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 .
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.
DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/02/2025 has been considered. The submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Form PTO-1449 is signed and attached hereto.
Drawings
The drawings filed on 05/02/2025 are accepted by the examiner.
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 obviousness-type 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); and 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Effective January 1, 1994, a registered attorney or agent of record may sign a terminal disclaimer. A terminal disclaimer signed by the assignee must fully comply with 37 CFR 3.73(b).
Claims of Patent # 12,301,708 contains every element of claims of the instant application. Claims of the instant application therefore are not patently distinct from the earlier patent claims and as such are unpatentable over obvious-type double patenting. A later patent claim is not patentably distinct from an earlier claim if the later claim is anticipated by the earlier claim. See the claim comparison below.
“A later patent claim is not patentably distinct from an earlier patent claim if the later claim is obvious over, or anticipated by, the earlier claim. In re Longi, 759 F.2d at 896, 225 USPQ at 651 (affirming a holding of obviousness-type double patenting because the claims at issue were obvious over claims in four prior art patents); In re Berg, 140 F.3d at 1437, 46 USPQ2d at 1233 (Fed. Cir. 1998) (affirming a holding of obviousness-type double patenting where a patent application claim to a genus is anticipated by a patent claim to a species within that genus). “ ELI LILLY AND COMPANY v BARR LABORATORIES, INC., United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, ON PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC (DECIDED: May 30, 2001).
Furthermore, the ODP is not the only outstanding rejection and the claims, if allowed, would improperly extend the "right to exclude" already granted in the patent. 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 a nonstatutory double patenting ground provided the conflicting application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with this application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement.
Claim Comparison
Instant Application # 19/197,693
US Patent # 12,301,708
1. A method, comprising:
receiving, by a first set of quantum hardware (QH) of a quantum computing system (QCS), at least a first portion of a cryptographic key; determining, by the first set of QH, that a first set of qubits of a first plurality of qubits implemented by the first set of QH is allocated for an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key; and encoding, by the first set of QH, the first portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of qubits.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising; receiving, by a second set of QH of the QCS, at least a second portion of the cryptographic key; determining, by the second set of QH, that a second set of qubits of a second plurality of qubits implemented by the second set of QH is allocated for an encoding of the second portion of the cryptographic key; and encoding, by the second set of QH, the second portion of the cryptographic key in the second set of qubits.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, by the first set of QH to a third set of QH, the first portion of the cryptographic key.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the first portion of the cryptographic key further comprises transmitting the first set of qubits via a first quantum channel (QC) that is enabled to transmit the first set of qubits from the first set of QH to the third set of QH.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the first portion of the cryptographic key further comprises transmitting, via a classical network, a first set of classical bits that enables a first quantum teleportation event that transfers a first set of quantum states from the first set of qubits to a third set of quantum states of a third set of qubits of the third set of QH.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of quantum states of the first set of qubits includes a first superposition of one or more qubits of the first set of qubits that encodes the first portion of the cryptographic key.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: determining, at the QCS, the cryptographic key based on identifying a first minimum energy of the first superposition of the one or more qubits of the first set of qubits.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the first set of QH, an indication of a classical encoding of the cryptographic key via a set of classical bits; and encoding, by the first set of QH, the portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of qubits based on a first portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the first portion of the cryptographic key.
9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at a third set of QH from the first set of QH, a first transmission that includes an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key; receiving, at the third set of QH from a second set of QH, a second transmission that includes an encoding of a second portion of the cryptographic key; generating, at the third set of QH, a first encoding of the cryptographic key based on the first transmission from the first set of QH and the second transmission from the second set of QH, wherein the first encoding of the cryptographic key encodes at least the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; and providing, from the QCS and to a requesting party, a third transmission that is based on the first encoding of the cryptographic key.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein generating the first encoding of the cryptographic key comprises: forming, at the third set of QH, a set of encoding qubits that encode the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; and generating, at the QCS, the third transmission based on the set of encoding qubits.
11. A quantum computing system (QCS), comprising: a first set of quantum hardware (QH), comprising: a first processor device; and a first plurality of qubits; and wherein the first processor device is to: receive at least a first portion of a cryptographic key; determine that a first set of qubits of the first plurality of qubits is allocated for an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key; and encode the first portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of qubits.
12. The QCS of claim 11, further comprising: a second set of QH, comprising: a second processor device; and a second plurality of qubits; and wherein the second processor device is to: receive at least a second portion of the cryptographic key; determine that a second set of qubits of the second plurality of qubits is allocated for an encoding of the second portion of the cryptographic key; and encode the second portion of the cryptographic key in the second set of qubits.
13. The QCS of claim 11, wherein the first processor device is further to transmit, to a third set of QH, the first portion of the cryptographic key.
14. The QCS of claim 13, wherein, to transmit the first portion of the cryptographic key, the first processor device is further to transmit the first set of qubits via a first quantum channel (QC) that is enabled to transmit the first set of qubits from the first set of QH to the third set of QH.
15. The QCS of claim 13, wherein, to transmit the first portion of the cryptographic key, the first processor device is further to transmit, via a classical network, a first set of classical bits that enables a first quantum teleportation event that transfers a first set of quantum states from the first set of qubits to a third set of quantum states of a third set of qubits of the third set of QH.
16. The QCS of claim 11, wherein a first set of quantum states of the first set of qubits includes a first superposition of one or more qubits of the first set of qubits that encodes the first portion of the cryptographic key.
17. The QCS of claim 16, wherein the QCS is to: determine the cryptographic key based on identifying a first minimum energy of the first superposition of the one or more qubits of the first set of qubits.
18. The QCS of claim 11, wherein the first processor device is further to: receive an indication of a classical encoding of the cryptographic key via a set of classical bits; and encode the portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of qubits based on a first portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the first portion of the cryptographic key.
19. The QCS of claim 11, further comprising: a third set of QH, comprising: a third processor device; and a third plurality of qubits; and wherein the third processor device is to: receive, from the first set of QH, a first transmission that includes an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key; receive, from a second set of QH, a second transmission that includes an encoding of at least a second portion of the cryptographic key; generate a first encoding of the cryptographic key based on the first transmission from the first set of QH and the second transmission from the second set of QH, wherein the first encoding of the cryptographic key encodes at least the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; and provide, to a requesting party, a third transmission that is based on the first encoding of the cryptographic key.
20. The QCS of claim 19, wherein, to generate the first encoding of the cryptographic key, the third processor device is to: form a set of encoding qubits that encode the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; and generate the third transmission based on the set of encoding qubits.
1. A method for accessing a cryptographic key that is stored by a quantum computing system (QCS) that comprises a first set of quantum hardware (QH) that includes a first set of allocated qubits, a second set of QH that includes a second set of allocated qubits, and a third set of QH, the method comprising:
receiving, at the QCS, an access request for the cryptographic key, wherein the first set of allocated qubits encodes a first portion of the cryptographic key and the second set of allocated qubits encodes a second portion of the cryptographic key; in response to receiving the access request, receiving, at the third set of QH and from the first set of QH, a first transmission that includes an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key; in response to receiving the access request, receiving, at the third set of QH and from the second set of QH, a second transmission that includes an encoding of the second portion of the cryptographic key; generating, at the third set of QH, a first encoding of the cryptographic key based on the first transmission from the first set of QH and the second transmission from the second set of QH, wherein the first encoding of the cryptographic key encodes at least the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; and providing, from the QCS and to a requesting party that is associated with the access request, a third transmission that is based on the first encoding of the cryptographic key.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the first encoding of the cryptographic key comprises: forming, at the third set of QH, a set of encoding qubits that encodes at least the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; generating, at the QCS, the third transmission based on the set of encoding qubits.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the third transmission comprises: providing the set of encoding qubits to the requesting party via a quantum channel (QC) that is enabled to transmit the set of encoding qubits from the QCS to a fourth set of QH that is associated with the requesting party.
4. The method of claim 2, wherein providing the third transmission comprises: providing, from the QCS, a set of classical bits to the requesting party via a classical network, wherein the set of classical bits encodes information that enables a quantum teleportation event that transfer a set of quantum states from the set of encoding qubits to another set of quantum states of another set of qubits included in a fourth set of QH that is associated with the requesting party.
5. The method of claim 4, where the other set of qubits is entangled with a set of ancilla qubits of the QCS and the information encoded in the set of classical bits is based on measurements of quantum states of the set of encoding qubits and measurements of quantum states of the set of ancilla qubits.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first transmission includes receiving the first set of allocated qubits via a first quantum channel (QC) that is enabled to transmit the first set of allocated qubits from the first set of QH to the third set of QC; and receiving the second transmission includes receiving the second set of allocated qubits via a second QC that is enabled to transmit the second set of allocated qubits from the second set of QH to the third set of QC.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein generating the first encoding of the cryptographic key comprises: forming, at the third set of QH, a set of encoding qubits that includes at least the first set of allocated qubits and the second set of allocated qubits.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the third transmission comprises: providing the set of encoding qubits to the requesting party via a third QC that is enabled to transmit the set of encoding qubits from the QCS to a fourth set of QH that is associated with the requesting party.
9. The method of claim 7, wherein providing the third transmission comprises: providing, from the QCS, a set of classical bits to the requesting party via a classical network, wherein the set of classical bits encodes information that enables a quantum teleportation event that transfers a set of quantum states from the set of encoding qubits to another set of quantum states of another set of qubits included in a fourth set of QH that is associated with the requesting party.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein: receiving the first transmission includes receiving, at the third set of QH and from the first set of QH via a classical network of the QCS, a first set classical bits that enables a first quantum teleportation event that transfers a first set of quantum states from the first set of allocated qubits to a third set of quantum states of a third set of allocated qubits of the third set of QH; and receiving the second transmission includes receiving, at the third set of QH and from the second set of QH via the classical network, a second set classical bits that enables a second quantum teleportation event that transfers a second set of quantum states from the second set of allocated qubits to a fourth set of quantum states of a fourth set of allocated qubits of the third set of QH.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein generating the first encoding of the cryptographic key comprises: forming, at the third set of QH, a set of encoding qubits that includes at least the third set of allocated qubits and the fourth set of allocated qubits.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the third transmission comprises: providing the set of encoding qubits to the requesting party via a quantum channel (QC) that is enabled to transmit the set of encoding qubits from the QCS to a fourth set of QH that is associated with the requesting party.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein providing the third transmission comprises: providing, from the QCS, a set of classical bits to the requesting party via a classical network, wherein the set of classical bits encodes information that enables a quantum teleportation event that transfers a set of quantum states from the set of encoding qubits to another set of quantum states of another set of qubits included in a fourth set of QH that is associated with the requesting party.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein a first set of quantum states of the first set of allocated qubits includes a first superposition of one or more qubits of the first set of allocated qubits that encodes the first portion of the cryptographic key and a second set of quantum states of the second set of allocated qubits includes a second superposition of one or more qubits of the second set of allocated that encodes the second portion of the cryptographic key.
15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: determining, at the QCS, the cryptographic key based on identifying a first minimum energy of the first superposition of the one or more qubits of the first set of allocated qubits and identifying a second minimum energy of the second superposition of the one or more qubits of the second set of allocated qubits.
16. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, at the QCS, a storage request to store the cryptographic key, wherein the storage request indicates a classical encoding of the cryptographic key via a set of classical bits; in response to receiving the storage request, allocating, at the QCS, the first set of allocated qubits for encoding the cryptographic key; in response to receiving the storage request, allocating, at the QCS, the second set of allocated qubits for encoding the cryptographic key; encoding, at the QCS, the first portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of allocated qubits based on a first portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the first portion of the cryptographic key; and encoding, at the QCS, the second portion of the cryptographic key in the second set of allocated qubits based on a second portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the second portion of the cryptographic key.
17. A method for storing a cryptographic key by a quantum computing system (QCS) that comprises a first set of quantum hardware (QH), a second set of QH, and a set of accessible qubits, the method comprising: receiving, at the QCS, a storage request to store the cryptographic key, wherein the storage request indicates a classical encoding of the cryptographic key via a set of classical bits; and in response to receiving the storage request, distributing, by the QCS, a quantum-mechanical encoding of the cryptographic key across at least a first set of allocated qubits and a second set of allocated qubits based on the classical encoding of the cryptographic key, wherein the first set of allocated qubits is a first subset of the set of accessible qubits and is stored at the first set of QH, and wherein the second set of allocated qubits is a second subset of the set of accessible qubits and is stored at the second set of QH.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises: in response to receiving the storage request, allocating, at the QCS, the first set of allocated qubits; in response to receiving the storage request, allocating, at the QCS the second set of allocated qubits; encoding, at the QCS, a first portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of allocated qubits based on a first portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the first portion of the cryptographic key; and encoding, at the QCS, a second portion of the cryptographic key in the second set of allocated qubits based on a second portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the second portion of the cryptographic key.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the quantum-mechanical encoding of the cryptographic key is a superdense encoding.
20. A quantum computing system (QCS), comprising: a first set of quantum hardware (QH) that includes a first set of allocated qubits that encodes a first portion of a cryptographic key; a second set of QH that includes a second set of allocated qubits that encodes a second portion of the cryptographic key; a third set of QH; a system memory; and a processor device communicatively coupled to the system memory, the processor device to: receive an access request for the cryptographic key; in response to receiving the access request, receive, at the third set of QH and from the first set of QH, a first transmission that includes an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key; in response to receiving the access request, receive, at the third set of QH and from the second set of QH, a second transmission that includes an encoding of the second portion of the cryptographic key; generate, at the third set of QH, a first encoding of the cryptographic key based on the first transmission from the first set of QH and the second transmission from the second set of QH, wherein the first encoding of the cryptographic key encodes at least the first portion and the second portion of the cryptographic key; and provide, from the QCS and to a requesting party that is associated with the access request, a third transmission that is based on the first encoding of the cryptographic key.
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.
1. Claims 1-2 and 11-12 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Berzanskis et al. (US Publication No. 2007/0140495, hereinafter “Berzanskis”).
Regarding claim 1, Berzanskis does disclose, a method, comprising: receiving, by a first set of quantum hardware (QH) of a quantum computing system (QCS), at least a first portion of a cryptographic key; determining, by the first set of QH, that a first set of qubits of a first plurality of qubits implemented by the first set of QH is allocated for an encoding of the first portion of the cryptographic key (Berzanskis, (para. [0022-0023] and figures 2-3), there are b1, b2, . . . bi, . . . bn bits from TRNG 30 for basis and k1, k2, . . . ki, . . . kn bits to form a set of qubits. In an example embodiment, two TRNGs 30 are used to separately generate the basis and key bits, respectively; (para. [0024]), Having this password, they can generate a pad p1, p2, . . . pi, . . . pn by means of a stream cipher; (para. [0025]), once the pad is generated, Alice then performs in e/d module 30 the "exclusive OR" (XOR) operation: [0026] ki XOR pi=ci); and encoding, by the first set of QH, the first portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of qubits (Berzanskis, (para. [0027]), Alice also sets her phase modulator PM1 to encode ci on a qubit, …. This process is illustrated in the flow diagram of FIG. 3. The result is what is referred to herein as an "encrypted qubit" or an "encoded qubit).
Regarding claim 2, Berzanskis further discloses, the method of claim 1, further comprising; receiving, by a second set of QH of the QCS, at least a second portion of the cryptographic key; determining, by the second set of QH, that a second set of qubits of a second plurality of qubits implemented by the second set of QH is allocated for an encoding of the second portion of the cryptographic key; and encoding, by the second set of QH, the second portion of the cryptographic key in the second set of qubits (Berzanskis, (para. [0022-0023] and figures 2-3), there are b1, b2, . . . bi, . . . bn bits from TRNG 30 for basis and k1, k2, . . . ki, . . . kn bits to form a set of qubits. In an example embodiment, two TRNGs 30 are used to separately generate the basis and key bits, respectively where for i = 1 to n in figure 3; (para. [0024]), Having this password, they can generate a pad p1, p2, . . . pi, . . . pn by means of a stream cipher; (para. [0025]), once the pad is generated, Alice then performs in e/d module 30 the "exclusive OR" (XOR) operation: [0026] ki XOR pi=ci; (para. [0027]), Alice also sets her phase modulator PM1 to encode ci on a qubit, …. This process is illustrated in the flow diagram of FIG. 3. The result is what is referred to herein as an "encrypted qubit" or an "encoded qubit)).
Regarding claim 11, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 1. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 12, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 2. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
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 of this title, 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.
This application currently names joint inventors. In considering patentability of the claims the examiner presumes that the subject matter of the various claims was commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the claimed invention(s) absent any evidence to the contrary. Applicant is advised of the obligation under 37 CFR 1.56 to point out the inventor and effective filing dates of each claim that was not commonly owned as of the effective filing date of the later invention in order for the examiner to consider the applicability of 35 U.S.C. 102(b)(2)(C) for any potential 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) prior art against the later invention.
2. Claims 3-5 and 13-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berzanskis et al. (US Publication No. 2007/0140495, hereinafter “Berzanskis”) in view of Hunt et al. (US Patent No. 9,036,817, hereinafter “Hunt”).
Regarding claim 3, Berzanskis does disclose, the method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting, [by the first set of QH to a third set of QH,] the first portion of the cryptographic key (Berzanskis, (para. [0022-0023] and figures 2-3), there are b1, b2, . . . bi, . . . bn bits from TRNG 30 for basis and k1, k2, . . . ki, . . . kn bits to form a set of qubits. In an example embodiment, two TRNGs 30 are used to separately generate the basis and key bits, respectively where for i = 1 to n in figure 3).
Berzanskis does not explicitly disclose but the analogous art Hunt discloses, [transmitting], by the first set of QH to a third set of QH (Hunt, (col. 10 lines 64-67 – col. 11 lines 1-4), a process for sending encrypted data to a receiving communicator in a communications network and receiving encrypted data from a transmitting communicator in the communications network is depicted in the form of a flowchart in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 4 may be implemented by communicator 106 in FIG. 1 using quantum cryptography system 112 in FIG. 1).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Berzanskis by including transmitting, by the first set of QH to a third set of QH taught by Hunt for the advantage of the correlation error may be reduced to substantially zero or near zero within selected tolerances (Hunt, (col. 6 lines 25-26))
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Berzanskis-Hunt does disclose the method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the first portion of the cryptographic key further comprises transmitting the first set of qubits via a first quantum channel (QC) that is enabled to transmit the first set of qubits from the first set of QH to the third set of QH (Berzanskis, (para. [0018]), encrypted basis bits can be sent from Alice to Bob via channel 220; (Hunt, (col. 10 lines 64-67 – col. 11 lines 1-4), a process for sending encrypted data to a receiving communicator in a communications network and receiving encrypted data from a transmitting communicator in the communications network is depicted in the form of a flowchart in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 4 may be implemented by communicator 106 in FIG. 1 using quantum cryptography system 112 in FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Berzanskis-Hunt does disclose the method of claim 3, wherein transmitting the first portion of the cryptographic key further comprises transmitting, via a classical network, a first set of classical bits that enables a first quantum teleportation event that transfers a first set of quantum states from the first set of qubits to a third set of quantum states of a third set of qubits of the third set of QH (Berzanskis, (para. [0018]), encrypted basis bits can be sent from Alice to Bob via channel 220; (Hunt, (col. 10 lines 64-67 – col. 11 lines 1-4), a process for sending encrypted data to a receiving communicator in a communications network and receiving encrypted data from a transmitting communicator in the communications network is depicted in the form of a flowchart in accordance with an illustrative embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 4 may be implemented by communicator 106 in FIG. 1 using quantum cryptography system 112 in FIG. 1).
Regarding claim 13, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 3. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 14, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 4. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 15, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 5. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
3. Claims 6-8 and 16-18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Berzanskis et al. (US Publication No. 2007/0140495, hereinafter “Berzanskis”) in view of Lloyd et al. (US Patent No. 8,126,830, hereinafter “Lloyd”).
Regarding claim 6, Berzanskis does disclose, the method of claim 1.
Berzanskis does not explicitly disclose but the analogous art Lloyd discloses, wherein a first set of quantum states of the first set of qubits includes a first superposition of one or more qubits of the first set of qubits that encodes the first portion of the cryptographic key (Lloyd, (col. 4 lines 52-57), Alice can employ any arbitrary superposition .alpha.|j.sub.Q+.beta.|0.sub.Q with complex amplitudes .alpha. and .beta. unknown to Bob. In this way Bob's ability of masking his actions is greatly reduced).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the invention of Berzanskis by including a first superposition of one or more qubits of the first set of qubits taught by Lloyd for the advantage of increase its performance (Lloyd, (col. 4 lines 52-53))
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Berzanskis-Lloyd does disclose, the method of claim 6, further comprising: determining, at the QCS, the cryptographic key based on identifying a first minimum energy of the first superposition of the one or more qubits of the first set of qubits (Lloyd, (col. 4 lines 56-57), Bob's ability of masking his actions is greatly reduced).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Berzanskis-Lloyd does disclose, the method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the first set of QH, an indication of a classical encoding of the cryptographic key via a set of classical bits; and encoding, by the first set of QH, the portion of the cryptographic key in the first set of qubits based on a first portion of the classical encoding that corresponds to the first portion of the cryptographic key (Lloyd, (col. 8 lines 5-25), the content of the n-qubit address-register Q is correlated by a unitary transformation U 302 to the spatial position of a single qubit, which acts as a data bus. This means that the binary encoding in the quantum register is translated into a unary encoding on the location of the bus qubit 303, which is thus into one of 2.sup.n possible locations (or in more than one location in quantum superposition). Now the qubit locally interacts with the memory cell array, and the addressing procedure is reversed by running the binary-to-unary encoding U protocol backwards).
Regarding claim 16, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 6. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 17, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 7. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 18, the substance of the claimed invention is similar to that of claim 8. Accordingly, this claim is rejected under the same rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 9-10 and 19-20 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
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US Patent No. 10,103,880, “a respective set of key-generation parameters specifies a plurality of keys having a same length, and the set of key-generation parameters comprises: a number parameter specifying a number of keys to be generated, a length parameter specifying a bit length of the to-be-generated keys, and a position parameter specifying a starting position of an initial to-be-generated key within the quantum string shared between the first and second entities”.
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/MORSHED MEHEDI/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2408
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