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 .
Priority
Acknowledgment is made of priority based on US provisional patent application filed on February 29, 2024.
Drawings
The drawings submitted on February 28, 2025 have been considered and accepted.
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.
Claims 1-18 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 1, 7, and 13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), claims 1, 7, and 13 recite the limitations “the at least three shares,” in “encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images.” There is insufficient antecedent basis for this limitation in the claim.
Claims 2-6 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as they depend on the rejected claim 1.
Claims 8-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as they depend on the rejected claim 7.
Claims 14-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as they depend on the rejected claim 13.
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.
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 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.
Claims 1-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Fazio et al. (Pub. No. US 2010/0037055), hereinafter Fazio, in view of Ornelas et al. (Pub. No. US 2021/0266150), hereinafter Ornelas.
Claim 1. Fazio discloses A method of securely storing and managing a private key, comprising:
receiving, by an application executing on a computerized device, the private key (See Parag. [0026]; an administrator sets up the initial cluster of application workers, it creates a public/private key pair and distributes shares of the private key to the worker agents using a threshold sharing scheme. See Parag. [0031]; establishes a private/public key pair for the group, splits the private key among the initial group members via an m-out-of-n threshold sharing scheme);
dividing, by the application, the private key into two or more shares such that at least two shares of the two or more shares are required to perform transactions associated with the private key (See Parag. [0034]; a private key k is split into separate fragments of the keys, or shares labeled s.sub.1, . . . , s.sub.m, . . . , s.sub.n. These shares may be distributed to individual users. The shares may then be combined to produce the original private key k…);
dividing, by the application, the private key and a first share of the two or more shares into at least three sub-shares such that at least a threshold number of two or more sub-shares of the at least three sub-shares are required to reconstruct the private key, the first share, or both (See Parag. [0035-0036]; FIG. 2 shows a technique for redistributing shares of a private key, or a sign key, to a new set of users. In particular, a key k is split into individual key shares, s.sub.1, . . . , s.sub.m, . . . , s.sub.n, as shown in FIG. 1. A first user, with share s.sub.1 then divides up its share into sub-shares, 10, 12 and 14. Likewise, another user, s.sub.m divides up its share into sub-shares, 16, 18 and 20. It will be appreciated that only two users and three sub-shares are illustrated but that a large number of users and sub-shares may be used in various embodiments of the invention… The sub-shares are formed such that when all the new shares are combined the original key k may be produced. See also Parag. [0101] and Fig. 6; If the minimum number of the redistributed sub-shares has been received, then a new share can be reconstructed using the redistributed set of sub-shares, in step 82).
Fazio doesn’t explicitly disclose encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images.
However Ornelas discloses:
encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images (See Parag. [0020]; a secret shares can be stored on portable storage devices or media for distribution to shareholders, e.g., USB keys/memory sticks (or other solid state drives), or optical or magnetic disks. In examples, the secret shares can be displayed on a screen and written down or otherwise physically distributed through printing (such as into a Quick Response (QR) code, barcode, etc.)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include encoding at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 2. Fazio in view of Ornelas discloses the method of claim 1,
Ornelas further discloses the method further comprising generating a digital file comprising a representation of at least one of the QR code images for exporting off of the computerized device (See Parag. [0020]; the secret shares can be displayed on a screen and written down or otherwise physically distributed through printing (such as into a Quick Response (QR) code, barcode, etc.). In examples, shares of the secret (e.g., a key) can be electronically distributed to the devices of the users using at least one of email, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), instant messaging, push notification (such as a push verify notification), by polling (or pulling) a notification, or by Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or near field communication (NFC) transmission. See Parag. [0043]; the secret shares may be electronically distributed to devices belonging to the shareholders (or group of shareholders) using the at least one network interface 206, such as by at least one of email, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), instant messaging, push notification, or push verify notification. In examples, the secret shares can be displayed, printed, or otherwise fixed on a medium (e.g., as a quick response (QR) code) provided to shareholders who could then input the secret share into their corresponding computing device 104).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include a digital file comprising a representation of at least one of the QR code images for exporting off of the computerized device, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 3. Fazio in view of Ornelas discloses the method of claim 1,
Fazio further discloses the method further comprising storing at least one of the at least three shares in a memory of the computerized device (See Parag. [0020]; the secret shares can be stored on portable storage devices or media for distribution to shareholders, e.g., USB keys/memory sticks (or other solid state drives), or optical or magnetic disks).
Claim 4. Fazio in view of Ornelas discloses the method of claim 1,
Ornelas discloses the method further comprising: receiving, at a user interface provided by the application, a request to access a wallet associated with a user of the computerized device, wherein access to the wallet requires the private key or a combination of the two or more shares generated by dividing the private key; scanning, by the application, and in response to receiving the request, a subset of the QR code images; decoding, by the application, each of the subset of the QR code images to extract a respective sub-share of the first share; determining, by the application, and based on information from each respective sub-share, that the plurality of QR codes represents a minimum number of sub-shares required to recover the first share; combining, by the application, each respective sub-share to reconstruct the first share; and using, by the application, the reconstructed first share with the second share to access the wallet (See Parag. [0045]; the at least one processor 204 of the computing device 102 is further configured to reconstitute the secret from a set of secret shares where at least one subset of the secret shares can be used to reconstitute the secret, e.g., M of N secret shares are required to reconstitute the secret. In examples, this is implemented in the secret reconstituting module 220. In examples, the at least one processor 204 is configured to retrieve a subset (e.g., M of N) secret shares from a subset of the shareholders … if the secret shares were distributed on printouts (e.g., barcodes or QR codes), the retrieval includes scanning the subset of secret shares (physically brought by the shareholders) using an imaging device, such as a camera, scanner, etc. See Parag. [0029] [0038] [0051] [0097]; “Wallet”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include a request to access a wallet, wherein access to the wallet requires the private key or a combination of the two or more shares generated by dividing the private key; scanning a subset of the QR code images; decoding, each of the subset of the QR code images to extract a respective sub-share of the first share; determining based on information from each respective sub-share, that the plurality of QR codes represents a minimum number of sub-shares required to recover the first share; combining each respective sub-share to reconstruct the first share; and using the reconstructed first share with the second share to access the wallet, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 5. Fazio in view of Ornelas discloses the method of claim 4,
Ornelas further discloses wherein scanning the plurality of QR codes comprises capturing a digital image of at least one of the QR codes using a camera connected to the computerized device (See Parag. [0045]; reconstitute the secret from a set of secret shares where at least one subset of the secret shares can be used to reconstitute the secret, e.g., M of N secret shares are required to reconstitute the secret… if the secret shares were distributed on printouts (e.g., barcodes or QR codes), the retrieval includes scanning the subset of secret shares (physically brought by the shareholders) using an imaging device, such as a camera, scanner, etc).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include capturing a digital image of at least one of the QR codes using a camera connected to the computerized device, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 6. Fazio in view of Ornelas discloses the method of claim 4,
Ornelas further discloses wherein scanning the plurality of QR codes comprises: receiving, via the user interface, a selection of a digital file from a file system accessible on the computerized device to the application; and determining, by the application, that the digital file comprises a representation of at least one of the QR codes (See Parag. [0020]; the secret shares can be displayed on a screen and written down or otherwise physically distributed through printing (such as into a Quick Response (QR) code, barcode, etc.). In examples, shares of the secret (e.g., a key) can be electronically distributed to the devices of the users using at least one of email, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), instant messaging, push notification (such as a push verify notification), by polling (or pulling) a notification, or by Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or near field communication (NFC) transmission. See Parag. [0045]; … if the secret shares were distributed on printouts (e.g., barcodes or QR codes), the retrieval includes scanning the subset of secret shares (physically brought by the shareholders) using an imaging device, such as a camera, scanner, etc. Alternatively, if the secret shares were distributed electronically via at least one network 106, the retrieval can include receiving the subset of secret shares from the shareholders' electronic devices 104 via the at least one network 106. See also Parag. [0068]).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include receiving a selection of a digital file from a file system accessible on the computerized device to the application; and determining that the digital file comprises a representation of at least one of the QR codes, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 7. Fazio discloses one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors (See Fig. 7 and Parag. [0109-0114]), cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by an application executing on a computerized device, a private key (See Parag. [0026]; an administrator sets up the initial cluster of application workers, it creates a public/private key pair and distributes shares of the private key to the worker agents using a threshold sharing scheme. See Parag. [0031]; establishes a private/public key pair for the group, splits the private key among the initial group members via an m-out-of-n threshold sharing scheme);
dividing, by the application, the private key into two or more shares such that at least two shares of the two or more shares are required to perform transactions associated with the private key (See Parag. [0034]; a private key k is split into separate fragments of the keys, or shares labeled s.sub.1, . . . , s.sub.m, . . . , s.sub.n. These shares may be distributed to individual users. The shares may then be combined to produce the original private key k…);
dividing, by the application, the private key and a first share of the two or more shares into at least three sub-shares such that at least a threshold number of two or more sub- shares of the at least three sub-shares are required to reconstruct the private key, the first share, or both (See Parag. [0035-0036]; FIG. 2 shows a technique for redistributing shares of a private key, or a sign key, to a new set of users. In particular, a key k is split into individual key shares, s.sub.1, . . . , s.sub.m, . . . , s.sub.n, as shown in FIG. 1. A first user, with share s.sub.1 then divides up its share into sub-shares, 10, 12 and 14. Likewise, another user, s.sub.m divides up its share into sub-shares, 16, 18 and 20. It will be appreciated that only two users and three sub-shares are illustrated but that a large number of users and sub-shares may be used in various embodiments of the invention… The sub-shares are formed such that when all the new shares are combined the original key k may be produced. See also Parag. [0101] and Fig. 6; If the minimum number of the redistributed sub-shares has been received, then a new share can be reconstructed using the redistributed set of sub-shares, in step 82).
Fazio doesn’t explicitly disclose encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images.
However Ornelas discloses:
encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images (See Parag. [0020]; a secret shares can be stored on portable storage devices or media for distribution to shareholders, e.g., USB keys/memory sticks (or other solid state drives), or optical or magnetic disks. In examples, the secret shares can be displayed on a screen and written down or otherwise physically distributed through printing (such as into a Quick Response (QR) code, barcode, etc.)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include encoding at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 8. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 2 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 9. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 3 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 10. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 4 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 11. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 5 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 12. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 6 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 13. Fazio discloses a system comprising: one or more processors; one or more storage devices storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors (See Fig. 7 and Parag. [0109-0114]), cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving, by an application executing on a computerized device, a private key (See Parag. [0026]; an administrator sets up the initial cluster of application workers, it creates a public/private key pair and distributes shares of the private key to the worker agents using a threshold sharing scheme. See Parag. [0031]; establishes a private/public key pair for the group, splits the private key among the initial group members via an m-out-of-n threshold sharing scheme);
dividing, by the application, the private key into two or more shares such that at least two shares of the two or more shares are required to perform transactions associated with the private key (See Parag. [0034]; a private key k is split into separate fragments of the keys, or shares labeled s.sub.1, . . . , s.sub.m, . . . , s.sub.n. These shares may be distributed to individual users. The shares may then be combined to produce the original private key k…);
dividing, by the application, the private key and a first share of the two or more shares into at least three sub-shares such that at least a threshold number of two or more sub-shares of the at least three sub-shares are required to reconstruct the private key, the first share, or both (See Parag. [0035-0036]; FIG. 2 shows a technique for redistributing shares of a private key, or a sign key, to a new set of users. In particular, a key k is split into individual key shares, s.sub.1, . . . , s.sub.m, . . . , s.sub.n, as shown in FIG. 1. A first user, with share s.sub.1 then divides up its share into sub-shares, 10, 12 and 14. Likewise, another user, s.sub.m divides up its share into sub-shares, 16, 18 and 20. It will be appreciated that only two users and three sub-shares are illustrated but that a large number of users and sub-shares may be used in various embodiments of the invention… The sub-shares are formed such that when all the new shares are combined the original key k may be produced. See also Parag. [0101] and Fig. 6; If the minimum number of the redistributed sub-shares has been received, then a new share can be reconstructed using the redistributed set of sub-shares, in step 82).
Fazio doesn’t explicitly disclose encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images.
However Ornelas discloses:
encoding, by the application, at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images (See Parag. [0020]; a secret shares can be stored on portable storage devices or media for distribution to shareholders, e.g., USB keys/memory sticks (or other solid state drives), or optical or magnetic disks. In examples, the secret shares can be displayed on a screen and written down or otherwise physically distributed through printing (such as into a Quick Response (QR) code, barcode, etc.)).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art at the time before the effective filling date of the claimed invention to modify the teaching, taught by Fazio, to include encoding at least one of the at least three shares as quick response (QR) code images, as taught by Ornelas. This would be convenient to keep keys secure and accessible when needed (Ornelas, Parag. [0019]).
Claim 14. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 2 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 15. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 3 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 16. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 4 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 17. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 5 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Claim 18. The applicant is directed to the rejections to claim 6 set forth above, as it is rejected based on the same rationale.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure (see PTO-form 892).
Kang et al. (Pub. No. US 2024/0146542) - related to a multi-party computation based digital signature apparatus, which includes at least: an individual private key generation unit generating an individual private key corresponding to a user; an individual private key pieces generation unit dividing the generated individual private key and generating pieces; an individual distribution key generation unit generating an individual distribution key corresponding to the user by using some of shared individual private key pieces of other users and some of the generated individual private key pieces; and a common public key generation unit generating a common public key by using the individual distribution keys of one or more other users and the individual distribution key of the user, and the individual private key of each user is broken to pieces, and then some of the broken individual private keys are shared for each user again to generate the individual distribution key (See Abstract).
Teaches detecting a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) encoded in a barcode in an email includes receiving the email, and prior to delivering the received email, providing the received email to a barcode URL detection engine. The barcode URL detection engine may be configured to parse the received email, build a structured representation of the email, extract an image from the structured representation of the email, send the extracted image to a barcode scanner and receive a result back from the barcode scanner. When the received result indicates that the extracted image contains a barcode storing a HTTP or HTTPS URL, the barcode URL detection engine may determine whether the URL is suspicious. When the URL is determined to be suspicious, the barcode URL detection engine may perform one or more selected actions to protect the intended recipient of the received email from the suspicious URL (see Abstract).
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GHIZLANE MAAZOUZ whose telephone number is (571)272-8118. The examiner can normally be reached Telework M-F 7:30-5 PM.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Philip J Chea can be reached on 571-272-3951. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GHIZLANE MAAZOUZ/Examiner, Art Unit 2499 /PHILIP J CHEA/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2499
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