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 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.
Claims 5, 23, & 54 are 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.
Claims 5, 23, & 54 recite “an identifier (HNI) of the PLMN” which renders the claim indefinite as it is not clear whether the (HNI) is exemplary or limiting.
Claim Objections
Claims 6 and 49 objected to because of the following informalities:
on lines 6-7, the phrase “with the the server” should be changed to read -- with the server --. Appropriate correction is required.
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) 1-4, 19-22, 44-47, and 50-53 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saarnivala et al. 2022/0353060 hereinafter “Saarnivala” and either of Xiong et al. hereinafter “Xiong”, (2024/0333700) or Peng et al. (2023/0413055) hereinafter “Peng”.
As to claim 1, (Original) Saarnivala discloses A method (Fig 7) performed by a user equipment (UE) configured with a client for an edge data network, the method comprising:
sending, to a server in the edge data network, a first message ([0106]: “At S702 the client device transmits a ‘ClientHello’ message to the LwM2M server”) that includes one of the following contents:
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at least one pre-shared key (PSK) identity hint that is supported by the UE and the UE's home public land mobile network (HPLMN), and one or more security key identifiers corresponding to respective one or more of a plurality of authentication procedures supported by at least the HPLMN;
an indication of the UE's HPLMN; valid PSK identity hints, and the one or more security key identifiers; or valid PSK identity hints, and the indication of the HPLMN; and
receiving from the server a second message ([0106]: “at S704, the LwM2M server 4 transmits a ‘ServerHello’ message to the client device 2 and includes a “PSK hint”…”) that includes one of the following contents:
valid PSK identity hints; or
a PSK identity hint that is supported by at least the UE's HPLMN.
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The examiner notes that the BRI of claim 1 is merely the method comprising the steps of sending a first message and receiving a second message. The contents of the messages therein are nonfunctional descriptive limitations not carrying patentable weight since the contents therein do not interact with any other step of the claim. Similarly, the contents therein could be considered as mere intended uses not carrying patentable weight. See MPEP 2114 & 2111.
For compact prosecution, either of Xiong and Peng is relied upon to show that it was known in the art before the effective filing date of the instant invention for the “ClientHello” message to include at least one pre-shared key (PSK) identity hint that is supported by the UE and the UE's home public land mobile network (HPLMN), and one or more security key identifiers corresponding to respective one or more of a plurality of authentication procedures supported by at least the HPLMN; an indication of the UE's HPLMN; valid PSK identity hints, and the one or more security key identifiers; or valid PSK identity hints, and the indication of the HPLMN. See Xiong [0215]:
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Or Peng [0063]
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Before the effective filing date of the instant invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Saarnivala by including at least one of: at least one pre-shared key (PSK) identity hint that is supported by the UE and the UE's home public land mobile network (HPLMN), and one or more security key identifiers corresponding to respective one or more of a plurality of authentication procedures supported by at least the HPLMN; an indication of the UE's HPLMN; valid PSK identity hints, and the one or more security key identifiers; or valid PSK identity hints, and the indication of the HPLMN as taught by either of Xiong and Peng for the purpose of securely authenticating.
As to claim 2, (Original) The combination of Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng discloses the method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of authentication procedures includes the following: generic bootstrapping architecture (GBA), and authentication and key management for applications (AKMA), as applied above.
As to claim 3, (Original) The combination of Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng discloses The method of claim 2, wherein the security identifiers include one or more of the following: a Bootstrapping Transaction Identifier (B-TID) associated with GBA, and an AKMA key identifier (A-KID) associated with AKMA, as applied above.
As to claim 4, (Currently Amended) The combination of Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng discloses the method of claim 2, wherein the valid PSK identity hints include the following:"3GPP-AKMA", which is associated with AKMA; and "3GPP-bootstrapping" "3GPP-bootstrapping-uicc", and "3GPP-bootstrapping-digest",which are associated with GBA, as applied above. Also see Xiong [0085], [0094]-[0115], etc.
Claims 19-22 correspond to the reciprocal method of claims 1-4 and are addressed similarly.
Claims 44-47 correspond to the UE of claims 1-4 respectively wherein UE comprises processing circuitry, memory, and transceiver circuitry, as shown in Fig.1 of Saarnivala (device 2).
Claim 50-53 correspond to server of claims 1-4 respectively wherein server comprises processing circuitry, memory, and transceiver circuitry, as shown in Fig.1 of Saarnivala (device 8).
Claim(s) 5-6, 23-25, 48-49, and 54-55 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Pattan et al. (2017/0041768) hereinafter “Pattan”.
As to claim 5, (Currently Amended) The combination of Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng discloses the method of claim 1, is silent to yet in an analogous art Pattan discloses [0253] wherein it was known for the indication of the HPLMN is one of the following: an identifier (HNI) of the HPLMN, or a dummy security key identifier containing realm information associated with the HPLMN. Before the effective filing date of the instant invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to send an identifier (HNI) of the HPLMN, or a dummy security key identifier containing realm information associated with the HPLMN as taught by Pattan for the purpose of enhancing privacy when authenticating.
As to claim 6, (Currently Amended) The combination of Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng discloses the method of claim 1, is silent to yet in an analogous art Pattan discloses further comprising: when both the UE and the HPLMN support same one or more of the authentication procedures, performing one of the same supported authentication procedures with the HPLMN (see [0005]-[0011], [0054], [0067]-[0069], etc.); and when both the UE and the HPLMN do not support any same one of the authentication procedures, establishing a transport layer security (TLS) connection with the server using at least one of a server-side TLS certificate and a client-side TLS certificate, [0190]-[0195]. Before the effective filing date of the instant invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to when both the UE and the HPLMN support same one or more of the authentication procedures, performing one of the same supported authentication procedures with the HPLMN and when both the UE and the HPLMN do not support any same one of the authentication procedures, establishing a transport layer security (TLS) connection with the server using at least one of a server-side TLS certificate and a client-side TLS certificate as taught by Pattan for the purpose of completing authentication.
Claim 23-24, 48-49, and 54-55 correspond to claim 5-6.
As to claim 25. (Original) The combination of Saarnivala and Xiong / Peng discloses the method of claim 24, Xiong discloses wherein: the first message is a ClientHello message (560) that includes the PSK identity hint that is supported by the UE and the UE's HPLMN and the one or more security key identifiers; the second message is a ServerKeyExchange (530) that includes all valid PSK identity hints; the ClientHello message (S560) is received in response to the ServerKeyExchange message; and the method further comprises receiving from the UE a further ClientHello message, with the ServerKeyExchange message being sent in response to the further ClientHello message. See Fig 5. Before the effective filing date of the instant invention it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to modify Saarnivala by implementing the steps as taught by Xiong for the purpose of authenticating with supported methods.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Rohini et al. (2024/0314561) provide for authentication with PSK identity hints exchanged. See [0103]-[0104].
Hawkes et al. (2014/0093081) provide for authentication with support indication and determination. See abstract.
Harding et al. (2022/0060899) provide for authentication with hint exchange. See [0070].
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to LESTER KINCAID whose telephone number is (571)272-7922. The examiner can normally be reached M-Th: 7-5.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Yuwen Pan can be reached at 571-272-7855. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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LESTER G. KINCAID
Primary Patent Examiner
Art Unit 2649
/LESTER G KINCAID/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2649
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