DETAILED ACTION
In response to communication filed on 02 February 2026, claims 1-3 and 8-11 are amended. Claims 1-11 are pending.
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments, see “Specification” filed 02 February 2026, have been carefully considered and based on the amended title, the claim objections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see “Claim 8 Interpretation” filed 02 February 2026, have been carefully considered and based on the claim amendments, the claim appears to be reciting the functionality.
Applicant’s arguments, see “Rejections under 35 U.S.C, § 101” filed 02 February 2026, have been carefully considered. Based on the claim amendments along with persuasive arguments provided on pages 7 and 8 of remarks, the claim rejections have been withdrawn.
Applicant’s arguments, see “Rejections under 35 U.S.C, § 103” filed 02 February 2026, have been carefully considered. The arguments are related to newly added claim limitations and are addressed in the rejection below. Based on the claim amendments, new reference Mesters has been incorporated. As a result, the arguments are not considered to be persuasive.
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.
Claims 1-4 and 10-11 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith (US 2006/0277162 A1, hereinafter “Smith) in view of Mesters et al. (US 10,652,186 B1, hereinafter “Mesters”) further in view of Kumar (US 2020/0259836 A1, hereinafter “Kumar”).
Regarding claim 1, Smith teaches
An information processing system comprising: (see Smith, [0034] “the application 120 may comprise a transaction and database management system such as Information Management System (IMS)”; [0030] “system 100 for condensing reported checkpoint log data”) one or more processors configured to: (see Smith, [0030] “The system 100 includes a processor 102”).
obtain one or more operation log records recorded in storage device… (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”; [0031] “The storage device 104 provides persistent storage of data. In particular, the storage device 104 stores one or more data sets 112. Each data set 112 preferably includes a plurality of records 114, for example checkpoint log records 114”).
… the one or more operation log records; (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”).
set an attribute condition on a basis of the information about one or more user attributes,… (see Smith, [0036] “The conditions and parameters permit the user 116 more control over the search results”).
exert such control that, (see Smith, [0031] “the processor 102 comprises one or more central processing units executing software and/or firmware to control and manage”) in response to an inquiry about reference to the one operation log record of the one or more operation log records from an inquiry user… (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) the one or more operation log record… (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”) and the inquiry user is permitted to refer to the one operation log record (see Smith, [0082]-[0083] “Once a user provides a valid query expression 128, the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters… a determination 608 is made whether a log entry 302 satisfies the query expression 128. If the log entry 302 satisfies the query expression 128, the output module 208 includes 610 the log entry 302”).
Smith does not explicitly teach a digital collaboration service in which a plurality of user chats, share files, and edit files, the operation log records storing information on details of each chat, each shared file, and each file edit, and information about one or more user attributes of the plurality of users who use the digital collaboration service; encrypt the one or more operation log records; the attribute condition indicating permissions of users who are allowed to refer to each operation log record; and user who satisfies the attribute condition, the one or more operation log record is decrypted.
However, Mesters discloses sharing services and teaches
a digital collaboration service (se Mesters, [col 2 lines 36-38] “The sharing service can also be referred to as a "collaboration service," since at least some examples of the sharing service can allow users to work together on a file”) in which a plurality of user chats, share files, and edit files, the operation log records storing information on details of each chat, each shared file, and each file edit, and (see Mesters, [col 2 line 60 – col 3 line 18] “the message identifier for the sharing message is stored by the sharing service… The stored message metadata including the message identifier may be used by the sharing service and/or the messaging service to associate subsequent messages relating to the sharing of the file. For example, when a recipient of the sharing message provides feedback (e.g., makes or proposes one or more changes) to the shared file, a feedback message may be sent to the original sender (e.g., the user that authorized the sharing of the file) and/or other users indicating the feedback… messages relating to the sharing of the same file with the authorized users may be displayed in a conversation view that includes all of the messages within the message thread. As such, the recipients of feedback messages will not have to manually search through the messages to locate messages related to the sharing of the file”; [col 5 lines 53-56] “the sharing options 114 may relate to access settings, feedback settings and expiration settings that are associated with the sharing of the selected files 113 with one or more users”; [col 7 lines 53-55] “the term "feedback" may include changes to the file 113 and/or comments related to the file 113”) information about one or more user attributes of the plurality of users who use the digital collaboration service; (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 30-38] “The sharing service may provide access to the shared files to one or more users based on the sharing options set by a user. For instance, the sharing service may restrict or allow access to a file to a user based on the access settings specified by the user that composed and sent the electronic message or authorized the sharing of the file at the sharing service. The sharing service can also be referred to as a "collaboration service," since at least some examples of the sharing service can allow users to work together on a file”).
the attribute condition indicating permissions of users who are allowed to refer to each operation log record; and (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”).
user who satisfies the attribute condition, (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the functionality of collaboration service, user chats, share files, edit files, operation log, user attributes, permissions, attribute condition, function of collaboration service and organizations as being disclosed and taught by Mesters, in the system taught by Smith to yield the predictable results of effectively managing electronic messages relating to file sharing (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 6-11] “The following detailed description is directed to technologies for associating electronic messages relating to the sharing of a file. Utilizing the technologies described herein, electronic messages relating to the sharing of a file by a sharing service may be displayed within a same message thread”).
The proposed combination of Smith and Mesters does not explicitly teach encrypt the one or more operation log records; the one or more operation log record is decrypted.
However, Kumar discloses encryption and decryption and teaches
encrypt audit log (see Kumar, [0025] “encrypts the audit log”).
log records are/is decrypted (see Kumar, [0070] “decrypts content item in encrypted form to generate content item in decrypted form”; [0114] “performs the decryption of the received encrypted audit log to generate the original audit log”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the functionality of encryption and decryption as being disclosed and taught by Kumar, in the system taught by the proposed combination of Smith and Mesters to yield the predictable results of efficiently providing additional security for the data access (see Kumar, [0058] “the organization may desire to have additional security besides the access policies provided by the public cloud infrastructure, specifically, when the cloud infrastructure is not fully secure”).
Claims 10 and 11 incorporate substantively all the limitations of claim 1 in a computer-readable medium (see Smith, [0081] “can be implemented in a conventional system by modifying computer readable code in order to implement”) and method form (see Smith, [0081] “a method 600 for analyzing checkpoint log data”) and are rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claim 2, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters and Kumar teaches
wherein, for each function of the digital collaboration service, whether the function involves a plurality of users (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 36-38] “The sharing service can also be referred to as a "collaboration service," since at least some examples of the sharing service can allow users to work together on a file”; [col 4 lines 4 -11] “sharing a file may be associated by a sharing service using message metadata… a single service or more than two services might be utilized to provide the functionality described”) is predetermined (see Mesters, [col 6 lines 8-13] “The API 112 can be accessed by various devices in communication with the sharing service 115 to access the functionality for setting the sharing options 114 using the messaging client 111 and associating messages 109”). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Regarding claim 3, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters and Kumar teaches
wherein the attribute condition is predetermined for each function of (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”; [col 4 lines 4 -11] “sharing a file may be associated by a sharing service using message metadata… a single service or more than two services might be utilized to provide the functionality described”; [col 9 lines 44-45] “information relating to setting sharing options for files accessible through a sharing service from within a messaging client”) the digital collaboration service (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 36-38] “The sharing service can also be referred to as a "collaboration service," since at least some examples of the sharing service can allow users to work together on a file”). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Regarding claim 4, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters and Kumar teaches
wherein the one or more processors are configured to: (see Smith, [0030] “The system 100 includes a processor 102”).
specify the attribute (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 30-35] “The sharing service may provide access to the shared files to one or more users based on the sharing options set by a user. For instance, the sharing service may restrict or allow access to a file to a user based on the access settings specified by the user that composed and sent the electronic message or authorized the sharing of the file at the sharing service”) of the inquiry user (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) from the obtained information (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”; [0031] “The storage device 104 provides persistent storage of data. In particular, the storage device 104 stores one or more data sets 112. Each data set 112 preferably includes a plurality of records 114, for example checkpoint log records 114”) about one or more user attributes, (see Mesters, [col 5 lines 53-56] “the sharing options 114 may relate to access settings, feedback settings and expiration settings that are associated with the sharing of the selected files 113 with one or more users”) the inquiry user having transmitted the inquiry, and (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) thus determine whether the attribute of (see Mesters, [col 5 lines 53-56] “the sharing options 114 may relate to access settings, feedback settings and expiration settings that are associated with the sharing of the selected files 113 with one or more users”; [col 6 lines 42-48] “The access settings may be used to specify the users that may access the file 113 specified to be shared in the message… the access settings might include an option to allow only specified recipients of the electronic message 109A to access the shared files 113 specified by the message 109A and accessible using the sharing service 115”) the inquiry user (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) satisfies the attribute condition (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Claims 5-9 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Smith, Mesters and Kumar in view of Yoshida et al. (US 2021/0216615 A1, hereinafter “Yoshida”).
Regarding claim 5, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters and Kumar teaches
wherein the attribute condition includes… (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”) an organization to which the user belongs (see Mesters, [col 6 lines 51-54] “The access settings might also allow the user to specify the users, such as a group of users (e.g., the people of an organization), that can access the shared files 113 stored by the sharing service”) the inquiry user belongs… (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) the inquiry user,… (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) the inquiry user (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”).
The proposed combination of Smith, Mesters and Kumar does not explicitly teach wherein the attribute condition includes a combination of an organization to which the inquiry user belongs and a role of the inquiry user, the combination being described as the attribute of the inquiry user.
However, Yoshida discloses user attributes and teaches
a combination of attribute information… (see Yoshida, [0098] “a change request to change an attribute of a user, the processing accepting unit 221 changes contents of the user information storage unit 211 or the user attribute information storage unit 213 in accordance with the change request… by newly defining attribute information such as an organization or qualifications, changing a definition thereof, deleting a definition thereof, or the like with respect to the management apparatus 20, a user can perform an external login in accordance with a state after the definition and can be given authority to display and operate spatial data”) and a role of users… (see Yoshida, [0045] “the user ID “1” belongs to an organization called an information team (attribute ID “5”) of the crisis management office (attribute ID “1”) and has a qualification of “leader”.”; qualification in Yoshida has been interpreted as role) the combination being described as the attribute of a user (see Yoshida, [0034] “For each user of the client terminals 10, a correspondence relationship between attribute information such as a corresponding organization, qualifications, and authority and login information indicating feasibility of a login to the GIS 30”; [0037] “using attribute information indicating an organization to which the user belongs or qualifications or an authority of the user and using login correspondence information indicating the GIS 30 to which login is enabled in correspondence to the attribute information”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to include the functionality of combination of attribute, role, types of combination and plurality of organizations and as being disclosed and taught by Yoshida, in the system taught by the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters and Kumar to yield the predictable results of providing appropriate authentication based on user attribute (see Yoshida, [0054] “When the processing accepting unit 221 receives identification information such as a login ID or a password of the client terminal 10, the authentication processing unit 222 performs authentication based on information stored in the user information storage unit 211, the attribute information storage unit 212, and the user attribute information storage unit 213”).
Regarding claim 6, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters, Kumar and Yoshida teaches
wherein the one or more processors are configured to: (see Smith, [0030] “The system 100 includes a processor 102”).
set, for the one operation log record, the attribute condition including (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”) one or more types of the combination (see Yoshida, [0050] “an operation log “spatial data lo ID “2” indicates that an operation of external login information acquisition related to external login information IDs “1” and “2” has been processed at “2018/8/4 02:29” by a user with a user ID of “1” and attribute IDs of “1” and “8” – Attribute IDs of 1 and 8 are a combination of one or more types of attributes; [0043] “As shown in a table T2 in FIG. 3, an attribute ID, an attribute name, an attribute type, a registration date/time, an abolition date/time, and the like are registered in the attribute information table”). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Regarding claim 7, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters, Kumar and Yoshida teaches
wherein the organization, (see Mesters, [col 6 lines 51-54] “The access settings might also allow the user to specify the users, such as a group of users (e.g., the people of an organization), that can access the shared files 113 stored by the sharing service”) in the attribute of (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 30-38] “The sharing service may provide access to the shared files to one or more users based on the sharing options set by a user. For instance, the sharing service may restrict or allow access to a file to a user based on the access settings specified by the user that composed and sent the electronic message or authorized the sharing of the file at the sharing service. The sharing service can also be referred to as a "collaboration service," since at least some examples of the sharing service can allow users to work together on a file”) the inquiry user, to which the inquiry user belongs includes (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) any of a plurality of organizations operated or managed by different agencies (see Yoshida, Fig. 3 – there are plurality of organizations such as Crisis Management office, Supervisory Team, A Company Cyber team, B Company Cyber team and Information Team). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Regarding claim 8, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters, Kumar and Yoshida teaches
wherein the one or more processors are configured to: (see Smith, [0030] “The system 100 includes a processor 102”).
for each operation log record, (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”; [0031] “The storage device 104 provides persistent storage of data. In particular, the storage device 104 stores one or more data sets 112. Each data set 112 preferably includes a plurality of records 114, for example checkpoint log records 114”) generate an encryption key associated with attributes (Kumar, [0063] “The encoding of the content item is commonly performed using an encryption key”; [0098] “Audit module 498 also encrypts the audit log using encryption key 482 to create an audit log in encrypted form and stores the audit log in the encrypted form”; [0095] “The created file includes the content item in encrypted form and associated desired set of attributes (415)”) the attribute condition, (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”) as an encryption key for encrypting the audit log (see Kumar, [0098] “Audit module 498 also encrypts the audit log using encryption key 482 to create an audit log in encrypted form and stores the audit log in the encrypted form”; [0095] “The created file includes the content item in encrypted form and associated desired set of attributes (415)”) the operation log record; and (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”; [0031] “The storage device 104 provides persistent storage of data. In particular, the storage device 104 stores one or more data sets 112. Each data set 112 preferably includes a plurality of records 114, for example checkpoint log records 114”).
exert such control that (see Smith, [0031] “the processor 102 comprises one or more central processing units executing software and/or firmware to control and manage”) the encryption key encrypts the audit log (see Kumar, [0097]-[0098] “Encryption key 482 is the key used to perform the encryption/conversion of the content item… Audit module 498 also encrypts the audit log using encryption key 482 to create an audit log in encrypted form and stores the audit log in the encrypted form”) the one operation log record (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”; [0031] “The storage device 104 provides persistent storage of data. In particular, the storage device 104 stores one or more data sets 112. Each data set 112 preferably includes a plurality of records 114, for example checkpoint log records 114”). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Regarding claim 9, the proposed combination of Smith, Mesters, Kumar and Yoshida teaches
wherein the one or more processors are configured to: (see Smith, [0030] “The system 100 includes a processor 102”).
exert such control that, (see Smith, [0031] “the processor 102 comprises one or more central processing units executing software and/or firmware to control and manage”) in response to the inquiry user's inquiry about reference to the one operation log record, the inquiry user is (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) allowed to refer to the one operation log record, (see Smith, [0082]-[0083] “Once a user provides a valid query expression 128, the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters… a determination 608 is made whether a log entry 302 satisfies the query expression 128. If the log entry 302 satisfies the query expression 128, the output module 208 includes 610 the log entry 302”).
exert such control that (see Smith, [0031] “the processor 102 comprises one or more central processing units executing software and/or firmware to control and manage”) a decryption key is generated as a decryption key for decrypting (see Kumar, [0092] “Key generator 425 generates a pair of encryption and decryption keys, such that information (e.g. content item) encoded with the encryption key can be decoded into the original information using only the decryption key”) the one operation log record (see Smith, [0082] “the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters”; [0031] “The storage device 104 provides persistent storage of data. In particular, the storage device 104 stores one or more data sets 112. Each data set 112 preferably includes a plurality of records 114, for example checkpoint log records 114”) which has been encrypted by using the encryption key, (see Kumar, [0097]-[0098] “Encryption key 482 is the key used to perform the encryption/conversion of the content item, while decryption key 485 is the complementary key required to perform decryption/conversion of encrypted data 480 to obtain the original content item ("decrypted form")… Audit module 498 also encrypts the audit log using encryption key 482 to create an audit log in encrypted form and stores the audit log in the encrypted form”) and is provided to local store (see Kumar, [0106] “stores the pair of keys in local store 430”) the inquiry user, (see Smith, [0082]-[0083] “Once a user provides a valid query expression 128, the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114… the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set based on a time range provided as one of the parameters… a determination 608 is made whether a log entry 302 satisfies the query expression 128. If the log entry 302 satisfies the query expression 128, the output module 208 includes 610 the log entry 302”) the decryption key being associated with attributes (see Kumar, [0024] “the tenant provides the desired set of attributes as dependent attributes of a decryption key according to attribute based encryption (ABE)”; [0071] “the decrypting of content item is performed using a decryption key according to ABE, with the match of the specific set of attributes with the desired set of attributes”) the inquiry user's (see Smith, [0081]-[0082] “when a user desires to review log entries that satisfy a query expression 128. Initially, a user defines one or more conditions and one or more parameters. In certain embodiments, the parameters include a checkpoint log data set indicator that names a checkpoint log data set 112 of interest to the user… the record handler 202 accesses 602 at least one checkpoint log record 114. In certain embodiments, the record handler 202 may access 602 a subset of checkpoint log records 114 in a checkpoint log data set”) attribute (see Mesters, [col 2 lines 30-38] “The sharing service may provide access to the shared files to one or more users based on the sharing options set by a user. For instance, the sharing service may restrict or allow access to a file to a user based on the access settings specified by the user that composed and sent the electronic message or authorized the sharing of the file at the sharing service. The sharing service can also be referred to as a "collaboration service," since at least some examples of the sharing service can allow users to work together on a file”) satisfying the attribute condition (see Mesters, [col 4 lines 51-56] “may include a server 181A storing a messaging manager 105A, a message database 106 and a directory 108A… the messaging manager 105A may access permission data stored in the directory 108A for controlling user access to messages and other data stored in the message database 106”). The motivation for the proposed combination is maintained.
Conclusion
Applicant's amendment necessitated the new ground(s) of rejection presented in this Office action. Accordingly, THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. See MPEP § 706.07(a). Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
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/VAISHALI SHAH/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2156