DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This is in reply to papers filed on 2024-07-26. Claims 1-23 are pending. Claims 1, 9, 16 is/are independent.
Summary of Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103
The following table summarizes the rejections set forth in detail below of the claims over the prior art.
Claim No.
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839
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Claim Rejections - 35 U.S.C. § 103
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of AIA 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.
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 AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 that 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 of this title, 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(a) 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
Claim(s) 1-23 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. § 103 as being unpatentable over U.S. Publication 20170104580 to Wooten et al. (hereinafter "Wooten '580") in view of U.S. Publication 20120089839 to Qiu et al. (hereinafter "Qiu '839"). Wooten '580 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2). Qiu '839 is prior art to the claims under 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(1) and 35 U.S.C. § 102(a)(2).
Per claim 1 (independent):
Wooten '580 does not disclose a method comprising receiving, at a verification device and from a node of a plurality of nodes of a supply chain, a first identity of a device associated with the supply chain
However, Wooten '580 discloses a method comprising receiving, at a verification device and from a node of a plurality of nodes, a first identity of a device associated with the nodes (device 120 [Wooten '580 ¶ 0049] sends device identity with device public key to update authority / identity authority [Wooten '580 ¶ 0137, 0141, 0145; Fig. 13 at 1302; ¶ 0057])
Wooten '580 discloses providing, to the node, entropy based on the first identity and a request from the node, wherein a second identity is derived based on the entropy (upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057]; update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Wooten '580 discloses storing, at the verification device, the second identity (update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate and retains them to verify values to be calculated at device [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Further:
Qiu '839 discloses a method comprising receiving, at a verification device and from a node of a plurality of nodes of a supply chain, a first identity of a device associated with the supply chain (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
It would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Wooten '580 with the supply chain contexts of Qiu '839 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
a method comprising receiving, at a verification device and from a node of a plurality of nodes of a supply chain, a first identity of a device associated with the supply chain
A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been motivated to combine them at least because it would permit the additional nodes in the supply chain of Qiu '839 to continue generating new device identifiers using the secure ID verification scheme of Wooten '580. A person having ordinary skill in the art would have been further motivated to combine them at least because Qiu '839 teaches [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025] modifying a secure ID verification scheme [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150] such as that of Wooten '580 to arrive at the claimed invention; because Wooten '580 and Qiu '839 are in the same field of endeavor; because doing so constitutes use of a known technique (nodes in a supply chain adding software and configuration to received devices [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025]) to improve similar devices and/or methods (secure ID verification scheme [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150]) in the same way; because doing so constitutes applying a known technique (nodes in a supply chain adding software and configuration to received devices [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025]) to known devices and/or methods (secure ID verification scheme [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150]) ready for improvement to yield predictable results; and because the modification amounts to combining prior art elements according to known methods to yield predictable results. Here, (1) the prior art included each element (as detailed above); (2) one of ordinary skill in the art could have combined the elements as claimed by known methods, and in this combination, each element merely performs the same function as it does separately (secure ID verification scheme [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150]) verifies identifiers of devices for nodes in a supply chain that add software and configuration to received devices [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025]); (3) one of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized that the results of the combination were predictable; and (4) other considerations do not overcome this conclusion.
Per claim 2 (dependent on claim 1):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 does not disclose receiving, at the verification device and from a second node of the plurality of nodes, an indication of the second identity
However, Wooten '580 discloses receiving, at the verification device and from a node of the plurality of nodes, an indication of the second identity (repeats protocol for each level in the boot chain [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131]; device 120 [Wooten '580 ¶ 0049] sends device identity with device public key to update authority / identity authority [Wooten '580 ¶ 0137, 0141, 0145; Fig. 13 at 1302; ¶ 0057])
Wooten '580 does not disclose transmitting, to the second node, an indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity
However, Wooten '580 discloses transmitting, to the node, an indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity (repeats protocol for each level in the boot chain [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0115, 0131]; upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057])
Further:
Qiu '839 discloses receiving, at the verification device and from a second node of the plurality of nodes, an indication of the second identity (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
Qiu '839 discloses transmitting, to the second node, an indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 1, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Wooten '580 with the supply chain contexts of Qiu '839 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
receiving, at the verification device and from a second node of the plurality of nodes, an indication of the second identity
transmitting, to the second node, an indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity
Per claim 3 (dependent on claim 2):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 2 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 does not disclose receiving, from the second node, a request for updated entropy based on transmitting the indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity
However, Wooten '580 discloses receiving, from the node, a request for updated entropy based on transmitting the indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity (repeats protocol for each level in the boot chain [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131]; upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057])
Wooten '580 does not disclose providing, to the second node, the updated entropy based on receiving the request, wherein a third identity is derived based on the updated entropy
However, Wooten '580 discloses providing, to the node, the updated entropy based on receiving the request, wherein a third identity is derived based on the updated entropy (repeats protocol for each level in the boot chain [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131]; upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057])
Further:
Qiu '839 discloses receiving, from the second node, a request for updated data based on transmitting the indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
Qiu '839 discloses providing, to the second node, the updated data based on receiving the request, wherein a third identity is derived based on the updated data (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 1, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Wooten '580 with the supply chain contexts of Qiu '839 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
receiving, from the second node, a request for updated entropy based on transmitting the indication that the received second identity matches the stored second identity
providing, to the second node, the updated entropy based on receiving the request, wherein a third identity is derived based on the updated entropy
Per claim 4 (dependent on claim 3):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 3 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses storing, at the verification device, the third identity (update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate and retains them to verify values to be calculated at device [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Per claim 5 (dependent on claim 1):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses deriving, at the verification device and independent from the node, the second identity based on the entropy and the first identity, the second identity used to verify the device in the supply chain (update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate and retains them to verify values to be calculated at device [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Per claim 6 (dependent on claim 1):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses a first portion of the first identity is associated with hardware at the device and a second portion of the first identity is associated with second entropy (inputs to KDF and hashing operations are based on device secret and hash(immutable code) that produce fuse-derived secret (FDS) [Wooten '580 ¶ 0103-0106, Fig. 6]; to complete verification of device, device sends attestation statement and device public key to verifier [Wooten '580 ¶ 0140)
Wooten '580 discloses updating the second portion of the first identity based on the entropy, wherein the second identity is based on updating the second portion of the first identity (repeats protocol for each level in the boot chain [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131] generating an updated attestation statement for each level [Wooten '580 ¶ 0115-0119, 0136 ])
Per claim 7 (dependent on claim 1):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses the verification device comprises a cloud device (distributed resources (e.g., identity authority, update authority, attestation authority) and third part entities are remote network entities [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131]
Per claim 8 (dependent on claim 1):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 1 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses the node comprises the verification device (distributed resources (e.g., identity authority, update authority, attestation authority) and third part entities are remote network entities [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131]
Per claim 9 (independent):
Wooten '580 does not disclose a method at a node of a supply chain
However, Wooten '580 discloses a method at a node (distributed resources (e.g., identity authority, update authority, attestation authority) and third part entities are remote network entities [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131]; repeats protocol for each level in the boot chain [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131] )
Wooten '580 does not disclose providing, to a verification device and from the node of the supply chain, a first identity associated with a device of the supply chain
However, Wooten '580 discloses providing, to a verification device and from the node , a first identity associated with a device (device 120 [Wooten '580 ¶ 0049] sends device identity with device public key to update authority / identity authority [Wooten '580 ¶ 0137, 0141, 0145; Fig. 13 at 1302; ¶ 0057])
Wooten '580 does not disclose receiving, from the verification device and at the node of the supply chain, entropy used to derive a second identity
However, Wooten '580 discloses receiving, from the verification device and at the node, entropy used to derive a second identity (upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057]; update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Wooten '580 discloses storing, at the device, the second identity (update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate and retains them to verify values to be calculated at device [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Further:
Qiu '839 discloses a method at a node of a supply chain (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
Qiu '839 discloses providing, to a verification device and from the node of the supply chain, a first identity associated with a device of the supply chain (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
Qiu '839 discloses receiving, from the verification device and at the node of the supply chain, data used to derive a second identity (nodes in supply chain require new identities for downstream contexts [Qiu '839 ¶ 0018-0025])
For the reasons detailed above with respect to claim 1, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the art (1) before the effective filing date of the claimed invention and (2) before the invention was made to have modified Wooten '580 with the supply chain contexts of Qiu '839 to arrive at an apparatus, method, and product including:
a method at a node of a supply chain
providing, to a verification device and from the node of the supply chain, a first identity associated with a device of the supply chain
receiving, from the verification device and at the node of the supply chain, entropy used to derive a second identity
Per claim 10 (dependent on claim 9):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 9 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses retrieving the first identity from the device prior to providing the first identity to the verification device (device 120 [Wooten '580 ¶ 0049] sends device identity with device public key to update authority / identity authority [Wooten '580 ¶ 0137, 0141, 0145; Fig. 13 at 1302; ¶ 0057])
Per claim 11 (dependent on claim 9):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 9 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses receiving, from the verification device, an indication that the first identity is verified based on providing the first identity to the verification device (upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057]; update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Wooten '580 discloses transmitting, to the verification device, a request to generate the second identity based on the first identity being verified, wherein receiving the entropy is based on transmitting the request (upon verifying device identity, update authority generates attestation seed and sends to device under encryption [Wooten '580 ¶ 0142; ¶ 0057]; update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150]; functions of distributed resources (e.g., identity authority, update authority, attestation authority) and third part entities can be combined into fewer, or separated into more, entities [Wooten '580 ¶ 0057])
Per claim 12 (dependent on claim 9):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 9 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses deriving, at the node and independently from the verification device, the second identity based on the first identity and the entropy (update authority uses attestation seed to generate attestation secret, attestation identity key, attestation certificate [Wooten '580 ¶ 0143-0144, 0150])
Per claim 13 (dependent on claim 9):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 9 above, incorporated herein by reference
Wooten '580 discloses a first portion of the first identity is associated with hardware at the device and a second portion of the first identity is associated with second entropy, and the second identity comprises an update to the second portion of the first identity based on the entropy (inputs to KDF and hashing operations are based on device secret and hash(immutable code) that produce fuse-derived secret (FDS) [Wooten '580 ¶ 0103-0106, Fig. 6]; to complete verification of device, device sends attestation statement and device public key to verifier [Wooten '580 ¶ 0140)
Per claim 14 (dependent on claim 9):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 9 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 7 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 15 (dependent on claim 9):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 9 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 8 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 16 (independent):
Wooten '580 discloses a verification device comprising processing circuitry associated with one or more devices and configured to cause the verification device to perform operations (processor(s), memory, computer readable media, storage, executable instructions [Wooten '580 ¶ 0055-0071; Fig. 2]; distributed resources (e.g., identity authority, update authority, attestation authority) and third part entities are remote network entities [Wooten '580 ¶ 0029-0030, 0056-0057, 0060-0061, 0063-0065, 0067-0068, 0115, 0131])
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 1 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 17 (dependent on claim 16):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 16 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 2 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 18 (dependent on claim 17):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 17 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 3 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 19 (dependent on claim 18):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 18 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 4 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 20 (dependent on claim 16):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 16 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 5 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 21 (dependent on claim 16):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 16 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 6 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 22 (dependent on claim 16):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 16 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 7 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Per claim 23 (dependent on claim 16):
Wooten '580 in view of Qiu '839 discloses the elements detailed in the rejection of claim 16 above, incorporated herein by reference
The remaining limitations of the claim(s) correspond(s) to features of claim(s) 8 and the claim(s) is/are rejected for the reasons detailed with respect to those claims.
Conclusion
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 THEODORE C PARSONS whose telephone number is (571)270-1475. The examiner can normally be reached on MTWRF 7:30-4:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Jung Kim can be reached on (571) 272-3804. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/THEODORE C PARSONS/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494