DETAILED ACTION
Claims 1-20 are presented for examination on the merits.
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 06/17/2025 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 06/17/2025 are accepted by the examiner.
Priority
The application is filed on 06/17/2025 which is a continuation of 18/147,369 filed
on 12/28/2022 which has PCT/US23/86050 application filed on 12/27/2023.
Non-Statutory Double Patenting
1. 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, and there is no statutory double patenting rejection applied to other claim/claims of the set. A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO internet Web site contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit http://www.uspto.gov/forms/. The filing date of the application will determine what form 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 http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
2. Claims 1-20 of instant application are rejected on the ground of nonstatutory obviousness-type double patenting as being unpatentable over claims 1-20 of Patent No. US 12,363,082 B2. Although the conflicting claims are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both applications recite similar techniques for generating a per-packet initialization vector for high bandwidth encryption engines in a multipathing IP network wherein an encryption engine implemented at the network switch generates an initialization vector (IV) for the data packet based on a packet number (PN) associated with the data packet.
Claim Comparison Table
Instant Application: 19/240,635
Patent US 12,363,082 B2
1. A first device comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including: receiving a packet to be sent over a network, the packet being associated with a packet number (PN); generating, based at least in part on the PN, an initialization vector (IV); encrypting, based at least in part on the IV, user data in the packet to generate encrypted user data; generating, based at least in part on the packet and the IV, an encrypted packet, the encrypted packet including the encrypted user data; and transmitting, over the network, the encrypted packet to a second device.
1. A method comprising: receiving, at a first device, a packet to be sent, over a network and in an encrypted tunnel, to a second device; generating, at the first device, an initialization vector (IV) for the packet based at least in part on a packet number (PN) associated with the packet; constructing, at the first device, a security header based at least in part on the PN; encrypting, at the first device, the packet based at least in part on the IV and information associated with a security association (SA) assigned to the packet to generate an encrypted packet, including: replacing, at the first device, user data in the packet with encrypted user data, inserting, at the first device, an integrity checksum value (ICV) into the packet, and inserting, at the first device, the security header into the packet; and transmitting, from the first device, the encrypted packet to the second device in the encrypted tunnel over the network.
2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations including: generating, by the first device and based at least in part on the PN, a security header, wherein generating the encrypted packet includes inserting the security header to the packet.
4. The first device of claim 1, wherein: the PN is represented by 64 bits, and the IV is generated based on the 64 bits.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the PN is represented in a length of 64 bits, and the method further comprises: generating, at the first device, the IV for the packet using the 64 bits.
3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations including: generating, by the first device and based at least in part on the IV, an integrity checksum value (ICV), wherein generating the encrypted packet includes inserting the ICV to the packet.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: obtaining, from a database, the SA assigned to the packet, wherein the information associated with the SA includes the PN, a security association key (SAK), a security channel identifier (SCI), and an association number (AN).
4. The first device of claim 1, wherein: the PN is represented by 64 bits, and the IV is generated based on the 64 bits.
4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: constructing, at the first device, the security header to include at least the PN, the SCI and the AN
Claims 5-20
Claims 5-15
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. The factual inquiries 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.
6. 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.
7. Claims 1-2, 9, and 13-14 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over XHAFA et al. (US 2020/0187010 A1 hereinafter, XHAFA) in view of Corlett et al. (US 20030023710 A1, hereinafter, Corlett).
Regarding claim 1, XHAFA discloses a first device comprising: a processor; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor (Abstract: he N bits payload of each received frame is extracted, and mapped using a memory, PLD, or a processor, to reconstruct the uncompressed M bits payload, and to form the original frame), cause the processor to perform operations including:
receiving a packet to be sent over a network, the packet being associated with a packet number (PN) (Para 0003: communicating characteristics of transmission of the data packet with a receiving device for the data packet to pre-arrange the characteristics of transmission with the receiving device, and transmitting the data packet to the receiving device);
[generating, based at least in part on the PN, an initialization vector (IV)];
encrypting, based at least in part on the IV, user data in the packet to generate encrypted user data (Para 0020, 0037: The encrypted first block of data is then used as the initialization vector for encrypting a second block of data, the second block of data is used as the initialization vector for encrypting a third block of data, and so forth until the data is fully encrypted);
generating, based at least in part on the packet and the IV, an encrypted packet, the encrypted packet including the encrypted user data (Para 0050: the user equipment 500 is implemented as a wireless device configured to estimate and compensate for effects of data whitening and/or encryption on a localization tone included in a payload of a data packet; Para 0020: an initialization vector, and a first block of data to be encrypted. The encrypted first block of data is then used as the initialization vector for encrypting a second block of data, the second block of data is used as the initialization vector for encrypting a third block of data); and
transmitting, over the network, the encrypted packet to a second device (Para 0016: prepare the data packet 155 for transmission will alter the contents of the data packet 155 prior to transmission. For example, whitening and/or encryption will modify the binary sequence of data of the data packet 155 and the second wireless device 110 will reverse the process of whitening and/or encryption upon receipt of the transmitted data packet to obtain the original data 16).
XHAFA does not explicitly states but Corlett from the same or similar fields of endeavor teaches generating, based at least in part on the PN, an initialization vector (IV)] (Corlett, Para 0218, 0158: The Vector ID contains the ID of the vector. The Period ID contains the 0 based ID of the measurement period. The Burst ID contains the identifier of the burst that this packet is in. The Packet ID contains the identifier of this packet (sequence number)).
Therefore, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention wherein generating, based at least in part on the PN, an initialization vector (IV) as taught by Corlett in the teachings of XHAFA in order to create new vectors, obtain vector configuration information from the database, and handles results data transmitted from the nodal members to the database (Corlett, Abstract).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of XHAFA and Corlett discloses the first device of claim 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations including: generating, by the first device and based at least in part on the PN, a security header, wherein generating the encrypted packet includes inserting the security header to the packet (XHAFA, Para 0021: security scheme associated with negotiating and/or agreeing prior to transmission of the data packet 155 that authentication of the payload 160 (e.g., via the header 175)).
Regarding claim 9; Claim 9 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 13; Claim 13 is similar in scope to claim 1, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding claim 14; Claim 14 is similar in scope to claim 2, and is therefore rejected under similar rationale.
Allowable Subject Matter
8. Claims 3-8, 10-12, 15-20 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.
Reasons for Allowance
8. The following is an examiner’s statement of reasons for placing claims 6, 14, and 19 under allowable subject matters:
The limitation of dependent claims 3-8, 10-12, 15-20 are allowed and the corresponding dependent claims including respective and any intervening claims are not disclosed by the any of the prior art of record. For example, the limitations in claim 3 recites “..wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform the operations including: generating, by the first device and based at least in part on the IV, an integrity checksum value (ICV), wherein generating the encrypted packet includes inserting the ICV to the packet.” which are not are not taught or fairly suggested by the prior art of record (including all of the limitations of the intervening claims).
The allowable subject matters in above dependent claims are novel and non-obvious in scope over the prior art of record as the prior-art references fail to teach each and every features of the aforesaid dependent claim(s) including the limitations set forth above.
In view of the foregoing, the scope of claimed subject matters renders the invention patentably distinct as none of the prior art of record, either taken by itself or in any combination, would have anticipated or made obvious the invention of the present application at or before the time it was filed.
Furthermore, the Examiner performed updated search which does not yield other specific references that reasonably, either alone or in combination, would result a proper rejection of all the claimed features presented in each of the dependent claims 3-8, 10-12, 15-20 under 35 U.S.C 102 or 35 U.S.C.103 with proper motivation.
Any comments considered necessary by applicant must be submitted no later than the payment of the issue fee and, to avoid processing delays, should preferably accompany the issue fee. Such submissions should be clearly labeled "Comments on Statement of Reasons for Allowance."
Conclusion
10. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Entelis et al. (US 20220046114 A1) discloses method for lossless and stateless compression scheme is used with a fixed-length data such as frames. Frames having a payload of M bits length are mapped into a payload of N bits length, where N<M. The N bits payload of each received frame is extracted, and mapped using a memory, PLD, or a processor, to reconstruct the uncompressed M bits payload, and to form the original frame. .
Litichever (US 20200389469 A1) discloses a protected network connected to an external network is protected by analyzing messages received from the external network or from devices connected to the network that may be substituted, compromised, or otherwise malware infected. An analyzer functionality for detecting the malware in the received messages is located separately from the physical connection to the external network. .
11. In an effort to advance compact prosecution, with respect to any amendments to the claimed invention, the applicant is respectfully requested to indicate the portion(s) of the specification which dictate(s) the structure relied on for proper interpretation and also to verify and ascertain the metes and bounds of the claimed invention.
Moreover with respect to advancing compact prosecution, if the applicant intends to make numerous amendments, the examiner respectfully requests that applicant submit a clean copy of the claims in addition to the marked up copy of the claims in order to expedite the examination process by allowing for accurate optical character recognition (OCR) of the claims.
The prior art made of record and not relied upon, if any, is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure and would be listed under PTO-Form 892.
12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MAHFUZUR RAHMAN whose telephone number is (571)270-7638. The examiner can normally be reached on Monday thru Friday.
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, Yin-Chen Shaw can be reached on 571-272-8878. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from either Private PAIR or Public PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Private PAIR only. For more information about the PAIR system, see http://pair-direct.uspto.gov. Should you have questions on access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative or access to the automated information system, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/MAHFUZUR RAHMAN/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2498
Prosecution Insights