DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-18 are pending in this 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 Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-18 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to the judicial exception of abstract ideas including mathematical concepts without significantly more. See MPEP 2106.04(a). The claims recite mathematical matrix operations. This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application because there is no real-world or specific application recited in the claim language. See MPEP 2106.04(d). The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because all steps recited are steps in the abstract idea of conversion to FHE encryption. See MPEP 2106.05.
Examiner notes the inclusion of the phrase “receiving a high-level description of a desired computation…”, in the latest amendments, however, this phrase is preceded by an “or” which makes it an optional feature. There is a similar issue last step added in the latest amendments, “transmitting through the communication interface....” This phrase is preceded by an and/or which also makes it an optional feature.
One simple solution Examiner can suggest is to change both the “or” and the “and/or” to “and” in both instances. This will overcome the 101 rejection.
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments with respect to the 101 rejection of claims 1-18 have been fully considered. Examiner notes and appreciates Applicant’s efforts to overcome the rejection and believes the language is present to do so except for the minor issues discussed above. Examiner presents a solution and would be open to entering this minor amendment after-final.
To expedite prosecution, Examiner is open to conducting an after-final interview to discuss any other claim amendments that may overcome the current rejection and/or place the application in condition for allowance.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Nicholls (WO-2017070674), Khedr et al. (US Patent No. 10,075,288), Tian et al. ("Somewhat homomorphic cryptography for matrix multiplication using GPU acceleration," 2014 International Symposium on Biometrics and Security Technologies (ISBAST), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 2014, pp. 166-170, doi: 10.1109/ISBAST.2014.7013115), Chaudhary et al. ("Analysis and Comparison of Various Fully Homomorphic Encryption Techniques," 2019 International Conference on Computing, Power and Communication Technologies (GUCON), New Delhi, India, 2019, pp. 58-62) and Wang et al. ("Secure outsourced calculations with homomorphic encryption," arXiv:1812.00599, December 3, 2018) all discuss general topics related to fully homomorphic encryption and matrix multiplication.
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PETER C SHAW whose telephone number is (571)270-7179. The examiner can normally be reached Max Flex.
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/PETER C SHAW/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493 January 20, 2026