DETAILED ACTION
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Receipt is acknowledged of certified copies of papers required by 37 CFR 1.55.
The IDS filed 6/20/2025 has been considered.
Claims 1-15 are presented for examination.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
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 (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) 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.
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 1-15 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Bannoura et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2010/0312821), hereinafter referred to as Bannoura, in view of Croix (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2004/0205735) as cited on the applicant’s IDS filed 6/20/2025.
Bannoura disclosed techniques for managing source code for optimization and execution. In an analogous art, Croix disclosed techniques for encrypting source code for a compiler. Both systems are directed toward the management and manipulation of source code.
Regarding claim 1, Bannoura discloses a method of encrypting source code for use in a version control system, comprising: providing the source code in an unencrypted and textual form in a provisioning step (paragraph 39, document including code); carrying out an encryption of the source code and generating an encrypted source code version in an encrypting step (paragraph 41, content portions compressed or encrypted); and carrying out a textualization of the encrypted source code version and generating a textualized representation of the encrypted source code version in a textualizing step (paragraph 42, compressed portion textualized), and wherein a line order of the unencrypted source text is maintained in the encrypted source text version and/or in the textualized representation of the encrypted source text version (paragraph 34, replaces new-line characters to maintain original).
Bannoura does not explicitly state wherein encrypting and/or textualizing is carried out line by line. However, performing encryption in such a fashion was well known in the art as evidenced by Croix. Since the inventions encompass the same field of endeavor, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to modify the system of Bannoura by adding the ability that encrypting and/or textualizing is carried out line by line as provided by Croix (see paragraph 26, line-by-line encryption). One of ordinary skill in the art would have recognized the benefit that performing encryption in this way would assist in providing more effective protection for source code (see Croix, paragraph 15).
Regarding claim 2, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses carrying out a line separation of the source text and generating separated lines of the source text in a line separating step; wherein the encrypting step is carried out on the separated lines of the source code and comprises for each separated line; and carrying out an encryption of the separated line and generating an encrypted line of the encrypted source code version in a line encrypting step (Bannoura, paragraph 34, replaces new-line characters to maintain original, and Croix, paragraph 26, line-by-line encryption).
Regarding claim 3, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the textualizing step is carried out on the encrypted lines of the encrypted source text version and comprises for each encrypted line: carrying out a textualization of the encrypted line of the encrypted source code version and generating a textualized line representation of the encrypted line of the encrypted source code version in a line textualizing step (Bannoura, paragraph 42, compressed portion textualized).
Regarding claim 4, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the textualizing step further comprises: merging the plurality of textualized line representations of the encrypted lines of the encrypted source text version and generating the textual representation of the encrypted source text version as a whole of the textualized line representation in a line merging step (Bannoura, paragraph 43, re-combines text-safe compressed portions).
Regarding claim 5, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the encryption is caried out as a decryptable encryption, and wherein by applying a corresponding key to the encrypted source text version, the encrypted source text version is unambiguously traceable back to the unencrypted source text (Bannoura, paragraph 64, decompression, and Croix, paragraph 23, decryption).
Regarding claim 6, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the encryption is carried out as a symmetric encryption (Croix, paragraph 44, rolling key encryption).
Regarding claim 7, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the encryption is carried out as an asymmetric encryption (Croix, paragraph 29, public key encryption).
Regarding claim 8, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the textualization is carried out as a clearly reversible textualization, and wherein the textualized representation of the encrypted source text version is clearly convertible into the encrypted source text version by reversing the textualization in the form of a de-textualization (Bannoura, paragraph 63, undoing textualization).
Regarding claim 9, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the encryption is a unique encryption that results in the same encrypted lines for lines of the source text having the same content and in different encrypted lines for lines of the source text having different content, and/or wherein the textualization is a unique textualization which leads to the same textual line representation for encrypted lines having the same encryption and to different textual line representations of the encrypted lines for encrypted lines having different encryption (Croix, paragraph 31, identical output).
Regarding claim 10, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the encryption is carried out as a binary encryption (Bannoura, paragraph 34, binary format).
Regarding claim 11, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the textualization of the encrypted source code version is achieved by a base64 textualization algorithm (Bannoura, paragraph 42, base64 encoding).
Regarding claim 12, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses wherein the source code defines a control program for an automation system (Bannoura, paragraphs 3-4, controls server in execution of content version).
Regarding claim 13, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses the method for decrypting a source text encrypted according to the method for encrypting a source text, comprising: carrying out a line separation of the textualized representation of the encrypted source code version and generating separated textualized line representations of the encrypted lines of the encrypted source code version in a further line separating step (Bannoura, paragraph 62, scans for previously replaced characters); carrying out a de-textualization of each textualized line representation of the encrypted lines of the encrypted source code version in a de-textualizing step (Bannoura, paragraph 63, undoing textualization); carrying out a decryption of the encrypted lines of the encrypted source code version and generating unencrypted lines of the source code in a decrypting step (Bannoura, paragraph 64, decompression, and Croix, paragraph 23, decryption); and merging the unencrypted lines of the source text and generating a visible representation of the source text in a further line-merging step (Bannoura, paragraph 67, reconstructs page by chunks).
Regarding claim 14, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses a development system for developing and/or editing a source code, wherein the development system comprising a computing unit having a processor and memory configured to carry out the method for encrypting a source code for use in a version control system (Bannoura, paragraph 28, client or server).
Regarding claim 15, the combination of Bannoura and Croix discloses a development system for developing and/or editing a source code, wherein the development system comprises a computing unit having a processor and memory configured to carry out the method for decrypting a source code (Bannoura, paragraph 28, client or server.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
Ragusa et al. (U.S. Patent Application Publication Number 2019/0297058) disclosed techniques for encrypting a portion of content of a static webpage.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Victor Lesniewski whose telephone number is (571)272-2812. The examiner can normally be reached Monday thru Friday, 9am to 5pm.
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, Carl Colin can be reached at 571-272-3862. 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.
/Victor Lesniewski/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2493
Prosecution Insights