DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on 4/30/2026 has been entered. Applicant’s submission of a response on 4/29/2026 has been received and considered. In the response, Applicant amended claims 1 and 3. Therefore, claims 1 – 3 are pending.
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.
Claims 1 – 3 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Ahiska et al. (US Patent No. 9,517,410).
As per claim 1, Ahiska et al. discloses a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a first electronic device (cloud server, Fig. 2:200 and Col. 7, lines 51 – 64) with a communication circuit, cause the first electronic device to: receive, via the communication circuit from a second electronic device that has received at least a portion of first data for an execution of a game, a signal for indicating that a local mode is not available in the second electronic device, wherein the local mode plays the game by executing a defined program for an execution of the game in an electronic device in which the defined program is installed based on the first data (the client device receives a signal/trigger that local mode is not available on the client device; an application distribution network (ADN) comprises a top-level global server (first electronic device), intermediary local boxes and end-user client devices (second electronic device) that includes a failover mechanism. Application provision and license allocation can also failover to the top-level constellation under some circumstances (e.g., if all application provision and/or license allocation units in the intermediary constellation are offline), Fig. 1 and Col. 3, lines 16 – 29, Col. 5, lines 53 – Col. 6, line 21, Col. 5, lines 59 – 64, Col.11, lines 20 – 49); based on receiving the signal, transmit, via the communication circuit to the second electronic device, second data for providing a cloud mode of the game to the second electronic device, wherein, the cloud mode plays the game by receiving, by the second electronic device, at least one content of the game executed in a third electronic device ("Cloudpaging", once the local device signals it cannot execute locally, the Application Jukebox server on the cloud (third electronic device) executes the game software and streams required page segments to the target device (second electronic device), see Fig. 16 and Col. 7, lines 30 – 45, Col. 28, line 39 – Col. 28), and wherein, within the cloud mode, the second electronic device is configured to display the at least one content of the game without using the defined program (during cloud-mode/failover operation is executed at the cloud Application Jukebox server (third electronic device) and the resulting content is delivered to and displayed by the target device (second electronic device), the locally-installed partial (i.e., the defined program) on the target device is not the source of, and is not required to render, the streamed application content during this cloud-mode operation, because the content originates from execution at the third electronic device, see Fig. 16 and Col. 3, lines 16 – 29, Col. 11, lines 20 – 49 and Col. 7, lines 30 – 45)
As per claim 2, Ahiska et al. discloses the first data includes an application programming interface (API) for identifying whether the local mode is available in the second electronic device or not (the Partial, the initial portion of the game data delivered to the client device as first data includes not only the game's executable and DLLs, but also an embedded delivery agent ("pusher agent" in FIG. 19's architecture). This pusher agent is a software module included within the delivered data package that runs on the target device, checks local device state and available memory, and communicates with the remote game pusher server. Specifically, "a Partial may comprise an initial execution environment of an application," and describes that "Partial creation is performed by utilizing the same tools used to package the target application, such as Application Jukebox." The Application Jukebox delivery package thus constitutes the "first data," and the embedded delivery/pusher agent within it constitutes the API for checking whether local execution is available, Col. 5, line 53 – Col. 6, line 21, Col. 30, line 55 – Col. 31, line 8); wherein the signal is obtained based on the API and is transmitted from the second electronic device to the first electronic device (a local device does not respond to the server's query (i.e., the device executes the capability check and returns a failure/timeout result), the device is "marked as inactive." This marking triggered by the API-based status query constitutes the claimed signal obtained based on the API and transmitted from the second device back to the first device (server). The flowchart in FIG. 11 specifically shows the client device responding (or not) to the server's availability query, with the response (or its absence) used to route provisioning to the ADN cloud).
As per claim 3, Ahiska et al. discloses the first data further includes information for installing the defined program in the second electronic device to play the game through the local mode in the second electronic device (the Partial (first data) delivered to the target device (second electronic device) includes "a minimum set of files, directory information, registry entries, environmental variable changes, or some combination thereof required for launching the application," and that "a Partial may include an application's executable and DLLs that are necessary for execution”, Col. 5, lines 59 – 64).
Response to Arguments
Applicant's arguments filed on 4/29/2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive.
Applicant argues Ahiska does not disclose “an electronic device in which the defined program is installed”, the Examiner respectfully disagrees. Applicant's argument mischaracterizes the disclosure of Ahiska. Ahiska is not limited to streaming a virtualized application to a passive end-user client. Rather, Ahiska expressly discloses that the initial portion of the application data, the “Partial”, delivered to the target device “may include an application's executable and DLLs that are necessary for execution” and comprises “a minimum set of files, directory information, registry entries, environmental variable changes, or some combination thereof required for launching the application”. The delivery of registry entries and environmental variable changes to the target device is, by definition, local installation on that target device, because registry entries and environmental variables are persistent installation artifacts written to and resident on the device on which they exist. Further, the embedded “pusher agent” within the Partial is itself a software module that runs on the target device, performs local capability/availability checks, and communicates with the remote pusher server, confirming that program code from the “Partial” is installed and executes locally on the target device. Accordingly, the “Partial” delivered as the first data constitutes the claimed “defined program,” and the target device (second electronic device) constitutes the claimed “electronic device in which the defined program is installed based on the first data.”
Applicant argues Ahiska does not disclose (i) that the local mode plays the game by executing a defined program in an electronic device in which the defined program is installed, and (ii) that within the cloud mode, the second electronic device is configured to display the at least one content of the game without using the defined program. Examiner respectfully disagrees. Ahiska discloses a failover architecture in which “application provision and license allocation can also failover to the top-level constellation under some circumstances (e.g., if all application provision and/or license allocation units in the intermediary constellation are offline).” In this failover scenario, once the target device signals that local execution is not available, the Application Jukebox server in the cloud (third electronic device) executes the application and delivers the resulting content to the target device.
In this cloud-mode operation, the content rendered for the user is generated by execution on the third electronic device and is merely received and displayed by the second electronic device. The locally-installed Partial (i.e., the “defined program”) on the second electronic device is not the source of, and is not required to render, the streamed application content during this cloud-mode operation, because the content originates from execution at the third electronic device. Therefore, the claimed rejection is maintained.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to ANKIT B DOSHI whose telephone number is (571)270-7863. The examiner can normally be reached Mon - Fri. ~8:30 - ~5:30.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Dmitry Suhol can be reached at 571-272-4430. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ANKIT B DOSHI/Examiner, Art Unit 3715
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