Prior art — US Patent 8271802

To identify the most relevant prior art for US patent 8271802, I will examine the patent's cited references, which typically include prior art considered by the patent examiner during prosecution. The information will be extracted directly from the US8271802 patent document itself.

Here are the prior art citations for US Patent 8271802, along with their details and potential anticipations:

Prior Art Cited in US Patent 8271802

The following references are listed as "Other References" in the US8271802 patent document, and were cited by the examiner.

1. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0073801 A1

Full Citation: US 2004/0073801 A1 (Orsini et al.)
Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: April 15, 2004. Priority Date: October 25, 2002. (Note: The patent document itself only lists the publication date. The filing date of the application leading to this publication, and therefore its effective prior art date, would be its earliest priority date.)
Brief Description: This publication describes a method and system for biometric authentication using a trusted third party. It details enrolling a user by collecting biometric data and demographic data, transmitting it to a trusted system, and using the system to authenticate the user by comparing current biometric data to stored enrollment data. The system emphasizes keeping sensitive authentication data secure within the trusted system.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference potentially anticipates elements of several claims related to authentication and secure storage of authentication data.
- Claim 22 (Cryptographic System): This reference describes an authentication engine that compares user authentication data to enrollment data and a depository for storing such data, particularly biometrics, to uniquely identify a user. The concept of performing cryptographic functions on behalf of a user after authentication, where private keys are not released, is also touched upon.
- Claim 31 (Method of Facilitating Cryptographic Functions): The method of receiving and comparing authentication data to verify a user's identity, and then performing functions without releasing keys, is present.
- Claim 40 (Authentication System): The system for authentication, including the storage of enrollment authentication data and an authentication engine for comparison, is directly relevant.
- Specifically, the disclosure of collecting biometric data at enrollment, storing it in a secure system, and comparing it to current biometric data for authentication strongly anticipates aspects of the authentication engine (elements of claim 22, 31, 40). The emphasis on the trusted system holding sensitive data (like biometric patterns) and performing authentication without releasing this data could anticipate parts of the secure data handling.

2. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071661 A1

Full Citation: US 2005/0071661 A1 (Orsini et al.)
Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: March 31, 2005. Priority Date: October 25, 2004. (Note: The patent document itself only lists the publication date. The filing date of the application leading to this publication, and therefore its effective prior art date, would be its earliest priority date.)
Brief Description: This publication relates to a cryptographic system that uses a trust engine (secure server) to store cryptographic keys and user authentication data. It focuses on the trust engine performing cryptographic functions for users without releasing the private cryptographic keys. The system includes a depository system, an authentication engine, and a cryptographic engine. The core idea is server-centric key management for enhanced security. This appears to be a very closely related patent application by the same inventors.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference is highly relevant and potentially anticipates many of the claims, especially those related to the cryptographic system and method.
- Claim 22 (Cryptographic System): The description of a cryptographic system with a depository for private keys and enrollment data, an authentication engine, a cryptographic engine performing functions without releasing keys, and a transaction engine is directly and comprehensively described.
- Claim 31 (Method of Facilitating Cryptographic Functions): The method of associating a user with keys, receiving/comparing authentication data, and utilizing keys for crypto functions without release, is clearly described.
- Claim 46 (Cryptographic System): The system components of data storage facilities for portions of keys and a cryptographic engine with data splitting, assembling, and handling modules for cryptographic functions are strongly anticipated.
- The "trust engine" concept, server-centric keys, and the mechanism of performing cryptographic functions on the server side without releasing private keys to the user are central to both this publication and US8271802.

3. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071676 A1

Full Citation: US 2005/0071676 A1 (Orsini et al.)
Publication/Filing Date: Publication Date: March 31, 2005. Priority Date: October 25, 2004.
Brief Description: This publication describes a secure authentication system, which can be remotely accessible, for storing data. It details a system where authentication data is received, combined with random values, and stored in multiple geographically remote secure data storage facilities. It also covers the concept of requiring portions from multiple facilities to reconstruct the original data, enhancing security against compromise of a single facility. This publication is also by the same inventors and is highly related to the secure data parser and distributed storage aspects of US8271802.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This reference significantly anticipates claims related to secure data storage and authentication.
- Claim 40 (Authentication System): The system including data storage facilities for portions of authentication data, and an authentication engine with data splitting, assembling, and comparing modules, is substantially described.
- Claim 53 (Method of Storing Data): The method of receiving data, combining it with random values, creating pairings, and storing these pairings in geographically remote secure data storage facilities is directly anticipated.
- The core idea of splitting data into randomized portions and distributing them across multiple, potentially remote, storage facilities to prevent reconstruction from a single compromised source is a direct match.

4. U.S. Patent No. 6,859,890 B1

Full Citation: US 6,859,890 B1 (Orsini et al.)
Publication/Filing Date: Issue Date: February 22, 2005. Filing Date: October 25, 2002.
Brief Description: This patent generally relates to a secure biometric access system. It describes methods and systems for authenticating a user via biometric information and controlling access based on that authentication. It also discusses storing biometric information securely. This patent seems to be an earlier granted patent by the same inventors, likely a parent or related application to some of the 2004/2005 publications.
Potential Anticipation (35 U.S.C. § 102): This patent likely anticipates fundamental aspects of biometric authentication and secure storage of authentication data.
- Claim 40 (Authentication System): The core concepts of capturing, storing, and comparing biometric data for user authentication would be anticipated.
- Claim 31 (Method of Facilitating Cryptographic Functions): The general method of verifying identity through biometrics as a precursor to access or other functions, could be anticipated.

Conclusion on Most Relevant Prior Art

The U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071661 A1 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0071676 A1 by Orsini et al. (the same inventors as US8271802) appear to be the most relevant prior art. They were filed on the same priority date (October 25, 2004), which is also the "Prior art date" listed for US8271802. These publications describe in significant detail the core concepts of the "trust engine," server-centric key management, cryptographic function performance without key release, and the splitting and distributed storage of sensitive data (both authentication data and cryptographic keys). Given their common inventorship and very close technical subject matter, they likely represent earlier disclosures of highly similar or identical inventions.

These documents would be critical for any anticipation analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 102, as they appear to disclose many, if not all, elements of the independent claims of US8271802. A detailed claim-by-claim comparison against these prior art documents would be necessary to precisely determine which specific claims or claim elements are directly anticipated.

It is important to note that the priority date of US8271802 (2004-10-25) is the same as the priority date of US 2005/0071661 A1 and US 2005/0071676 A1. This suggests that US8271802 might be a continuation, continuation-in-part, or divisional application of the applications that led to these publications. If this is the case, and US8271802 claims the benefit of the earlier filing dates, then these applications would generally not be considered prior art against US8271802 for novelty and non-obviousness purposes, provided there is sufficient written description support in the earlier applications for the claims in US8271802. However, without access to the full prosecution history, this remains an observation. If US8271802 does not claim priority to these earlier applications, or if the claims are not sufficiently supported, then these prior art documents would indeed be highly anticipatory.