DETAILED ACTION
Notice of 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 .
The present office action is responsive to communications received on 7/29/2026. Claims 1-16 are pending.
Priority
Receipt is acknowledged of papers submitted under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d), which papers have been placed of record in the file.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 1/27/2025 is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Election/Restrictions
Applicant’s election without traverse of Group I, claims 1-13 and 15-16 in the reply filed on 7/29/2026 is acknowledged.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 the appropriate paragraphs of 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.
Claims 1-13 and 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Comarmond (US 20210219138 A1).
Regarding claim 1, Comarmond teaches a system (110) for providing secure communication between one or more smart cards (108) and a corresponding application server (112), said system (110) comprising: (Fig. 2, system '200' having communication between SIM '102b' & OTA SERVER/SIM UPDATE SERVER '110')
one or more processors (202); and
a memory (204) operatively coupled to the one or more processors (202), wherein the memory (204) comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the one or more processors (202) to:
push an applet ('update' as defined in paras. [0083]-[0087]) to the one or more smart cards (108) (Fig. 2, SIM '102b'), wherein each of the one or more smart cards (108) is associated with a corresponding computing device (104) ('host device' as defined in paras. [ 0083] -[ 0087]);
receive, from the application server (112), one or more secure communication keys ('pre-shared key(PSK)' as defined in paras. [0100]-[0135]) associated with the one or more smart cards (108), wherein each of the one or more secure communication keys is based on a corresponding unique identifier ('SIM identifier' as defined in paras. [ 0100] -[ 0135]) associated with each of the one or more smart cards (108); and
push the received one or more secure communication keys to the corresponding one or more smart cards (108) based on the corresponding unique identifier of each of the one or more smart cards (108). (Figs. 5 & 6; paras. [0100]-[0135])
Regarding claim 2, Comarmond teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above. Comarmond further teaches wherein the one or more secure communication keys secure the communication between the application server (112) and the one or more smart cards (108). (Figs. 5 & 6; paras. [0100]-[0135])
Regarding claim 3, Comarmond teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above. Comarmond further teaches wherein the one or more smart cards (108) comprise at least one of: a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, a universal integrated circuit card (UICC), or a universal SIM. (Fig. 2, SIM '102b')
Regarding claim 4, Comarmond teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above. Comarmond further teaches wherein the unique identifier comprises an integrated circuit card identification (ICCID) number. ([0101] As shown in FIG. 5, the requested SIM identifier may be the IMSI associated with SIM 102 b or the ICCID, MSISDN or any other identifier associated with SIM 102 b. Figs. 5 & 6; paras. [0100]-[0135])
Regarding claim 5, Comarmond teaches all the features with respect to claim 4, as outlined above. Comarmond further teaches wherein each of the one or more secure communication keys is a symmetric key generated based on the ICCID number. ([0101] As shown in FIG. 5, the requested SIM identifier may be the IMSI associated with SIM 102 b or the ICCID, MSISDN or any other identifier associated with SIM 102 b. Figs. 5 & 6; paras. [0100]-[0135]. [0015] The update data may be encrypted with a symmetric cryptographic key stored by the SIM.)
Regarding claim 6, Comarmond teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above. Comarmond further teaches wherein the memory (204) comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the one or more processors (202) to push the applet and the one or more secure communication keys to the one or more smart cards (108) at different instances of time. ('update' as defined in paras. [0083]-[0087].Figs. 5 & 6; paras. [0100]-[0135]. [0140] The update performed on the SIM 102 b based on the received update data may comprise installing new data onto the SIM 102 b (e.g. installing a new application such as a Javacard applet), updating data previously installed on the SIM 102 b, and/or modifying parameter values stored on the SIM 102 b.)
Regarding claim 7, Comarmond teaches all the features with respect to claim 1, as outlined above. Comarmond further teaches wherein the memory (204) comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the one or more processors (202) to push the applet along with each of the one or more secure communication keys to the corresponding one or more smart cards (108). ('update' as defined in paras. [0083]-[0087].Figs. 5 & 6; paras. [0100]-[0135]. [0140] The update performed on the SIM 102 b based on the received update data may comprise installing new data onto the SIM 102 b (e.g. installing a new application such as a Javacard applet), updating data previously installed on the SIM 102 b, and/or modifying parameter values stored on the SIM 102 b.)
Regarding claims 8 and 15-16, the scope of the claims are similar to that of claim 1 respectively. Accordingly, the claims are rejected using a similar rationale.
Regarding claims 9-13, the scope of the claims are similar to that of claim 2 and 4-7 respectively. Accordingly, the claims are rejected using a similar rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 2015007345 A1, "Systems, methods, and computer program products for managing secure elements" by Michael J. Gargiulo.
US 2014031024 A1, “Method and system for providing controllable trusted service manager” by Xiangzhen Xie.
US 2021076205 A1, "Methods for Certificate Issuance in Remote Provisioning Architectures for Embedded UICCS" by Ron Grippo.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to HAN YANG whose telephone number is (408)918-7638. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday to Friday, 9:00-5:00.
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, Carl Colin can be reached on (571)272-3862. 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.
/HAN YANG/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493
