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 .
Election/Restrictions
Applicant's election with traverse of Group I, claims 1-15 in the reply filed on May 26, 2026 is acknowledged. The traversal is on the ground(s) that they are not patentably distinct because both groups require authentication using session keys derived from base keys. This is not found persuasive because Group I, claims 1-15 are directed to responsive to a command generating sessions keys and authenticated communication while Group II, claims 16-20 are directed to enabling functionalities of multiple communication channels.
The requirement is still deemed proper and is therefore made FINAL.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
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 1-3 and 8-15 are are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ward et al. US 2023/0109232 A1 [hereinafter Ward].
As per claim 1 Ward teaches a logic circuit comprising:
an interface to communicate with a host [figures 1-3];
a processor [figures 1-3]; and a memory storing instructions that when executed by the processor cause the processor to:
in response to a first start session command without having previously derived a shared key with the host, communicate with the host through a pairing channel where communications are authenticated using a session key derived from a pairing base key, to derive the shared key [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049]; and
in response to the first start session command and after having derived the shared key, communicate with the host through a nominal channel where communications are authenticated using a session key derived from the shared key [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 8, Ward teaches a logic circuitry package comprising:
an interface to communicate with a host [figures 1-3];
a logic circuit [figures 1-3]; and
a memory [figures 1-3] storing instructions that when executed by the logic circuit cause the logic circuit to:
process a pairing/nominal start session command from the host [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049];
in response to the pairing/nominal start session command, when not having completed a pairing sequence with the host to derive a shared key, communicate with the host through a pairing channel where communications are authenticated using a session key derived from a pairing base key [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049]; and
in response to the pairing/nominal start session command, when having stored the shared key associated with the host, communicate with the host through a nominal channel where communications are authenticated using a session key derived from the shared key [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 2, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the processor further cause the processor to: in response to a second start session command, communicate with the host through an admin channel where communications are authenticated using a session key received from the host as part of the second start session command, or in response to a third start session command, communicate with the host through a legacy channel where communications are authenticated using a session key derived from a peripheral base key [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 3, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the different channels each enable (i) different functionalities of the logic circuit or (ii) the logic circuit to respond to different commands received from the host [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 9, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the logic circuit further cause the logic circuit to: process an admin start session command from the host [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049]; and in response to the admin start session command, communicate with the host through an admin channel where communications are authenticated using a session key received from the host as part of the admin start session command [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 10, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the memory stores instructions that when executed by the logic circuit further cause the logic circuit to: in response to receiving an unauthenticated command while no sessions are active within any of said channels, transmit an unauthenticated response [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 11, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the unauthenticated command is not an admin start session command [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 12, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein each of at least two or at least three of the pairing channel, the nominal channel, the admin channel, and the legacy channel enable different functionalities of the logic circuitry package [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 13, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the memory comprises a plurality of partitions and the logic circuit is configured so that read and/or write access to the plurality of partitions is different between the different channels [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 14, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the pairing/nominal start session command includes a host identifier and a first key identifier corresponding to the pairing base key, the admin start session command includes the session key, and/or a legacy start session command includes a second key identifier corresponding to a peripheral base key [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
As per claim 15, Ward further teaches the circuit wherein the host of the pairing channel and the nominal channel comprises a print apparatus logic circuit, the host of the admin channel comprises an administrative processing system to personalize the logic circuitry package, and/or the host of a legacy channel comprises a limited access processing system [paragraphs 0021-0022, 0041-0045 and 0048-0049].
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4-7 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to BEEMNET W DADA whose telephone number is (571)272-3847. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
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BEEMNET W. DADA
Primary Examiner
Art Unit 2435
/BEEMNET W DADA/ Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2435
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