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 . This office action is in response to an application filed on 05/01/2025. The applicant submits an Information Disclosure Statement dated 07/21/2025. The applicant does not make a claim for Foreign priority. The applicant makes a claim for Domestic priority to application filed on 12/07/2018, 05/01/2020, 05/02/2023, and 02/12/2024.
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP § 2146 et seq. for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The filing of a terminal disclaimer by itself is not a complete reply to a nonstatutory double patenting (NSDP) rejection. A complete reply requires that the terminal disclaimer be accompanied by a reply requesting reconsideration of the prior Office action. Even where the NSDP rejection is provisional the reply must be complete. See MPEP § 804, subsection I.B.1. For a reply to a non-final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.111(a). For a reply to final Office action, see 37 CFR 1.113(c). A request for reconsideration while not provided for in 37 CFR 1.113(c) may be filed after final for consideration. See MPEP §§ 706.07(e) and 714.13.
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The actual filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/applying-online/eterminal-disclaimer.
Claims 1 – 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 -15 of U.S. Patent No. 11,681,034. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same inventive concept of identifying the components of a wireless transmission using a wireless communication device using encryption to ensure secure access to a vehicle.
Claims 1 – 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 - 13 of U.S. Patent No. 12,228,634. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same inventive concept of identifying the components of a wireless transmission using a wireless communication device using encryption to ensure secure access to a vehicle.
Claims 1 – 20 are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1 - 18 of U.S. Patent No. 12,442,912. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because the claims are directed to the same inventive concept of identifying the components of a wireless transmission using a wireless communication device using encryption to ensure secure access to a vehicle.
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1 - 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Leong US 2019/0013937.
As per claim 1, A device for wireless communication, the device comprising:
a transceiver configured to: (Leong paragraph 0100 discloses, “The communication devices may communicate using impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB), RF transceivers for IEEE 802.15, 4-2015 (including ZigBee), and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE, or Bluetooth 5), for example.”)
receive a message from a second device; (Leong paragraph 0041 discloses, “the first communication device transmitting a request first-type frame to the plurality of second communication devices, one or more of the second communication devices receiving the request first-type frame and, in response to receiving the request first-type frame, transmitting a first response first-type frame to the first communication device, the first communication device transmitting a second response first-type frame in response to receiving the or each first response first-type frame,”)
at least one processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: (Leong paragraph 0165 discloses, “Such instructions are loaded for execution on a processor (such as one or more CPUs). The term processor included microprocessors, microcontrollers, processor modules or subsystems (including one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers), or other control or computing devices. A processor can refer to a single component or to plural components.”)
generate a response message, wherein the response message comprises a SYNC portion, a start frame delimiter (SFD) portion, a physical layer header (PHR) portion, a payload portion, a variable transmission gap, and a cipher portion; (Leong paragraph 0096 discloses, “The second-type frame 420 also comprises a synchronisation header (SHR) 430 comprising a synchronisation portion 422 and a start frame delimiter 424. For the second-type frame 420, the synchronisation header (SHR) 430 also provides a preamble of the frame 420. The preamble is followed by a data payload 428, which may be used to return ranging information in the double-sided ranging scheme.”)
wherein the PHR portion signals a length of the variable transmission gap between the payload portion and the cipher portion of the packet; (Leong paragraph 0088 discloses, “The first-type frame 410 comprises sequential data structures including a synchronisation portion 402, a start frame delimiter 404, a secure training sequence (STS) 406 and a data payload 408. The synchronisation portion may contain a repeated pattern. The synchronisaton portion 402 and subsequent start frame delimiter 404 provide a synchronisation header (SHR) 411 in a conventional manner. The synchronisation header 411 and subsequent secure training sequence (STS) 406 may be considered to provide a secure preamble 412 that can be used to identify the frame and perform ranging.”) and
the transceiver further configured to: transmit the response message to the second device. (Leong paragraph 0098 discloses, “The tag 502 sends a first-type I1 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. Subsequently, each of the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510 sends a respective first response first-type frame I2, I3, I4, I5 back to the tag 502. Following receipt of the first response first-type frames I2, I3, I4, I5, the tag 502 sends a second response first-type frame I6 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. In this way, a double-sided RF ranging scheme of the type described above with reference to FIG. 2 may be provided. Following the double-sided ranging frame exchange the tag 502 may send a second-type frame I7 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. In this way, polling may be performed by regular transmission of “I1” frames by the tag, while repeated measurements are performed by repeated exchange of complete ranging blocks.”)
As per claim 2, The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine the length of the variable transmission gap such that the cipher portion of the packet occurs at a specific time offset relative to reception of the message. (Leong paragraph 0110 discloses, “Splitting the key into keys for the counter, the STS generation, and a separate key for encrypting additional (timestamp) data. All these keys can be derived from a common master key, as discussed below in relation to FIG. 6b. Such a scheme can, for example, be implemented according to NIST SP 800-108 § 5.1.”)
As per claim 3, The device of claim 1, wherein the cipher portion comprises a cryptographically generated training sequence. (Leong paragraph 0089 discloses, “The security-sequence, or secure training sequence (STS) 406, of the first-type frame 410 is a cryptographically secure pseudo random number that may be provided by a cryptographically secure pseudo random number generator (CSPRNG) of the transmitter. The cryptographically secure pseudo random number may be generated using known encryption methodology. Use of the secure training sequence (STS) 406 enables the received to verify the authenticity of the transmitter by comparing the STS 406 that is received with a reference pattern.”)
As per claim 4, The device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to include information specifying the variable transmission gap in encrypted form in the payload portion. (Leong paragraph 0122 discloses, “encode/decode 780 time stamp information 728b in the data payload of the second-type frames 720 using the second-derived-session-key 758.”)
As per claim 5, The device of claim 1, wherein communication between the device and the second device is based on an ultra wide-band (UWB) communication protocol. (Leong paragraph 0047 discloses, “the first-type frames and second-type frames are impulse radio ultra-wide band, IR-UWB, frames. The synchronisation of the first-derived session keys may be conducted over Bluetooth or IR-UWB. The first and second communication devices may be ranging devices.”)
As per claim 6, The device of claim 1, wherein the length of the variable transmission gap ranges from zero to 1016 ns. (Leong paragraph 0083 discloses, “A timestamp module 420 is arranged to receive the channel estimate information 415 generated by the channel estimate generation component 410, and the digital representation of the received RF signal 405, and to determine a ToA measurement 425 for a marker within a packet within the received RF signal based at least partly on the channel estimate information 415.”)
As per claim 7, The device of claim 1, wherein the length of the variable transmission gap is determined by multiplying a predetermined time by an integer. (Leong paragraph 00145 discloses, “When confirmation is established, a “guard time” following the second exchange can be reserved to allow all second communication devices to update their first-derived-session-keys. To improve privacy protection, additional dummy frames may be exchanged during the guard time in order to obfuscate from any eavesdropping third party that the operation of the system has changed.”)
As per claim 8, A method in a device for wireless communication, the method comprising:
receiving, at a transceiver, a message from a second device; (Leong paragraph 0100 discloses, “The communication devices may communicate using impulse radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB), RF transceivers for IEEE 802.15, 4-2015 (including ZigBee), and Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE, or Bluetooth 5), for example.”)
generating a response message using one or more processors, wherein the response message comprises a SYNC portion, a start frame delimiter (SFD) portion, a physical layer header (PHR) portion, a payload portion, a variable transmission gap, and a cipher portion; (Leong paragraph 0096 discloses, “The second-type frame 420 also comprises a synchronisation header (SHR) 430 comprising a synchronisation portion 422 and a start frame delimiter 424. For the second-type frame 420, the synchronisation header (SHR) 430 also provides a preamble of the frame 420. The preamble is followed by a data payload 428, which may be used to return ranging information in the double-sided ranging scheme.”)
wherein the PHR portion signals a length of the variable transmission gap between the payload portion and the cipher portion of the packet; (Leong paragraph 0088 discloses, “The first-type frame 410 comprises sequential data structures including a synchronisation portion 402, a start frame delimiter 404, a secure training sequence (STS) 406 and a data payload 408. The synchronisation portion may contain a repeated pattern. The synchronisaton portion 402 and subsequent start frame delimiter 404 provide a synchronisation header (SHR) 411 in a conventional manner. The synchronisation header 411 and subsequent secure training sequence (STS) 406 may be considered to provide a secure preamble 412 that can be used to identify the frame and perform ranging.”) and
transmitting, using the transceiver, the response message to the second device. (Leong paragraph 0098 discloses, “The tag 502 sends a first-type I1 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. Subsequently, each of the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510 sends a respective first response first-type frame I2, I3, I4, I5 back to the tag 502. Following receipt of the first response first-type frames I2, I3, I4, I5, the tag 502 sends a second response first-type frame I6 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. In this way, a double-sided RF ranging scheme of the type described above with reference to FIG. 2 may be provided. Following the double-sided ranging frame exchange the tag 502 may send a second-type frame I7 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. In this way, polling may be performed by regular transmission of “I1” frames by the tag, while repeated measurements are performed by repeated exchange of complete ranging blocks.”)
As per claim 9, The method of claim 8, further comprising determining, using the one or more processors, the length of the variable transmission gap such that the cipher portion of the packet occurs at a specific time offset relative to reception of the message. (Leong paragraph 0110 discloses, “Splitting the key into keys for the counter, the STS generation, and a separate key for encrypting additional (timestamp) data. All these keys can be derived from a common master key, as discussed below in relation to FIG. 6b. Such a scheme can, for example, be implemented according to NIST SP 800-108 § 5.1”)
As per claim 10, The method of claim 8, wherein the cipher portion comprises a cryptographically generated training sequence. (Leong paragraph 0089 discloses, “The security-sequence, or secure training sequence (STS) 406, of the first-type frame 410 is a cryptographically secure pseudo random number that may be provided by a cryptographically secure pseudo random number generator (CSPRNG) of the transmitter. The cryptographically secure pseudo random number may be generated using known encryption methodology. Use of the secure training sequence (STS) 406 enables the received to verify the authenticity of the transmitter by comparing the STS 406 that is received with a reference pattern.”)
As per claim 11, The method of claim 8, further comprising, including information specifying the variable transmission gap in encrypted form in the payload portion. (Leong paragraph 0122 discloses, “encode/decode 780 time stamp information 728b in the data payload of the second-type frames 720 using the second-derived-session-key 758.”)
As per claim 12, The method of claim 8, wherein communication between the device and the second device is based on an ultra wide-band (UWB) communication protocol. (Leong paragraph 0047 discloses, “the first-type frames and second-type frames are impulse radio ultra-wide band, IR-UWB, frames. The synchronisation of the first-derived session keys may be conducted over Bluetooth or IR-UWB. The first and second communication devices may be ranging devices.”)
As per claim 13, The method of claim 8, wherein the length of the variable transmission gap ranges from zero to 1016 ns. (Leong paragraph 0083 discloses, “A timestamp module 420 is arranged to receive the channel estimate information 415 generated by the channel estimate generation component 410, and the digital representation of the received RF signal 405, and to determine a ToA measurement 425 for a marker within a packet within the received RF signal based at least partly on the channel estimate information 415.”)
As per claim 14, The method of claim 8, wherein the length of the variable transmission gap is determined by multiplying a predetermined time by an integer. (Leong paragraph 00145 discloses, “When confirmation is established, a “guard time” following the second exchange can be reserved to allow all second communication devices to update their first-derived-session-keys. To improve privacy protection, additional dummy frames may be exchanged during the guard time in order to obfuscate from any eavesdropping third party that the operation of the system has changed.”)
As per claim 15, A non-transitory computer readable medium that stores computer executable instructions, wherein, in response to executing the computer executable instructions, one or more processors is configured to perform a method, the method comprising: (Leong paragraph 0166 discloses, “The non-transient machine or computer usable media or mediums as defined herein excludes signals, but such media or mediums may be capable of receiving and processing information from signals and/or other transient mediums.”)
receiving, with a transceiver, a message from a second device; (Leong paragraph 0041 discloses, “the first communication device transmitting a request first-type frame to the plurality of second communication devices, one or more of the second communication devices receiving the request first-type frame and, in response to receiving the request first-type frame, transmitting a first response first-type frame to the first communication device, the first communication device transmitting a second response first-type frame in response to receiving the or each first response first-type frame,”)
generating a response message using the one or more processors, wherein the response message comprises a SYNC portion, a start frame delimiter (SFD) portion, a physical layer header (PHR) portion, a payload portion, a variable transmission gap, and a cipher portion; (Leong paragraph 0096 discloses, “The second-type frame 420 also comprises a synchronisation header (SHR) 430 comprising a synchronisation portion 422 and a start frame delimiter 424. For the second-type frame 420, the synchronisation header (SHR) 430 also provides a preamble of the frame 420. The preamble is followed by a data payload 428, which may be used to return ranging information in the double-sided ranging scheme.”)
wherein the PHR portion signals a length of the variable transmission gap between the payload portion and the cipher portion of the packet; (Leong paragraph 0088 discloses, “The first-type frame 410 comprises sequential data structures including a synchronisation portion 402, a start frame delimiter 404, a secure training sequence (STS) 406 and a data payload 408. The synchronisation portion may contain a repeated pattern. The synchronisaton portion 402 and subsequent start frame delimiter 404 provide a synchronisation header (SHR) 411 in a conventional manner. The synchronisation header 411 and subsequent secure training sequence (STS) 406 may be considered to provide a secure preamble 412 that can be used to identify the frame and perform ranging.”) and
transmitting, using the transceiver, the response message to the second device. (Leong paragraph 0098 discloses, “The tag 502 sends a first-type I1 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. Subsequently, each of the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510 sends a respective first response first-type frame I2, I3, I4, I5 back to the tag 502. Following receipt of the first response first-type frames I2, I3, I4, I5, the tag 502 sends a second response first-type frame I6 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. In this way, a double-sided RF ranging scheme of the type described above with reference to FIG. 2 may be provided. Following the double-sided ranging frame exchange the tag 502 may send a second-type frame I7 to the anchors 504, 506, 508, 510. In this way, polling may be performed by regular transmission of “I1” frames by the tag, while repeated measurements are performed by repeated exchange of complete ranging blocks.”)
As per claim 16, The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the cipher portion comprises a cryptographically generated training sequence. (Leong paragraph 0089 discloses, “The security-sequence, or secure training sequence (STS) 406, of the first-type frame 410 is a cryptographically secure pseudo random number that may be provided by a cryptographically secure pseudo random number generator (CSPRNG) of the transmitter. The cryptographically secure pseudo random number may be generated using known encryption methodology. Use of the secure training sequence (STS) 406 enables the received to verify the authenticity of the transmitter by comparing the STS 406 that is received with a reference pattern.”)
As per claim 17, The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises: including information specifying the variable transmission gap in encrypted form in the payload portion. (Leong paragraph 0122 discloses, “encode/decode 780 time stamp information 728b in the data payload of the second-type frames 720 using the second-derived-session-key 758.”)
As per claim 18, The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein communication between the device and the second device is based on an ultra wide-band (UWB) communication protocol. (Leong paragraph 0047 discloses, “the first-type frames and second-type frames are impulse radio ultra-wide band, IR-UWB, frames. The synchronisation of the first-derived session keys may be conducted over Bluetooth or IR-UWB. The first and second communication devices may be ranging devices.”)
As per claim 19, The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the length of the variable transmission gap ranges from zero to 1016 ns. (Leong paragraph 0083 discloses, “A timestamp module 420 is arranged to receive the channel estimate information 415 generated by the channel estimate generation component 410, and the digital representation of the received RF signal 405, and to determine a ToA measurement 425 for a marker within a packet within the received RF signal based at least partly on the channel estimate information 415.”)
As per claim 20, The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the length of the variable transmission gap is determined by multiplying a predetermined time by an integer. (Leong paragraph 00145 discloses, “When confirmation is established, a “guard time” following the second exchange can be reserved to allow all second communication devices to update their first-derived-session-keys. To improve privacy protection, additional dummy frames may be exchanged during the guard time in order to obfuscate from any eavesdropping third party that the operation of the system has changed.”)
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to TYLER D PAIGE whose telephone number is (571)270-5425. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:00am - 6:00pm (mst).
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/TYLER D PAIGE/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 3664
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