Prosecution Insights
Last updated: October 24, 2026
Application No. 19/211,661

MESSAGE PROCESSING METHOD AND APPARATUS, PRODUCT, DEVICE, AND MEDIUM

Non-Final OA §103
Filed
May 19, 2025
Priority
Apr 17, 2023 — CN 202310452579.4 +1 more
Examiner
WINDER, PATRICE L
Art Unit
2453
Tech Center
2400 — Computer Networks
Assignee
Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited
OA Round
1 (Non-Final)
87%
Grant Probability
Favorable
1-2
OA Rounds
1y 11m
Est. Remaining
98%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 87% — above average
87%
Career Allowance Rate
563 granted / 647 resolved
+29.0% vs TC avg
Moderate +11% lift
Without
With
+11.3%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
3y 4m
Avg Prosecution
13 currently pending
Career history
677
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
9.7%
-30.3% vs TC avg
§103
51.1%
+11.1% vs TC avg
§102
14.5%
-25.5% vs TC avg
§112
13.1%
-26.9% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 647 resolved cases

Office Action

§103
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 . 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. Claim(s) 1-3, 8-10, 12-14, 18-20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Higley et al., US 20210111889 A1 (hereafter referred to as Higley). Claim 12, Higley teaches a computer, comprising a memory and a processor, the memory having a computer program stored therein, and the computer program, when executed by the processor (p. 4, “Embodiments provide a method, computing device that can execute the method and a computer-readable storage device having instructions for executing the method. The embodiments may enable more efficient transmission of data in an encryption system.”), causing the processor to perform a message processing method, applicable to a first client, the method comprising: obtaining N pieces of shard information of a client key of a second client, N being a positive integer, and the N pieces of shard information being configured for generating the client key (p. 46, “For example, advanced encryption standard (AES) or another cipher can be employed by the originating device 102. In some embodiments, the key shards are fragments of a cryptographic key that are the outputs of a configurable threshold secret-sharing scheme such as Shamir's secret sharing scheme, Blakley's scheme, or Chinese remainder theorem-based secret sharing. In some embodiments, the sharing scheme is operable to represent the cryptographic key with N fragments of which only M are required to reconstitute the original BC cryptographic key.”), each piece of shard information being processed by one corresponding shard processing device, and the second client being disposed on a shard processing device (p. 40, “In some embodiment, the originating device 102 may also serve as a delegate device. A distinction between the originating device 102 and the delegate devices 106n is there function in the process of encrypting or decrypting data-at-rest with one or more cryptographic keys.”); obtaining a message topic configured at a relay cluster by each shard processing device, a relay connection existing between the first client and each shard processing device (p. 110, “Each client additionally has a client identifier (CID) which is its unique address for the sake of routing messages in the system 1100.” And p. 125, “The Cloud Messaging (CM) service 1130, such as Firebase, is used to deliver notifications and wake-up messages to supported devices. Such a device will have a unique CM token, which it provides during its registration.” See also p. 126, “The packet includes fields such as message ID 1210, which can be used for deduplication and message confirmation/deletion; destination CID 1220; message type 1230, indicating the nature of the message at an application level;… the actual payload 1260, which includes shards, …”), and the relay cluster being configured to perform a relay service operation between the first client and any shard processing device having the relay connection with the first client (p. 43, “The relay server 104 may securely deliver messages and notifications between the originating device 102 and the delegate devices 106n. For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.” According to Higley the messages include the shards.); generating a configuration message of each shard processing device according to the shard information corresponding to each shard processing device and the message topic configured by each shard processing device (p. 52, “…the originating device 102 generates N key shards based on the cryptographic key.” And p. 58, “in step 208, each of the N key shard is encrypted with one of N public keys associated with a respective delegate device to create N encrypted key shards.”); and transmitting the generated N configuration messages to the relay cluster, to enable each shard processing device to obtain the respective configuration message from the relay cluster and process the corresponding shard information based on the respective configuration message (p. 62, “For example, in step 210 of FIG. 2, the N encrypted key shards are distributed among the first set of delegate devices 106a such that the originating device 102 is incapable of decrypting the encrypted target data due to an absence of a cryptographic key and the keys shards from which the cryptographic key can be reconstituted. For example, the originating device can communicate with a relay server to distribute the shards among the delegate devices 106a.”). Higley does not specifically recite a configuration message. However, Higley teaches “message type” and corresponding message “payload” for the type and executes functions based on the message type. It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skil in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to incorporate a different message configuration from another combination of setting to expand the utility to another type of message function. Claim 1 recites a message processing method, applicable to a first client, comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 12 above. Claim 1 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 20 recites a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, having a computer program stored therein, the computer program being adapted to be loaded by a processor to perform steps similar to the computer device of claim 12 above. Claim 20 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 13, Higley teaches the computer device according to claim 12, wherein the first client has a secure environment, and the obtaining N pieces of shard information of a client key of a second client comprises: obtaining the client key in the secure environment ; generating an M-1 degree polynomial in the secure environment based on the client key, wherein M is a positive integer and M is less than N (inherent to Shamir’s secret-sharing scheme); and obtaining the N pieces of shard information in the secure environment based on the M-1 degree polynomial (inherent to Shamir’s secret-sharing scheme). Claim 2 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 13 above. Claim 2 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 14, Higley teaches the computer device according to claim 13, wherein the obtaining the N pieces of shard information in the secure environment based on the M-1 degree polynomial (p. 46, “the key shards are fragments of a cryptographic key that are the outputs of a configurable threshold secret-sharing scheme such as Shamir's secret sharing scheme”) comprises: generating a target curve in the secure environment based on the M-1 degree polynomial; and obtaining coordinate information of N points on the target curve, and using the coordinate information of the N points as the N pieces of shard information, wherein the client key being generated by using M pieces of shard information in the N pieces of shard information (p. 53, “In some embodiments, the key shards are fragments of a cryptographic key that are the outputs of a configurable threshold secret-sharing scheme such as Shamir's secret sharing scheme, Blakley's scheme, or Chinese remainder theorem-based secret sharing. In some embodiments, the sharing scheme is operable to represent the cryptographic key with N fragments of which only M are required to reconstitute the original BC cryptographic key. Accordingly, the delegate devices 106n can provide a threshold number of key shards required to reconstruct a cryptographic key.” And p. 53, “The polynomial can be reconstituted with any three points of the polynomial. Examples of a sharing scheme include Shamir's Secret Sharing Scheme”.). Claim 3 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 14 above. Claim 3 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim(s) 4-6 and 15-17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Higley in view of James et al., USPN 12639699 B! (hereafter referred to as James). Claim 15, Higley teaches the computer device according to claim 12, setting, for the resource transfer service data (p. 51, “The target data may include various types of data objects (e.g., image, document, spreadsheet, audio file, video file) that are each encrypted with respective cryptographic keys. Examples include a file system with various files and instructions for encrypting the files, an email archive system with emails and instructions for encrypting the emails, a database system records and instructions for encrypting the messages, etc.”), the message topic that is configured at the relay cluster by the shard processing device to which the second client belongs, to obtain a target configuration message (p. 125, “The Cloud Messaging (CM) service 1130, such as Firebase, is used to deliver notifications and wake-up messages to supported devices. Such a device will have a unique CM token, which it provides during its registration.” See also p. 126, “The packet includes fields such as message ID 1210, which can be used for deduplication and message confirmation/deletion; destination CID 1220; message type 1230, indicating the nature of the message at an application level;… the actual payload 1260, which includes shards, …” The configuration based on message type.); and transmitting the target configuration message to the relay cluster, to enable the second client to obtain the target configuration message from the relay cluster and sign the resource transfer service data in the target configuration messages (p. 43, “The relay server 104 may securely deliver messages and notifications between the originating device 102 and the delegate devices 106n. For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.” According to Higley the messages include the shards.). Higley does not specifically teach wherein the second client has a target service resource; and the method further comprises: obtaining resource transfer service data for the target service resource, wherein the resource transfer service data is configured for instructing to perform transfer processing on the target service resource;. However, in the same field of endeavor, James teaches wherein the second client has a target service resource (column 27, lines 7-10; “the exchange bank account may hold a digital asset buyer's fiat currency until a digital asset seller transfers digital assets to the buyer, to an exchange, or to an authorized third-party.”); and the method further comprises: obtaining resource transfer service data for the target service resource, wherein the resource transfer service data is configured for instructing to perform transfer processing on the target service resource (column 18, lines 48-54; “In response to the request, the digital asset exchange platform 102 may generate a user wallet in association with the user account. The user wallet may be configured to store digital assets of one or more types (e.g., coins, tokens, and the like) and/or transactions associated with the wallet may be authenticated (or signed using a private key 302).”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Higley by incorporating aspects of a resource transfer service including wallet data from James and thereby provide more services. The motivation would have been to extend type of messaging provided. Claim 4 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 15 above. Claim 4 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 16, Higley-James teaches the computer device according to claim 15, wherein the resource transfer service data belongs to service data in a blockchain network (James, column 2, lines 60-64; “In some examples, digital asset exchange platform may be associated with a blockchain network and may be configured to manage blockchain wallets on behalf of users registering accounts with the platform.”), and the target service resource belongs to resources in the blockchain network (James, column 2, line 67 thru column 3, lines 1-4; “The user blockchain wallet may be configured to store digital assets of one or more types (e.g., coins, tokens, and the like). In some examples, the registration request may include configuration data associated with the establishment of the user account and/or the blockchain wallet.”); and the method further comprises: obtaining, from the relay cluster (Higley, p. 43, “The relay server 104 may securely deliver messages and notifications between the originating device 102 and the delegate devices 106n. For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.” And p. 128, “gateway servers 1140, 1150,”), a signature configuration message returned by the second client, wherein the signature configuration message is obtained by the second client (Higley, p. 128, “In order to connect to the system 1100, a device A1, A2 first establishes a WebSocket connection with one of the gateway servers 1140, 1150, optionally using transport layer security (TLS). The device A1, A2 then encodes and sends a message containing its public key and, optionally, its claimed CID. The message additionally contains a signature from the client's private key of pertinent fields of the message such as the public key and the claimed CID.”) after setting, for signed resource transfer service data (in combination with James), the message topic configured at the relay cluster by the first client, and is transmitted to the relay cluster (Higley, p. 126, “The packet includes fields such as message ID 1210, which can be used for deduplication and message confirmation/deletion; destination CID 1220; message type 1230, indicating the nature of the message at an application level; message priority 1240, indicating how time-sensitive the message is or what its retention strategy should be; other 1250 and the actual payload 1260, which includes shards, public keys and encrypted data that is transmitted as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 2.”); and transmitting the signed resource transfer service data in the signature configuration message to the blockchain network, to enable the blockchain network to perform consensus processing on the signed resource transfer service data (James, column 4, lines 25-32; “Once the digital asset exchange platform has determined the signing client devices to generate the key shards, determined the groups of signing clients, and/or determined a quorum for each group of signing client devices, a distribution component of the digital asset exchange platform may be configured to distribute instructions for generating the key shards to individual signing client devices associated with corresponding groups of signing clients.”), and after successful consensus (James, “quorum”), perform transfer processing on the target service resource according to an instruction of the resource transfer service data (James, column 4, lines 5-67; “For example, such a configuration would require one of the three signing client devices associated with the first group to return a first unique key shard to the digital asset exchange platform and/or three of the ten signing client devices associated with the second group to return one of various particular combinations of the second unique key shards to the digital asset exchange platform upon request in order to authorize a transaction.” ). Claim 5 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 16 above. Claim 5 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 17, Higley-James teaches the computer device according to claim 16, wherein the client key supports being generated by using the M pieces of shard information of the N pieces of shard information, M being a positive integer and M being less than N (Higley, p. 46, “the delegate devices 106n can provide a threshold number of key shards required to reconstruct a cryptographic key. Thus, the originating device 102 can decrypt data by accessing the threshold number of key shards rather than requiring input of the cryptographic key in its entirety.” And p. 52, “In step 206, the originating device 102 generates N key shards based on the cryptographic key. The cryptographic key can be derived (reconstituted) from a necessary and sufficient threshold number M of the N key shards. For example, the set of N key shards can be generated via a threshold cryptography data-sharing scheme.”); and a method for signing, by the second client, the resource transfer service data in the target configuration message comprises: obtaining, by the second client, corresponding shard information from M-1 shard processing devices, wherein the M-1 shard processing devices are any M-1 shard processing devices other than the shard processing device to which the second client belongs among the shard processing devices respectively corresponding to the N pieces of shard information (James, column 4, lines 25-32; “Once the digital asset exchange platform has determined the signing client devices to generate the key shards, determined the groups of signing clients, and/or determined a quorum for each group of signing client devices, a distribution component of the digital asset exchange platform may be configured to distribute instructions for generating the key shards to individual signing client devices associated with corresponding groups of signing clients.”); generating, by the second client, the client key based on shard information corresponding to the shard processing device to which the second client belongs and M-1 pieces of shard information obtained from the M-1 shard processing devices (James, column 6, lines 52-58; “For example, the key sharding component of the digital asset exchange platform may utilize the received unique key shards to produce the private key, which the signature component may utilize to sign the transaction. Once the transaction is signed, the digital asset exchange platform may submit the signed transaction to the blockchain network.”); and signing, by the second client, the resource transfer service data in the target configuration message based on the generated client key (Higley, column 6, lines 58-62; “For example, the transaction may correspond to a particular type of cryptocurrency, and the digital asset exchange platform may submit the signed transaction to a blockchain corresponding to the type of the cryptocurrency associated with the transaction.”). Claim 6 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 17 above. Claim 6 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 18, Higley teaches the computer device according to claim 12, wherein a communication key exists between the first client and each shard processing device (Higley, p. 45, “In some embodiments, all communications, regardless of intermediary, are secured by encrypting data with the destination device's public key.”), and any shard processing device is represented as a target shard processing device (p. 48, “The originating device 102 and/or delegate devices 106a-b may belong to a user that is authorized to access and decrypt data objects with the originating device 102.” And p. 49, “In step 202, a user of the originating device 102 can designate a set of computing devices as delegate devices 106a …”); and the generating a configuration message of the target shard processing device according to shard information corresponding to the target shard processing device and a message topic configured by the target shard processing device (p. 126, “FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a packet 11200 for use in the system 1100. The packet includes fields such as message ID 1210, which can be used for deduplication and message confirmation/deletion; destination CID 1220; message type 1230, indicating the nature of the message at an application level; message priority 1240, indicating how time-sensitive the message is or what its retention strategy should be; other 1250 and the actual payload 1260, which includes shards, public keys and encrypted data that is transmitted as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 2.”) comprises: setting, for the shard information corresponding to the target shard processing device, the message topic configured by the target shard processing device, and generating an initial configuration message of the target shard processing device (p. 100, “The completion illustrated in stage 3 results in all devices exchanging their public keys with each other in a secure manner. The group including the originating device and delegate devices are then ready to securely communicate key shards.” And p. 126, “FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a packet 11200 for use in the system 1100. The packet includes fields such as message ID 1210, which can be used for deduplication and message confirmation/deletion; destination CID 1220; …”); and performing encryption processing on the initial configuration message of the target shard processing device by using the communication key between the first client and the target shard processing device, to obtain the configuration message of the target shard processing device (p.70, “The redistribution process requires decrypting only a threshold number of encrypted key shards. The threshold number of unencrypted key shards may be made available from the archive file or from the respective delegate devices on which they reside. The threshold number of unencrypted shards are inputs to a redistribution process that produces a new set of unencrypted key shards, which can be encrypted with the private keys of the second set of delegate devices (including any new delegate devices), resulting in more encrypted key shards compared to the original number of key shards. The new encrypted key shards can be added to the archive file of the originating device and may be distributed to additional delegate devices.”). Claim 7 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 18 above. Claim 7 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 19, Higley teaches the computer device according to claim 12, wherein the communication key exists between the first client and each shard processing device, and any shard processing device is represented as the target shard processing device (p. 47, “The processes 200 can be a performed by the originating device 102 and delegate devices 106a-b as part of a security service. The originating device 102 or delegate devices 106a-b can include a variety of different devices such as those discussed with reference to FIG. 1.”); and the communication key between the first client and the target shard processing device is a symmetric key (p. 50, “For example, the cryptographic key may be a string of bits of a symmetric key”), and the relay cluster comprises a plurality of relay devices (p. 43, “The relay server 104 may securely deliver messages and notifications between the originating device 102 and the delegate devices 106n. For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.”); and after the first client transmits the generated configuration message of the target shard processing device to the relay cluster (p. 109, “The system 1100 is designed to effectively transmit messages among heterogeneous clients with speed and reliability, while scaling to accommodate variable load. The system 1100 can be used in conjunction with the encryption methods disclosed above, e.g., encryption methods disclosed in conjunction with FIG. 2.” Messages previously created.), a method performed by the target shard processing device comprises: obtaining, by the target shard processing device, the configuration message of the target shard processing device from any relay device in the relay cluster (p. 52, “When the user wants to decrypt the encrypted target data, M-of-N key shards are processed to reconstitute the cryptographic key. The set of key shards can be stored locally and/or distributed among the delegate devices 106a-b. As used herein, a “key shard” of a cryptographic key may also be referred to as a component, fragment, or by any other term that indicates a part or element of a set of key shards.”); and performing, by the target shard processing device, decryption processing on the obtained configuration message by using the communication key between the first client and the target shard processing device, to obtain the shard information corresponding to the target shard processing device (p. 52, “When the user wants to decrypt the encrypted target data, M-of-N key shards are processed to reconstitute the cryptographic key. The set of key shards can be stored locally and/or distributed among the delegate devices 106a-b. As used herein, a “key shard” of a cryptographic key may also be referred to as a component, fragment, or by any other term that indicates a part or element of a set of key shards.”). Claim 8 recites a method comprising steps similar to the operations of the computer device of claim 18 above. Claim 8 is rejected based on a similar rationale. Claim 9, Higley teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the relay cluster comprises the plurality of relay devices (p. 43, “The relay server 104 may securely deliver messages and notifications between the originating device 102 and the delegate devices 106n. For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.”); and the transmitting the generated N configuration messages to the relay cluster comprises: transmitting the generated N configuration messages to any relay device in the relay cluster, to enable the any relay device to broadcast the received N configuration messages to other relay devices in the relay cluster (p. 125, “… the gateway servers 1140, 1150. The servers 1140, 1150 interact with the CM service 1130 using these tokens in order to trigger the necessary notifications and messages which are delivered to devices.”). Claim 10, Higley teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first client is configured with the message topic at the relay cluster (p. 126, “FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a packet 11200 for use in the system 1100. The packet includes fields such as message ID 1210, which can be used for deduplication and message confirmation/deletion; destination CID 1220; message type 1230, indicating the nature of the message at an application level …”); the relay connection between the first client and any shard processing device is established based on the message topic configured at the relay cluster by the first client and the message topic configured at the relay cluster by the any shard processing device (p. 110, “Devices A1 and A2 (which can be substantially similar to originating device 102 and delegate devices 106n) have unique public/private key pairs, where the private key is known only to the device that owns it and the public key is known by all other devices that wish to communicate with the device in question. Each client additionally has a client identifier (CID) which is its unique address for the sake of routing messages in the system 1100.” And p. 126, “other 1250 and the actual payload 1260, which includes shards, public keys and encrypted data that is transmitted as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 2.”); and the relay cluster comprises the plurality of relay devices, and the relay service operation performed by the relay cluster comprises a decentralized service operation performed by one or more relay devices in the relay cluster (p. 43, “For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.”). Claim(s) 11 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Higley as applied to claim 1 above, and further in view of Aleksandrov, US 20180337971 A1 (hereafter referred to as Aleksandrov). Claim 11, Higley teaches the method according to claim 1, wherein the first client is configured with the message topic at the relay cluster, wherein the new message prompt information is transmitted to the first client by the relay cluster (p. 43,), when obtaining a new message related to the message topic configured by the first client (p. 110, “Devices A1 and A2 (which can be substantially similar to originating device 102 and delegate devices 106n) have unique public/private key pairs, where the private key is known only to the device that owns it and the public key is known by all other devices that wish to communicate with the device in question. Each client additionally has a client identifier (CID) which is its unique address for the sake of routing messages in the system 1100.” And p. 126, “other 1250 and the actual payload 1260, which includes shards, public keys and encrypted data that is transmitted as discussed in conjunction with FIG. 2.”); and pulling, from the relay cluster based on the new message prompt information, the new message related to the message topic configured by the first client (p. 43, “For example, the relay server 104 may represent any number of server computers that can relay key shards between the originating device 102 and the delegate device 106n over the links 112a-n.”). Higley does not specifically teach transmitting a persistent connection establishment request to the relay cluster, and establishing a persistent connection between the relay cluster and the first client based on the persistent connection establishment request; receiving new message prompt information that is transmitted by the relay cluster based on the persistent connection between the relay cluster and the first client, However, in the same field of endeavor, Aleksandrov teaches transmitting a persistent connection establishment request to the relay cluster (p. 35, “messaging system 100, one or more client devices (publishers and/or subscribers) establish respective persistent connections (e.g., TCP connections) to an MX node (e.g., MX node 204).”), and establishing a persistent connection between the relay cluster and the first client based on the persistent connection establishment request (p. 35, “messaging system 100, one or more client devices (publishers and/or subscribers) establish respective persistent connections (e.g., TCP connections) to an MX node (e.g., MX node 204).”). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify Higley by incorporating persistent connections from Aleksandrov to improve responsiveness to enable blockchain transactions. Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. Higley et al., US 11418340 B2, teaches receiving, at a first device, a request to decrypt data encrypted with cryptographic data (e.g., a symmetric key), the encrypted data stored on a memory device; retrieving shards of the cryptographic data, the shards encrypted with a first set of keys (e.g., public keys) from a plurality of devices, wherein decryption of the encrypted data requires reconstituting the cryptographic data from a threshold number of the shards. Craige et al., US 10903991 B1, teaches the signing secret sharing proof is a set of commitments to coefficients of a sharing polynomial used to split the message signing key into shares, and is generated with a particular algorithm. Wentz, USPN 10887100 B2, teaches “[a]n example of a common secret sharing scheme may include a cloud computing environment where a key may be distributed over many servers by a threshold secret sharing mechanism. The key may then be reconstructed when needed. Secret sharing may be implemented by Shamir's scheme whereby any t out of n shares may be used to recover the secret. Shamir's scheme may work by taking t points to define a polynomial of degree t−1. The method may proceed to create a polynomial of degree t−1 with the secret as the first coefficient and the remaining coefficients picked at random. Next, n points on a curve describing the polynomial may be found and given to each player. When at least t out of n players reveal their points, there may be sufficient information to fit a (t−1)th degree polynomial to them, the first coefficient being the secret.” Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to PATRICE L WINDER whose telephone number is (571)272-3935. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 10am-6pm. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, KAMAL B DIVECHA can be reached at (571)272-5863. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /Patrice L Winder/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2453
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

May 19, 2025
Application Filed
Sep 23, 2026
Non-Final Rejection mailed — §103
Oct 08, 2026
Interview Requested

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12764041
TRIGGERED AUTOMATION FRAMEWORK
3y 7m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12761868
Playback Queues for Shared Experiences
1y 8m to grant Granted Oct 13, 2026
Patent 12756636
MACHINE LEARNING ASSISTED RADIO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (RRM) POLICIES FOR HIGH DATA RATE LOW LATENCY AND OTHER APPLICATIONS IN O-RAN NETWORKS
1y 8m to grant Granted Oct 06, 2026
Patent 12739245
Methods for authenticating and integrating user equipment into an information system, corresponding devices and computer programs
4y 3m to grant Granted Sep 15, 2026
Patent 12724747
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR USE IN ESTABLISHING REUSABLE DATA FILES ASSOCIATED WITH USERS
4y 0m to grant Granted Sep 01, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

Strategy Recommendation AI-generated — please review before filing

Get a prosecution strategy drawn from examiner precedents, rejection analysis, and claim mapping.
Typically takes 5-10 seconds — AI-generated, attorney review required before filing

Prosecution Projections

1-2
Expected OA Rounds
87%
Grant Probability
98%
With Interview (+11.3%)
3y 4m (~1y 11m remaining)
Median Time to Grant
Low
PTA Risk
Based on 647 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allowance rate.

Sign in with your work email

Enter your email to receive a magic link. No password needed.

Personal email addresses (Gmail, Yahoo, etc.) are not accepted.

Free tier: 3 strategy analyses per month