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 .
DETAILED ACTION
1. The office acknowledges the receipt of the following and placed of record in the file: Application dated 5/12/2024 claimed priority of date 5/20/24.
2. Claims 1-4 are presented for examination.
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.
4. Claim(s) 1-4 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over JP-2020-026473 (“JP-473”) as provided in form 1449.
Regarding Claim 1, JP-473 teaches an electronic apparatus, comprising:
a non-volatile memory device that comprises a first memory area and a second memory area [Para: 0041(flash ROM memory 112 contains write protected area and write accessible area)];
a falsification detecting unit [Para: 0013(falsification detection unit 140)] configured to read a bootcode from the first memory area and determine whether the read bootcode is falsified or not [Para: 0018(a sub-processor CPU 115 that “reads … from flash MFP100 … of verifying the validity” to determine “whether or not the boot program has been corrupted” where the MFP100 is in the flash ROM 112(see para: 0017) and falsification is performed by 140, see 0057)]; and
a bootcode rewriting unit configured to rewrite a bootcode in the a second memory with the bootcode in the first memory area if it is determined that the read bootcode is not falsified [Para: 0053 – 0061, (as sub-CPU 115 acquire in a memory a hash value stored in write protected area during version update (0053) and calculate a new hash as “calculate a hash value of the normally used boot data 420 by using encryption key and comparing the hash value” in the memory space (0057-0061))] and the bootcode in the first memory area and the bootcode in the second bootcode are not identical to each other [Para: 0061 (when “determined that the boot program has been tampered with”)].
JP-473 does not disclose expressly rewrite a bootcode in the second memory area with the bootcode in the first memory area (of a partitioned memory). JP-473 teaches a flash ROM memory (112) comprises write protected area and write accessible area [Para: 0041] where write accessible area is configured to update with boot data update history [Para: 0052(at storage area 501)]. One of ordinary skill in the art would modify JP-473’s teachings of a partitioned memory with a rewriteable memory area to rewrite a bootcode in the second memory area with the bootcode in the first memory area (for comparison) for the purpose of validating a boot code in a secure environment without corrupting the system and to protect alteration of boot data at the time factory shipment [JP-473, Para: 0005].
Regarding Claim 2, JP-473 teaches wherein if it is determined that the bootcode read from the first memory area is falsified, the falsification detecting unit reads the bootcode in the second memory area and determines whether the bootcode read from the second memory area is falsified or not [Para: 0061(“boot program has been tampered with …”)]; and
if it is determined that the bootcode read from the second memory area is not falsified, the bootcode rewriting unit acquires a newest bootcode and rewrites the bootcode in the first memory area with the acquired bootcode [Para: 0053 – 0061, (as sub-CPU 115 acquire in a memory a hash value stored in write protected area during version update (0053) and calculate a new hash as “calculate a hash value of the normally used boot data 420 by using encryption key and comparing the hash value” in the memory space (0057-0061))].
Regarding Claim 3, JP-473 teaches wherein if it is determined that the bootcode read from the second memory area is not falsified, the bootcode rewriting unit acquires the newest bootcode and a hash value of the newest bootcode and rewrites the bootcode and a hash value in the first memory area with the newest bootcode and the hash value of the newest bootcode [Para: 0053(a new hash value is added “each time version update is performed”)];
if it is determined that the bootcode read from the first memory area is not falsified and the bootcode in the first memory area and the bootcode in the second memory area are not identical to each other, the bootcode rewriting unit rewrites the bootcode and the hash value in the second memory area with the bootcode and the hash value in the first memory area [Para: 0059, (as sub-CPU 115 acquire in a memory a hash value stored in write protected area during version update (0053) and calculate a new hash)]; and
the falsification detecting unit (a) acquires a hash value of both the bootcode and the hash value of the bootcode in the first memory area and writes the acquired hash value as falsification detection information into the first memory area and determines whether the bootcode read from the first memory area is falsified or not on the basis of the falsification detection information, and (b) determines whether the bootcode read from the second memory area is falsified or not on the basis of falsification detection information in the second memory area [Para: 0053 – 0061, (as sub-CPU 115 acquire in a memory a hash value stored in write protected area during version update (0053) and calculate a new hash as “calculate a hash value of the normally used boot data 420 by using encryption key and comparing the hash value” in the memory space (0057-0061))].
Regarding Claim 4, JP-473 wherein when the bootcode rewriting unit rewrites the bootcode and the hash value in the second memory area with the bootcode and the hash value in the first memory area, the falsification detecting unit generates certification information unique to this electronic apparatus and stores the certification information into the second memory area, and writes as the falsification detection information to the second memory area a hash value of all the bootcode, the hash value of the bootcode and the certification information in the second memory area [Para: 0061(as setting “boot falsification detection flag”) and 0064]; and
when the falsification detecting unit reads the bootcode from the second memory area, the falsification detecting unit also reads the falsification detection information and the certification information from the second memory area, and determines whether the bootcode read from the second memory area is falsified or not on the basis of the read falsification detection information, and if the read certification information is different from the generated certification information, the falsification detecting unit determines that the memory device has been replaced fraudulently and stops a starting process performed in accordance with the bootcode [Para: 0066-0068].
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MOHAMMED H REHMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-1412. The examiner can normally be reached 8.00 - 5.00.
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/MOHAMMED H REHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2176
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