Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
1. The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Election/Restrictions
2. NO restrictions warranted at initial time of filing for patent.
Information Disclosure Statement
3. The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 05/16/2025 and 06/22/2026, the submission is in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Oath/Declaration
4. Applicant’s Oath was filed on 05/16/2025.
Drawings
5. Applicant’s drawings filed on 05/16/2025 has been inspected and is in compliance with MPEP 608.01.
Specification
6. Applicant’s specification filed on 05/16/2025 has been inspected and is in compliance with MPEP 608.02.
Claim Objections
7. NO objections warranted at initial time of filing for patent.
Remarks
8. Examiner request Applicant review relevant prior art under the conclusion of this office action.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
9. Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being incomplete for omitting essential elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the elements. See MPEP § 2172.01.
Claim 5 discloses generates an encrypted tag attribute including an encrypted attribute condition in which the target attribute condition is set and encrypted, without setting the keyword. It is not clear how the keyword is not set, given that Claim 2, which Claim 5 depends on, explicitly states that each keyword is set for the purpose of searching the ciphertext. This dependency suggests that the keyword setting should be explicitly defined in Claim 2 to ensure consistency and completeness in the claims. The deficiencies in claim 5 set forth omit essential steps or elements, such omission amounting to a gap between the steps between the steps, thereby rendering the claims indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
10. Claims 1-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1)/(a)(2) as being anticipated by U.S. Publication No. 20220286271 hereinafter Hirano.
As per claim 1, Hirano discloses:
A registration request device (Fig. 5, element 500) comprising
processing circuitry (Fig. 5, element 501) to:
generate an aggregate attribute condition by adding a higher-level attribute condition that includes at least one of a plurality of attribute conditions indicating attributes (Fig. 5 element 522, para 0311 “At step S154, the aggregate information generation unit 522 aggregates the plurality of attribute values included in the attribute information B into one set or more of blocks. With this, aggregate information B′ is generated.”)
that enable a search for a ciphertext to the plurality of attribute conditions (para 0329 “At step S156, the ciphertext data generation unit 524 generates the ciphertext data C, by using the data key DK, the plaintext M, the attribute information B, the generalized information B{circumflex over ( )}, and the data random number group r. The data key DK is included in the registration key EK..” Para 0330 “The ciphertext data C has an attribute element C_{i, h}, a random number element C_rs, and the ciphertext C′”);
and generate an encrypted tag indicating a search condition in which attribute conditions included in the aggregate attribute condition (para 0351 “ At step S158, the encrypted tag generation unit 526 generates the encrypted tag CT by using the tag key TK, the attribute information B, the generalized information B{circumflex over ( )}, the tag random number group R, and the registration keyword W. The tag key TK is included in the registration key EK.”)
are connected by a logical operator OR, the encrypted tag being used to realize a search for the ciphertext (para 0361 “Then, the encrypted tag generation unit 526 calculates exclusive OR of the function value (TK, B′_i{circumflex over ( )}h|i, W, RS) and a random number R_i included in the tag random number group R. The obtained value is the attribute element CT_{i, h}.”).
As per claim 2, Hirano discloses:
The registration request device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry sets each attribute condition included in the aggregate attribute condition as a target attribute condition (para 0222-0229 “[0222] The attribute information indicates a plurality of attribute values corresponding to the plurality of attributes.[0223] Each attribute value identifies an attribute of the user in each layer. [0224] Based on FIG. 12, examples of the attribute information are described.[0225] The attribute information indicates four attribute values corresponding to four lavers. [0226] An attribute of a first layer (first attribute) is a division. [0227] An attribute of a second layer (second attribute) is a department. [0228] An attribute of a third layer (third attribute) is a section. [0229] An attribute of a fourth layer (fourth attribute) is a name.”),
sets each of one or more keywords for searching for the ciphertext as a target keyword (para 0347 “Specifically, the keyword generation unit 525 extracts a keyword from the plaintext M by performing morphological analysis, natural language processing, or the like on the plaintext M.” Para 0350 “There may be a plurality of registration keywords W. When there are a plurality of registration keywords W, the encrypted tag CT is generated for each registration keyword W.”),
and generates the encrypted tag including a tag element in which the target attribute condition and the target keyword are set and encrypted (para 0351).
As per claim 3, Hirano discloses:
The registration request device according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry generates the encrypted tag including an exclusive OR of a bit string in which the target attribute condition and the target keyword are set and encrypted and a random number R (para 0361 and 0364).
As per claim 4, Hirano discloses:
The registration request device according to claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry generates the encrypted tag including a tag verification value obtained by executing a one-way function using the random number R as input (para 0363-0365 “[0365] Then, the encrypted tag generation unit 526 executes the function F_7 by taking the random number sum R+ as an input. The obtained value is the verification element CT_V. [0366] As with the function F_6, the function F_7 is a pseudorandom function, a hash function, or a function of common key cryptography. [0367] The encrypted tag CT can be represented as follows. Note that (+) means exclusive OR (XOR) in Embodiment 1. i is an integer equal to or more than 1 and equal to or less than k. m is an integer equal to or more than 1.”).
As per claim 5, Hirano discloses:
The registration request device according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry sets each attribute condition included in the aggregate attribute condition as a target attribute condition (Figs. 12 and 13), and
generates an encrypted tag attribute including an encrypted attribute condition in which the target attribute condition is set and encrypted, without setting the keyword (para 0357 “Next, the encrypted tag generation unit 526 executes a function F_5 by taking the function value (TK, B′_i{circumflex over ( )}h|i) and a registration keyword W as inputs. The obtained value is referred to as a function value (TK, B′_i{circumflex over ( )}h|i, W).”).
As per claim 6, Hirano discloses:
The registration request device according to claim 1, wherein the processing circuitry generates the ciphertext by setting a decryption condition in which attribute conditions included in the aggregate attribute condition are connected by a logical operator OR in plaintext data and then encrypting the plaintext data (para 0423 “ At step S166, the decoding unit 640 decodes the encrypted search result {C} into the search result {M} by using the user data key UDK. The user data key UDK is included in the user key UK.” Para 0443 “Next, the decoding unit 640 calculates exclusive OR of the function value (UDK_i, C_rs) and the attribute element C_{i, DP_i}. The obtained value is referred to as an extracted random number r_i{circumflex over ( )}.”).
As per claim 7, Hirano discloses:
A search request device (Fig. 6)
to request a search from a data management device that stores an encrypted tag in association with a target ciphertext (para 0179 and 0180),
where the target ciphertext is each of a plurality of ciphertexts (para 0021), the encrypted tag indicating a search condition in which each of a plurality of attribute conditions indicating attributes that enable a search for the target ciphertext and a higher-level attribute condition including at least one of the plurality of attribute conditions are connected by a logical operator OR (Figs. 11 and 12, para 0351, 0361 and 0364),
and being used to realize a search for the target ciphertext, the search request device comprising processing circuitry to transmit a search query in which attribute information indicating an attribute of a searcher is set and encrypted to the data management device, and request a ciphertext whose associated encrypted tag indicates the search condition satisfied by the attribute information among the plurality of ciphertexts (para 0386 and 0387).
As per claim 8, the implementation of the registration request device of claim 1 will execute the registration request method of claim 8. The claim is analyzed with respect to claim 1.
As per claim 9, the implementation of the search request device of 7claim 1will execute the search request method of claim 9. The claim is analyzed with respect to claim 7.
As per claim 10, Hirano discloses:
A data management method (Fig. 7) comprising:
accepting a search query in which attribute information indicating an attribute of a searcher is set and encrypted (para 0456 “At step S171, the accepting unit 710 receives the search query SQ from the search operation device 600 by using the communication device 705.”);
and searching for a ciphertext whose associated encrypted tag indicates a search condition satisfied by the attribute information that is set in the search query from a storage device that stores an encrypted tag in association with a target ciphertext (para 0457 “ At step S172, the collating unit 721 collates the search query SQ with each encrypted tag CT, thereby selecting the encrypted tag CT matching the search query SQ.”),
where the target ciphertext is each of a plurality of ciphertexts, the encrypted tag indicating a search condition in which each of a plurality of attribute conditions indicating attributes that enable a search for the target ciphertext and a higher-level attribute condition including at least one of the plurality of attribute conditions are connected by a logical operator OR, and being used to realize a search for the target ciphertext (Figs. 5, 11, and 12, para 0462 “Next, the collating unit 721 calculates exclusive OR of the function value (SQ_i, CT_RS) and the attribute element CT_{i, SQP_i}. The obtained value is referred to as an extracted random number R_i{circumflex over ( )}..”).
Conclusion
11. The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
U.S. Publication No. 20220277100 discloses Para 0012 and 0013 “A searchable encryption system according to the present invention includes: [0013] a registration device including [0014] a registration data storage unit to store a registration keyword, authorized-person attribute information indicating an attribute to be owned by an authorized person who has an authority to search for the registration keyword, and an index disclosure key to encrypt a registration keyword index corresponding to the registration keyword, [0015] an index generation unit to generate the registration keyword index by using the registration keyword, the authorized-person attribute information, a user key function to generate a user key having incorporated therein searcher attribute information indicating an attribute that a searcher who searches for the registration keyword has, a search query function to generate a search query having the user key incorporated therein, the search query corresponding to a search keyword for the searcher to search for the registration keyword, and an index query function to generate an index query having the search query incorporated therein, the index query being for searching for the registration keyword index; and [0016] an encrypted index generation unit to generate an encrypted index by encrypting the registration keyword index by using the index disclosure key.”
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to GARY S GRACIA whose telephone number is (571)270-5192. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 9am-6pm.
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, Philip Chea can be reached at 5712723951. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/GARY S GRACIA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2499
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