DETAILED ACTION
This Office action is in response to amendments and remarks filed by Applicant on 5/15/2026.
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 .
Response to Amendment
Applicant presents amendments to claims 1, 4–6, 8, 11–13, 15, and 18–20. The amendments have been fully considered.
Applicant amends claims 1, 4, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, and 19 to clarify the ambiguity in the recited Qubit vs. QuBit. The claim objection is withdrawn.
Applicant amends independent claims 1, 8, and 15 to incorporate subject matter from dependent claims 5, 12, and 19. The subject matter was previously rejected. The previously-cited combination of references serving as the basis for the rejection of the dependent claims is applied to the independent claims.
Response to Arguments
Applicant presents arguments with respect to independent claims 1, 8, and 15. All arguments are fully considered.
Applicant argues that the combining of the secondary reference, Jacak, with the primary reference, Yuan, would render the primary reference “inoperable for its intended purpose” and that none of the cited references teach the recited, “in response to transmitting the quantum cryptographic key to the quantum computing device, encode the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key, wherein the encoded sensitive data comprises a generated one or more pairs of entangled quantum bits”.
The Examiner responds: The Examiner maintains that the primary reference teaches every aspect of the independent claims prior to the present amendment and that the secondary reference is only introduced to make abundantly clear that the resulting qubits would have the required entanglement characteristic nature, which is well-known, but was not explicitly articulated in the reference. Independent claims 1, 8, and 15 broadly claim, and the primary reference teaches, a conventional operation of Quantum Key Distribution relying on generated and shared quantum keys (generated with the help of a random sequence) to encode information and send a physical stream of particles across a fiber-optic channel and referred to as a stream of qubits. This process is described in more detain in Yuan ¶¶ 66–71 and the incorporation of the random number generator is found in Yuan ¶¶ 79–85.
The recited, “in response to transmitting the quantum cryptographic key to the quantum computing device, encode the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key, wherein the encoded sensitive data comprises a generated one or more pairs of entangled quantum bits”, is taught by Yuan. Specifically, the quantum cryptographic key is transmitted to the quantum computing device as described in t the key exchange between nodes. See Yuan Figure 3 and ¶ 84. To added effect, the disclosed quantum keys are generated with a random sequence of numbers generated by a random number generator, making them unique random keys. Once the keys are shared, the unique random keys can be used to encrypt and decrypt messages. In the primary reference, information is encoded and transmitted between nodes. See Yuan ¶ 68. Finally, by encoding classical data into quantum states, the results are fundamentally qubits. See Yuan ¶¶ 68–69.
In the previous Office Action, the Examiner suspected that the primary reference might not have been entirely clear regarding the nature of the resulting qubits, specifically whether the reference clearly asserted that the qubits would exhibit the entanglement characteristic. In the previous Office Action, the Examiner separated certain concepts in the limitation at issue to apply clarifying evidence to the claim mapping. To ensure clarity, the secondary reference was used to provide evidence of the widely understood general concept that the resulting qubits have an entanglement characteristic (attempting to avoid reliance on “Official Notice or other information within the Examiner’s personal knowledge to establish a rejection”). Therefore, Applicant’s argument that combining the secondary reference, Jacak, with the primary reference, Yuan, would render the primary reference “inoperable for its intended purpose”, misses the point of the combination. The secondary reference demonstrates the quantum keys applied to a message results in entangled quantum pairs. See Jacak ¶¶ 16–17. The Examiner is not relying on the secondary reference to teach a missing step or function, but to clarify an already existing characteristic of the primary reference that is required by Applicant’s claim limitation (specifically, “one or more pairs of entangled quantum bits”). Applicant will note that the Examiner’s citation in the claim mapping reads, “applying a random key K to quantum pairs to form an encrypted message M’ with properties of entanglement”, and does not imply a wholesale wedging a Quantum One-Time Pad into the QKD process disclosed in the primary reference.
Despite the Examiner’s assertion here that the primary reference teaches all aspects of the claim (prior to the present amendment) and that the secondary reference may not be necessary, the Examiner maintains the combination supporting the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 103 for the purposes of clarity.
Applicant’s arguments are unpersuasive.
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.
Claims 1–4, 6–11, 13–18, 20 rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Yuan (US 2020/0274701 A1, published Aug. 27, 2020) in view of Jacak (US 2021/0058244 A1, published Feb. 25, 2021) in view of Kunz (US 2024/0073011 A1, published Feb. 29, 2024).
Regarding claims 1, 8, and 15, Yuan discloses: a system, comprising: a quantum memory configured to store a quantum cryptographic key, a unique random key, and sensitive data to be transmitted to a quantum computing device over an optical communication channel (nodes with quantum communications units are configured to transmit information to other nodes with similar units over the quantum channel. Yuan ¶ 79. Nodes store local QRNG keys and quantum keys and facilitate transmission of transit information. Yuan ¶¶ 79, 84–85.); and one or more quantum processors operably coupled to the quantum memory and configured to: access the quantum cryptographic key and the sensitive data to be transmitted to the quantum computing device (identical quantum cryptographic keys generated and shared among appropriate QKD transmitter and KQD receiver nodes having quantum communications unites and are indexed and stored. Yuan ¶ 84. Nodes with quantum communications units are configured to transmit information to other nodes with similar units over the quantum channel. Yuan ¶ 79.); transmit, over the optical communication channel, the quantum cryptographic key to the quantum computing device (quantum key pairs are shared between nodes in the quantum communications network. Yuan ¶ 84.); in response to transmitting the quantum cryptographic key to the quantum computing device, encode the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key (forming the combined cryptographic key using a quantum cryptographic key that is shared between nodes combined with the local random secret generated by the QRNG at the node. Yuan ¶¶ 84–85.); and transmit, over the optical communication channel, the encoded sensitive data to the quantum computing device (nodes with quantum communications units are configured to transmit information to other nodes with similar units over the quantum channel. Yuan ¶ 79.).
Yuan does not disclose: encoding the sensitive data based upon the unique random key, wherein the encoded sensitive data comprises a generated one or more pairs of entangled quantum bits (QuBits); in response to encoding the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key, destroy the unique random key.
However, Jacak does disclose: encoding the sensitive data based upon the unique random key, wherein the encoded sensitive data comprises a generated one or more pairs of entangled quantum bits (QuBits) (applying a random key K to quantum pairs to form an encrypted message M’ with properties of entanglement. Jacak ¶¶ 16–17.).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secure transmission using quantum cryptography and classical cryptography on a quantum key distribution and combinations network of Yuan with the cryptographic payload being encrypted entangled qubits based upon the teachings of Jacak. The motivation being that applying OTP to quantum transmissions enables the entanglement and absolute security guarantees by fundamental quantum physical laws. Jacak ¶ 17.
Yuan in view of Jacak does not disclose: in response to encoding the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key, destroy the unique random key.
However, Kunz does disclose: in response to encoding the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key, destroy the unique random key (QPAD's are consumable data objects such that as the random key data is utilized, it is physically destroyed from disk and/or overwritten and destroyed in memory of subsystems utilizing the QPAD key material. Kunz ¶ 97.).
Therefore, it would have been prima facie obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art prior to the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the secure transmission using quantum cryptography and classical cryptography on a quantum key distribution and combinations network of Yuan with deleting the unique random key after use based upon the teachings of Kunz. The motivation being to prohibit the key being used again. Kunz ¶ 94.
Regarding claims 2, 9, and 16, Yuan in view of Jacak in view of Kunz discloses the limitations of claims 1, 8, and 15, respectively, wherein the sensitive data comprises a sensitive message to be transmitted to the quantum computing device (nodes with quantum communications units are configured to transmit information to other nodes with similar units over the quantum channel. Yuan ¶ 79.), and wherein the one or more quantum processors are further configured to: encode the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key to generate a ciphertext message (forming the combined cryptographic key using a quantum cryptographic key that is shared between nodes combined with the local random secret generated by the QRNG at the node. Yuan ¶¶ 84–85.); and transmit, over the optical communication channel, the ciphertext message to the quantum computing device (transmit information to other nodes with similar units over the quantum channel. Yuan ¶ 79.).
Regarding claims 3, 10, and 17, Yuan in view of Jacak in view of Kunz discloses the limitations of claims 2, 9, and 16, respectively, wherein the one or more quantum processors are further configured to encode the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key to generate the ciphertext message in accordance with a one-time pad (OTP) encryption process (applying a random key K to quantum pairs to form an encrypted message M’ with properties of entanglement. Jacak ¶¶ 16–17. The reference notes that the extension of the classical OTP to the quantum case is trivial and the mapping encryption of the K to M follows bit by bit in corresponding to classical OTP process. Id.).
Regarding claims 4, 11, and 18, Yuan in view of Jacak in view of Kunz discloses the limitations of claims 1, 8, and 15, respectively, wherein the one or more quantum processors are further configured to: prior to encoding the sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key: identify, based at least in part on one Qubit of each pair of the one or more pairs of entangled QuBits, an observance of the quantum cryptographic key during the transmission of the quantum cryptographic key to the quantum computing device (quantum transmitter with the intensity modulator. Yuan ¶¶ 5 and 92.); and in response to identifying the observance of the quantum cryptographic key, destroy the quantum cryptographic key (the quantum transmitter allows the sender and receive to determine the presence of an eavesdropper by measuring the number of pulses which have been safely received with the different intensities. Yuan ¶¶ 88 and 92.).
Regarding claims 5, 12, and 19, Yuan in view of Jacak in view of Kunz discloses the limitations of claims 1, 8, and 15, respectively, wherein the one or more quantum processors are further configured to: generate the unique random key (generate local random secret using the QRNG at the node. Yuan ¶¶ 84–85.).
Regarding claims 6, 13, and 20, Yuan in view of Jacak in view of Kunz discloses the limitations of claims 1, 8, and 15, respectively, wherein the one or more pairs of entangled Qubits comprises one or more of a plurality of entangled photons, a plurality of entangled electrons, a plurality of entangled neuronal impulses, or a plurality of entangled subatomic particles (Jacak ¶ 8.).
Regarding claims 7 and 14, Yuan in view of Jacak in view of Kunz discloses the limitations of claims 1 and 8, respectively, wherein the quantum computing device is configured to receive the transmission of the encoded sensitive data and to decrypt the encoded sensitive data based at least in part on the quantum cryptographic key and the unique random key (Yuan ¶¶ 79, 84–85.).
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure: Wagner (NPL: Wagner, Matias, Introduction to Quantum Key Distribution and the Primary Challenge in Establishing a Global Quantum Network, Quantum-Safe Internet (QSI), https://quantum-safeinternet.com/stories/1615-2/, doi: Nov. 2023, accessed Jun. 2, 2026.), once a key is used, the information is destroyed.
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.
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/VANCE M LITTLE/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2494
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