# US 12,602,481 B1 · Neural override verification and constraint architecture for sovereign AGI execution

> Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt

- Number: US 12,602,481 B1
- Document ID: US12602481B1
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B1
- Application number: 19/183,800
- Filed: 2025-04-19
- Granted: 2026-04-14
- Earliest claimed: 2025-04-19
- Assignees: The Crown and the Cross LLC
- Applicants: Yong Bok Lee
- Inventors: Yong Bok Lee
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12602481B1

## CPC

- G06F 21/57: Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
- G06F 21/602: {Providing cryptographic facilities or services}
- G06N 5/04: Inference or reasoning models
- G06N 20/00: Machine learning
- G06F 2221/034: Test or assess a computer or a system
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)
- G06N: COMPUTING ARRANGEMENTS BASED ON SPECIFIC COMPUTATIONAL MODELS

## Abstract

NOVACOV enforces a fail-closed, permit-before-action control path for autonomous agents. At deployment, agent logic is sealed as an Immutable Constraint Chain (ICC) anchored in an append-only verifiable log. At runtime, within a read-only Encrypted Logic Vault (ELV), the system constructs a behavioral profile for each request and, as part of verify-to-activation, verifies inclusion relative to a current signed head under a freshness policy and, upon head advance, validates append-only-evolution (consistency) proofs, then compares the profile to the ICC. A Purpose Enforcement Kernel (PEK) checks alignment against a Mission Identity Template (MIT); a licensing gate (GLG) verifies license tier and an m-of-n quorum. On PASS, the system mints a permit, records it in an Immutable Arbitration Ledger (IAL), and requires the permit identifier for subsequent actions; otherwise the gate returns a structured disposition selected from HOLD, QUARANTINE, DENY, or ESCALATE. Anti-replay (nonce+monotonic) and signature-mimicry denial are enforced.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A system comprising one or more processors and a non-transitory memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the system to enforce a fail-closed logic-execution gate for an AI agent by:
(a) encoding, at deployment, agent logic into an Immutable Constraint Chain (ICC) and anchoring a commitment of the ICC in an append-only verifiable log that publishes signed heads, wherein at runtime the system verifies an inclusion proof relative to a current signed head under a freshness policy and, upon head advance, verifies an append-only-evolution (consistency) proof;
(b) within a read-only Encrypted Logic Vault (ELV), generating for each execution request a behavioral profile comprising at least a behavioral index, a temporal context, an instruction class, and an entropy-slope metric, and comparing the profile to the ICC;
(c) verifying purpose alignment using a Purpose Enforcement Kernel (PEK) against a Mission Identity Template (MIT);
(d) verifying license authority via a licensing gate (GLG) including tier validation and an m-of-n quorum signature threshold; and
(e) responsive to (a)-(d) passing, minting an execution permit, recording the permit in an Immutable Arbitration Ledger (IAL), and requiring an unexpired permit identifier for subsequent agent actions; otherwise causing execution to fail closed with a disposition selected from HOLD, QUARANTINE, DENY, or ESCALATE, wherein each evaluation binds a nonce and a monotonic counter.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the ELV is read-only post-deployment and attempts to mutate sealed logic are denied.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the GLG verifies a license tier and requires an m-of-n quorum signature threshold for a designated tier.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising a Recursive Moral Drift Monitor (RMDM) that computes a temporal alignment trajectory and suspends privileges upon a threshold number of violations within a rolling time window.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising an Override Signature Denial Engine (OSDE) that rejects replay or mimicry based on a signature-entropy correlation.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, further comprising a Global Override Cascade Trigger (GOCT) that halts execution across connected nodes and appends a lockdown tag in the IAL.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the IAL records at least a timestamp, ROHS fingerprint, license-tier identifier, license-hash timestamp, alignment result, drift score, and quorum-vote signature, and applies delta-consistency checks across jurisdictions.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the freshness policy limits a maximum age for the signed head used for ICC inclusion checks and failure to satisfy the freshness policy yields HOLD or DENY until continuity is proven.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein HOLD auto-expires absent proof of continuity.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the permit identifier is verified prior to at least one of device I/O and network egress.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the GLG further verifies a jurisdictional fingerprint associated with the agent or request.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the IAL record includes the permit identifier.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the permit record comprises at least an ICC head identifier, a license-tier identifier, and a verification result.

### Claim 14

A computer-implemented method comprising:
(a) encoding deployment logic into an ICC and anchoring a commitment in an append-only verifiable log that publishes signed heads; at runtime, verifying inclusion relative to a current signed head under a freshness policy and, upon head advance, verifying an append-only-evolution (consistency) proof;
(b) within a read-only ELV, generating for each request a behavioral profile comprising at least a behavioral index, a temporal context, an instruction class, and an entropy-slope metric, and comparing the profile to the ICC;
(c) verifying purpose alignment using a PEK against an MIT;
(d) verifying license authority via a GLG including tier validation and an m-of-n quorum signature threshold; and
(e) upon (a)-(d) passing, minting a permit, recording it in an IAL, and requiring a permit identifier for subsequent agent actions with a bound nonce and a monotonic counter; otherwise failing closed with a structured disposition.

### Claim 15 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the permit is audience-bound to at least one of an agent identifier, a tenant identifier, or a mission identifier, and includes an expiration.

### Claim 16 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the ELV provides an attestation quote and the GLG requires validation of the attestation prior to permit issuance.

### Claim 17 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the IAL record further includes at least one of: an MIT revision identifier, an ELV image hash, a PEK result code, a freshness-check result, or a replay/mimicry score.

### Claim 18 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein verifying the inclusion proof comprises verifying inclusion relative to respective heads published by at least two independent append-only verifiable logs and verifying consistency of each upon head advance.

### Claim 19 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the permit is lease-based with a refresh window, and failure to refresh within the window maps first to HOLD and then to DENY.

### Claim 20 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the nonce and the monotonic counter are bound to a concurrency-prevention tuple that denies reuse across concurrent threads or processes.

### Claim 21 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the freshness policy specifies a Maximum-Merge-Delay (MMD) and an MMD exceedance maps to HOLD or DENY until continuity is proven.

### Claim 22 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein verifying the permit identifier occurs in at least one of: (i) a kernel-mode driver path prior to doorbell or queue submission to an accelerator, (ii) a device-firmware microcode path prior to dispatch, or (iii) a hypervisor intercept path.

### Claim 23 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein a signature on the permit binds at least an ICC head identifier, a signed-head identifier, a license-tier identifier, an expiration, an audience binding, the nonce, and the monotonic counter.

### Claim 24 (depends on 1, 18)

The system of claim 1, wherein the at least two independent append-only verifiable logs of claim 18 are operated under distinct administrative domains and publish signed heads.

### Claim 25 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein subsequent actions include actuation of a physical actuator or transmission on an industrial fieldbus, and the permit identifier is verified prior to the actuation or transmission.

### Claim 26 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein verifying the signed head comprises validating at least one witness co-signature associated with the signed head prior to executing the inclusion or consistency proof.

### Claim 27 (depends on 1)

The system of claim 1, wherein the permit is signed over a canonicalized representation that includes a context label, and validators reject the permit if either the canonicalization or the context label does not match a configured value.

### Claim 28 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14, wherein verifying the permit identifier occurs prior to at least one of device I/O and network egress.

### Claim 29 (depends on 14)

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of claim 14.
