CTNF 18/880,728 CTNF 84067 DETAILED ACTION 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. Priority Applicant’s claim for the benefit of a prior-filed application under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) or under 35 U.S.C. 120, 121, 365(c), or 386(c) is acknowledged. Information Disclosure Statement The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 2 January 2025 has been considered by the examiner. Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112 07-30-02 AIA 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. 07-34-01 Claims 23-42 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. Claim 23 recites the limitation “execute policy shim code to enforce access control policy in a first privilege level and dispatch the SMI to shield code to enforce an access security policy to perform a system management mode (SMM)”. Examiner interprets this as executing the policy shim code to perform two actions – enforce access control policy and dispatch the SMI to shield code. The limitation that follows recites “execute the shield code to perform the SMM”. This recites the “shield code” as on object, a piece of code to be executed, in conflict to the original recitation as an action. Accordingly, claim 23 lacks antecedent basis for “shield code” as an object and is rejected on this basis. Claims 24-28 are rejected as depending from a rejected claim and failing to correct the deficiencies thereof. Claim 29 recites the limitation “execute boot shield code to enforce access control policy in a first privilege level, load memory preserved warm reset (MPWR) context, retrieve an operating system (OS) MPWR entry point from the MPWR context”. It is unclear if this comma separated list of actions to be perform as a result of executing the boot shield code is to be interpreted as being all required (as if separated by series of “and” connectors), or in the alternative (as if separated by series of “or” connectors). Given this ambiguity, the scope of claim 29 cannot be determined and is rejected on this basis. Claims 30-36 are rejected as depending from a rejected claim and failing to correct the deficiencies thereof. Claim 37 recites the limitation “dispatching the SMI to a shield operation to enforce the access security policy to perform a system management mode (SMM);”. It is unclear how a system management interrupt (SMI) can be dispatched “to” a shield operation. Dispatching the SMI to the shield operation implies that the shield operation is a location or area to which the SMI goes. However, the immediately following limitation states “performing the shield operation to perform the SMM”, which implies that the shield operation is a process or function. On this basis, Claim 37 lacks antecedent basis for the shield operation as a process or function and is rejected on that basis. Claims 38-42 are rejected as depending from a rejected claim and failing to correct the deficiencies thereof. Priority 07-96 AIA The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2021/0342213 by Kotary et al . discloses using an SMI for policy purposes with respect to BIOS U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0013235 by Yao et al. discloses SMM policy shim code U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2023/0176876 by Saroiu et al. discloses using an SMI for policy purposes Conclusion Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MICHAEL S MCNALLY whose telephone number is (571)270-1599. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM. 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, Jeffrey L Nickerson can be reached at (469)295-9235. 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. MICHAEL S. MCNALLY Primary Examiner Art Unit 2432 /Michael S McNally/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2432 Application/Control Number: 18/880,728 Page 2 Art Unit: 2432 Application/Control Number: 18/880,728 Page 3 Art Unit: 2432 Application/Control Number: 18/880,728 Page 4 Art Unit: 2432 Application/Control Number: 18/880,728 Page 5 Art Unit: 2432
Prosecution Insights