu teaches, similar system, an address for reaching the post processing module through the secure connection in the secure enclave ( Liu teaches that The host system 120 can further include peripheral devices, such as a network interface card, a communication device, another memory sub-system, etc. The identifiers of the hardware components can include serial numbers, addresses, identification numbers, etc as Liu teaches in par.73 and 85 and 88 ). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date to modify Ward to include an address as taught and suggested by Liu for the purpose of establishing a communications session with a remote computing device, establish a shared symmetric key, the shared symmetric key shared between the memory device and the remote computing device, receive a message from the application, the message including an identifier of the remote computing device and a payload, generate a ciphertext using the symmetric key and the payload, and return the ciphertext to the application (Liu, abstract). For claims 2 and 15 , Ward, as modified by Liu, fails to teach wherein the original request is sent to the network node using a hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) GET request comprising a payload containing parameters of the original request. Liu further teaches that wherein the original request is sent to the network node using a hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) GET request comprising a payload containing parameters of the original request (Liu teaches that he payload may comprise a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) method (e.g., “GET”) and a path (e.g., “/secureResource.txt”). Thus, in some embodiments, the memory device will process the payload and identifier to generate a network request (e.g., “GET https://example.com/secureResource.txt”) as Liu teaches in par.88). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date to modify Ward to include hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) GET as taught and suggested by Liu for the purpose of establishing a communications session with a remote computing device, establish a shared symmetric key, the shared symmetric key shared between the memory device and the remote computing device, receive a message from the application, the message including an identifier of the remote computing device and a payload, generate a ciphertext using the symmetric key and the payload, and return the ciphertext to the application (Liu, abstract). For claims 3 and 16 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the request for establishing the secure connection further comprises an attestation request ( Ward teaches that enclave generates and provides an attestation summary for a set of components operating within an enclave domain in accordance with various implementations as Ward teaches in par.4 and abstract ). For claims 4 and 17 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that after installing the post processing module in the secure enclave, sending a remote attestation response to the network node, the remote attestation response attesting that the post processing module is installed in the secure enclave ( Ward teaches an attester, e.g. a node or a verifier, can use random numbers, otherwise pseudo-random numbers, created by peers and/or the attester to generate and verify attestation information. Specifically, the attester can accumulate random numbers from one or more layer 2 peers as Ward teaches in par.64 and 66 ). For claims 5 and 18 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the response to the original request to the ML model from the network node, further comprise authentication data for authenticating the network node ( Ward teaches that ertain Proof-of-Transit (POT), Trusted Platform Module (TPM), attestation, or proof of integrity approaches can be implemented to verify or validate the trustworthiness of a node in a network as Ward teaches in par.29 ). For claims 6 and 19 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that before processing the response with the post processing module, generating a random seed ( Ward teaches that attester, e.g. a node or a verifier, can use random numbers, otherwise pseudo-random numbers, created by peers and/or the attester to generate and verify attestation information as Ward teaches in par.64 ). For claim 7 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the random seed is generated using biometric data available in the UE ( Ward teaches that a certificate from a platform manufacturer may provide assurance that the TPM was properly installed on a system that is compliant with specific requirements so the Root of Trust provided by the platform may be trusted. Some implementations can rely on three Roots of Trust in a trusted platform, including Root of Trust for Measurement (RTM), Root of Trust for Storage (RTS), and Root of Trust for Reporting (RTR) as Ward teaches in par.33 and 34 ). For claim 8 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the random seed is generated using environmental data ( Ward teaches that systems, processes and environments for obtaining and providing attestation information for various network and compute components within a particular network enclave as Ward teachers in par.23 ). For claim 9 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the post processing module applies a randomizing function to the response to the original request to the ML model ( Ward teachers in par.70-72 ). For claims 10 and 20 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the response to the original request to the ML model from the network node includes weights and parameters of a plurality of derived ML models, the derived ML models providing outputs that are modified when compared with outputs of the corresponding original ML model ( Ward teaches that based on the request parameters and the available state information, the enclave manager may determine what operations are to be performed to generate any missing state information that may be used to generate the summary specifying the overall state of the network enclave as Ward teaches in par.96 ). ` For claim 11 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the processed response is obtained by applying a randomizing function for selecting one of the derived ML models, and the processed response corresponds to the outputs of the selected derived ML model ( Ward teaches that In response to obtaining the configuration information for each of the compute devices and network devices of the network enclave, the enclave manager may compare 704 the obtained configuration information to known valid configuration information for these devices. For instance, the enclave manager may access a management platform for the network enclave, which may maintain the known valid configuration information for each of the compute devices and network devices of the network enclave. Using the obtained configuration information from the various devices of the network enclave and the known valid configuration information for these devices, the enclave manager may identify any differences in the configuration of any of the devices of the network enclave Ward teaches in par.99 ). For claim 12 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that deleting the post processing module from the secure enclave after a predetermined period of inactivity (Ward, par.103). For claim 13 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches that wherein the post processing module in the secure enclave is used again for responding to a second request to the ML model hosted in the network node, if the second request is received before the end of the predetermined period of inactivity ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 may periodically transmit requests to the PSIRT service to obtain this information as Ward teaches in par.70 ). For claim 14 , Ward teaches method, executed in a network node, for protecting a machine learning (ML) model hosted in the network node ( Ward teaches that computer-readable storage media for assessing the reliability and trustworthiness of devices operating within a network environment with route reflectors as Ward teaches in abstract and par.20 ), comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), an original request to the ML model ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains, over a communications network 116 (e.g., Internet, etc.), a request from an operator 118 of the network enclave 102 to obtain proof that the network enclave 102 is secure and trustworthy. The operator 118 may include an administrator, network operator, or other user of the network enclave 102. The request may be submitted in the form of an application programming interface (API) call to the enclave manager 104. Through this API call, the operator 118 may indicate what data or status information for the set of devices and other components of the network enclave 102 are required for validation of the set of devices and other components by the operator 118 as Ward teaches in par.21 and 71) ; sending, to the UE, a post processing module and a request for establishing a secure connection to the post processing module which is to be installed in a secure enclave of the UE ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) information or bulletins detailing known vulnerabilities relevant to the various components of the network enclave 102 and the network enclave to determine whether these devices are in compliance with acceptable load or behavior requirements as Ward teaches in par.70-72 and 102) ; receiving an address for reaching the post processing module through the secure connection ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager may indicate, in the summary, whether the network enclave is executing specific software versions installed on particular device types, any PSIRT information or proof that enclave devices are free of any vulnerabilities identified in the PSIRT information as Ward teaches in par.97 ); sending, to the post processing module, a response to the original request to the ML model, for post processing ( Ward teaches that in response to the API call, the enclave manager 104 may identify the configured state of the components of the network enclave 102. For instance, the enclave manager 104 may query these components to obtain the configuration information for each of these components. Alternatively, the components may provide the configuration information themselves over time to the enclave manager 104, which may retain this configuration information in a repository or database as Ward teaches in par.72, 75 and 77 ). Ward fails to teach that receiving an address.. Liu teaches, similar system, receiving an address ( Liu teaches that The host system 120 can further include peripheral devices, such as a network interface card, a communication device, another memory sub-system, etc. The identifiers of the hardware components can include serial numbers, addresses, identification numbers, etc as Liu teaches in par.73 and 85 and 88 ). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date to modify Ward to include an address as taught and suggested by Liu for the purpose of establishing a communications session with a remote computing device, establish a shared symmetric key, the shared symmetric key shared between the memory device and the remote computing device, receive a message from the application, the message including an identifier of the remote computing device and a payload, generate a ciphertext using the symmetric key and the payload, and return the ciphertext to the application (Liu, abstract). For claim 21 , Ward teaches a user equipment (UE) operative to protect a machine learning (ML) model hosted in a network node ( Ward teaches that computer-readable storage media for assessing the reliability and trustworthiness of devices operating within a network environment with route reflectors as Ward teaches in abstract and par.20 ), the UE comprising processing circuits and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuits whereby the UE is operative to ( Ward teaches in par.22 ): send an original request to the ML model hosted in the network node ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains, over a communications network 116 (e.g., Internet, etc.), a request from an operator 118 of the network enclave 102 to obtain proof that the network enclave 102 is secure and trustworthy. The operator 118 may include an administrator, network operator, or other user of the network enclave 102. The request may be submitted in the form of an application programming interface (API) call to the enclave manager 104. Through this API call, the operator 118 may indicate what data or status information for the set of devices and other components of the network enclave 102 are required for validation of the set of devices and other components by the operator 118 as Ward teaches in par.21 and 71) ; receive, from the network node, a request for establishing a secure connection to a post processing module to be installed in a secure enclave of the UE ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) information or bulletins detailing known vulnerabilities relevant to the various components of the network enclave 102 and the network enclave to determine whether these devices are in compliance with acceptable load or behavior requirements as Ward teaches in par.70-72 and 102) ; install the post processing module in the secure enclave and send, to the network node ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager may indicate, in the summary, whether the network enclave is executing specific software versions installed on particular device types, any PSIRT information or proof that enclave devices are free of any vulnerabilities identified in the PSIRT information as Ward teaches in par.97 ); receive, in the post processing module in the secure enclave, a response to the original request to the ML model from the network node ( Ward teaches that in response to the API call, the enclave manager 104 may identify the configured state of the components of the network enclave 102. For instance, the enclave manager 104 may query these components to obtain the configuration information for each of these components. Alternatively, the components may provide the configuration information themselves over time to the enclave manager 104, which may retain this configuration information in a repository or database as Ward teaches in par.72, 75 and 77 ); process the response to the original request to the ML with the post processing module installed in the secure enclave, thereby protecting the ML model ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 may perform the various evaluations described above to determine the trustworthiness of the various components of the network enclave 102 and of the network enclave 102 as a whole periodically or in response to a triggering event (e.g., detection of a security issue, receipt of a security bulletin or other information indicating a possible security threat to the network, etc.) as Ward teaches in par.77 ); and obtain the processed response from the secure enclave, for use by the UE ( Ward teaches that the response from the enclave manager 104 may further include boot-to-application level attestation (e.g., validation tokens, integrity data, etc.) of the enclave manager 104, which the operator 118 may evaluate to determine whether the provided response can be trusted as Ward teaches in par.72 ). Ward fails to teach that an address for reaching the post processing module through the secure connection in the secure enclave Liu teaches, similar system, an address for reaching the post processing module through the secure connection in the secure enclave ( Liu teaches that The host system 120 can further include peripheral devices, such as a network interface card, a communication device, another memory sub-system, etc. The identifiers of the hardware components can include serial numbers, addresses, identification numbers, etc as Liu teaches in par.73 and 85 and 88 ). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date to modify Ward to include an address as taught and suggested by Liu for the purpose of establishing a communications session with a remote computing device, establish a shared symmetric key, the shared symmetric key shared between the memory device and the remote computing device, receive a message from the application, the message including an identifier of the remote computing device and a payload, generate a ciphertext using the symmetric key and the payload, and return the ciphertext to the application (Liu, abstract). For claim 22 , Ward, as modified by Liu, further teaches wherein the UE is a cellular phone, a personal computer, a tablet, or process running on a network node ( Ward, par.25 ). For claim 24 , Ward teaches A network node, operative to protect a machine learning (ML) model hosted in the network node ( Ward teaches that computer-readable storage media for assessing the reliability and trustworthiness of devices operating within a network environment with route reflectors as Ward teaches in abstract and par.20 ), comprising processing circuits and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuits whereby the network node is operative to ( Ward teaches in par.22 ): receive, from a user equipment (UE), an original request to the ML model; send, to the UE, a post processing module and a request for establishing a secure connection to the post processing module which is to be installed in a secure enclave of the UE ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 obtains, over a communications network 116 (e.g., Internet, etc.), a request from an operator 118 of the network enclave 102 to obtain proof that the network enclave 102 is secure and trustworthy. The operator 118 may include an administrator, network operator, or other user of the network enclave 102. The request may be submitted in the form of an application programming interface (API) call to the enclave manager 104. Through this API call, the operator 118 may indicate what data or status information for the set of devices and other components of the network enclave 102 are required for validation of the set of devices and other components by the operator 118 as Ward teaches in par.21 and 70-72 and 102) ; receive for reaching the post processing module through the secure connection ( Ward teaches that in response to the API call, the enclave manager 104 may identify the configured state of the components of the network enclave 102. For instance, the enclave manager 104 may query these components to obtain the configuration information for each of these components. Alternatively, the components may provide the configuration information themselves over time to the enclave manager 104, which may retain this configuration information in a repository or database as Ward teaches in par.72, 75 and 77 ); send, to the post processing module, a response to the original request to the ML model, for post processing ( Ward teaches that the enclave manager 104 may perform the various evaluations described above to determine the trustworthiness of the various components of the network enclave 102 and of the network enclave 102 as a whole periodically or in response to a triggering event (e.g., detection of a security issue, receipt of a security bulletin or other information indicating a possible security threat to the network, etc.) as Ward teaches in par.70-72 and 77 ). Ward fails to teach that an address. Liu teaches, similar system, an address ( Liu teaches that The host system 120 can further include peripheral devices, such as a network interface card, a communication device, another memory sub-system, etc. The identifiers of the hardware components can include serial numbers, addresses, identification numbers, etc as Liu teaches in par.73 and 85 and 88 ). It would have been obvious to one ordinary skill in the art before effective filling date to modify Ward to include an address as taught and suggested by Liu for the purpose of establishing a communications session with a remote computing device, establish a shared symmetric key, the shared symmetric key shared between the memory device and the remote computing device, receive a message from the application, the message including an identifier of the remote computing device and a payload, generate a ciphertext using the symmetric key and the payload, and return the ciphertext to the application (Liu, abstract) . Conclusion 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to AYUB A MAYE whose telephone number is (571)270-5037. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9AM-5PM. 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, SHEWAYE GELAGAY can be reached at 571-272-4219. 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. /AYUB A MAYE/Examiner, Art Unit 2436 /KHOI V LE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 2 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 3 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 4 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 5 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 6 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 7 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 8 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 9 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 10 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 11 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 12 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 13 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 14 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 15 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 16 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 17 Art Unit: 2436 Application/Control Number: 18/717,638 Page 18 Art Unit: 2436
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