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 .
Response to Amendment
This action is in response to applicant’s arguments and amendments filed 12/08/2025, which are in response to USPTO Office Action mailed 6/10/2025. Applicant’s arguments have been considered with the results that follow: THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL.
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.
Claim(s) 1-4, 10-13, 15-18 and 24-27 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanza et al. (US PGPUB No. 2018/0006898; Pub. Date: Jan. 4, 2018) in view of Ploegert et al. (US PGPUB No. 2021/0200912; Pub. Date: Jul. 1, 2021).
Regarding independent claim 1,
Kanza discloses a computer-implemented method for querying infrastructure information, the method comprising: executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and, when the instructions are executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:(a) receiving an input query from a user to query about an object in an infrastructure, See Paragraphs [0031]-[0032], (Disclosing a system comprising a graph database configured to return a pathway set representing elements of a network in response to a query. The system may build a network inventory of a communication network based on a schema that supports querying via a query language and may include supporting Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) abstractions. The TOSCA model may utilize hierarchies to facilitate querying networks in cases where a user only has partial information regarding the types of nodes or edges in the network.) See Paragraph [0034], (An input 212 comprising query instructions may be received and applied to graph database 210 in order to produce a set of pathways which are outputted as query results, i.e. a computer-implemented method for querying infrastructure information, the method comprising: executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and, when the instructions are executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:(a) receiving an input query from a user to query about an object in an infrastructure (e.g. users may query a network inventory of a communication network 100 using a TOSCA model).)
wherein the infrastructure comprises a plurality of physical and virtual resources defined in a graphical schema, See Paragraph [0058], (The network inventory is associated with a graphical representation comprising nodes and edges, i.e. wherein the infrastructure comprises a plurality of physical and virtual resources defined in a graphical schema. Note [0029] wherein network 100 includes network entities associated with virtual network functions, i.e. virtual resources, and may additionally include physical hardware 110 such as a hypervisor host 110a, i.e. physical resources.)
wherein the virtual resources comprise at least a resource provided via virtualization technology for cloud native applications; See Paragraph [0029], (Network 100 may include network entities including virtual network functions such as a firewall, DNS, VNF, web service, etc.) See Paragraph [0031], (The system may build a network inventory of a communication network based on a schema that supports querying via a query language and may include supporting Topology and Orchestration Specification for Cloud Applications (TOSCA) abstractions, i.e. wherein the virtual resources comprise at least a resource provided via virtualization technology for cloud native applications (e.g. network 100 includes a plurality of virtual network functions that may be represented in a network inventory that may be queried using query languages that support cloud application abstractions).)
(b) upon receiving the input query, traversing the graphical schema to i) identify one or more resources from the plurality of physical and virtual resources that are connected to the object, See Paragraph [0097], (A query may use or identify induced pathways defined by a query element to facilitate traversal of the graph database representing network100, such as a vertical traversal to move between layers or a horizontal traversal in order to determine node matches that correspond to query elements, i.e. upon receiving the input query, traversing the graphical schema to i) identify one or more resources from the plurality of physical and virtual resources that are connected to the object (e.g. Note [0029] wherein network 100 comprises virtual elements as well as physical hardware which are represented as elements of the graph as in FIG. 1B.)
and ii) collect information about a relationship between the object and the one or more resources, See FIG. 2C, (FIG. 2C illustrates method 250 comprising step 255 of receiving a query for a graph database, the query including pathway variables. At step 275, the method executes a pathway algebraic expression generated based on pathway variables of the query in order to return a pathway set.) See Paragraph [0077], (A query may retrieve edges wherein an edge may comprise a pathway . Note [0044] wherein an edge indicates a connection between at least two nodes, i.e. and ii) collect information about a relationship between the object and the one or more resources (e.g. a query may retrieve an edge which represents connection data associated with a plurality of nodes).)
Kanza does not disclose the step of scanning the graphical schema for collecting real-time metadata about the one or more resources or the object;
(c) aggregating the information about the relationship and the metadata to construct a result for display in response to the input query, wherein the result comprises at least information not queried in the input query.
Ploegert discloses the step of scanning the graphical schema for collecting real-time metadata about the one or more resources or the object; See Paragraph [0269], (Disclosing a building system including a method for processing requests to access a portion of a building graph of a building. The comprises a twin manager 108 containing a history and current state of a graph based on schema evaluation. This allows consumers to retain a copy of the graph data and create dynamic views using a change feed. Note [0282] a change feed may be directed to one or more topics having associated events which may include metadata describing entities, capabilities and/or policies associated with the plurality of entities, i.e. and scanning the graphical schema for collecting real-time metadata about the one or more resources or the object;
(c) aggregating the information about the relationship and the metadata to construct a result for display in response to the input query, wherein the result comprises at least information not queried in the input query. See FIG. 22, (Disclosing a building system including a method for processing requests to access a portion of a building graph of a building. FIG. 22 illustrates the process 2200 where a graph is queried according to a user query received at step 2202. The following step 2204 comprises querying the graph for information based on the query by searching the nodes and edges representing entities and events while edges represent relationships between entities and events, i.e. aggregating the information about the relationship and the metadata (e.g. Note [0282] wherein metadata events may be added to metadata topic 314 of cloud platform 106 to update entities, relationships and events of database 160.) to construct a result for display in response to the input query.) See Paragraphs [0124]-[0125], (The system may receive a query for information of a building graph wherein the query includes an indication of an entity and indication of an event associated with the query. The query response includes the entity in response to identifying the node and identifying one or more edges between the node and a second node, i.e. wherein the result comprises at least information not queried in the input query (e.g. the returned edges are not part of the input query).)
Kanza and Ploegert are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, information management and display. It would have been obvious to anyone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Kanza to include the method of querying a graph storage system as disclosed by Ploegert. Paragraph [0263] of Ploegert discloses that the system may use graph projections to enrich events by identifying relationships between devices and spaces, thereby providing functionality for inferring additional information according to entities and components present in a graph structure.
Regarding dependent claim 2,
As discussed above with claim 1, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Ploegert further discloses the step wherein the input query is an unstructured text query. See Paragraph [0252], (Users may submit natural language queries to request building platform data. Examples of queries are provided such as: “What space, build, floor is that badge scanner in?” or “What user is associated with that badge?”, i.e. wherein the input query is an unstructured text query.)
Regarding dependent claim 3,
As discussed above with claim 2, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Ploegert further discloses the step wherein the input query is processed and converted into one or more executable query codes. See Paragraph [0288], (Query manager 402 may receive a query or post from a user device. Schema and ontology 154 may send an ontology to query manager 402 in order to define the query that the query manager makes to database 160, i.e. wherein the input query is processed and converted into one or more executable query codes (e.g. the user’s natural language query (See [0252]) is processed according to an ontology and schema).)
Regarding dependent claim 4,
As discussed above with claim 3, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Ploegert further discloses the step wherein the one or more executable query codes are delivered to one or more distributed agents at the one or more resources. See Paragraph [0288], (Query manager 402 may receive a query or post from a user device and is configured to query the entity, relationship and/or event database 160 based on the query, i.e. wherein the one or more executable query codes (e.g. the query processed according to an ontology and schema) are delivered to one or more distributed agents (e.g. the query is directed to entities, relationships and/or event database 160, which are components of the network system) at the one or more resources (each node of the graph represents a resource of the building system).)
Regarding dependent claim 10,
As discussed above with claim 1, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Kanza further discloses the step wherein each resource of the infrastructure is represented as a node in the graphical schema. See Paragraph [0022], (The schema of the layered network graph may comprises nodes and edges having a plurality of types. Note FIG. 1B wherein a plurality of nodes are arranged as part of a layered graph wherein the nodes represent elements of network 100, i.e. wherein each resource of the infrastructure is represented as a node in the graphical schema.)
Regarding dependent claim 11,
As discussed above with claim 1, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Ploegert further discloses the step wherein the metadata of the object is represented as a node in the graphical schema. See FIG. 11 & Paragraph [0308], (FIG. 11 illustrates a graph projection of a twin manager 108 including nodes and edges. Nodes represent different types of entities, devices, locations, points, persons, policies and software services associated with the entity/application/system to which the graph projection is directed.) See Paragraph [0292], (New entities are discovered from metadata 314 and a device tree 322 via a discovery workflow 600 performed by cloud platform 106, i.e. wherein the metadata of the object is represented as a node in the graphical schema (e.g. entities, i.e. nodes, of the graph are determined from metadata).)
Regarding dependent claim 12,
As discussed above with claim 1, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Kanza further discloses the method further comprising updating the graphical schema upon detection of a change in the infrastructure. See Paragraph [0049], (The system may receive an input 202 indicating an update describing a change in network 100’s structure such as the addition of a new node or edge, i.e. updating the graphical schema upon detection of a change in the infrastructure.)
Regarding dependent claim 13,
As discussed above with claim 1, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Ploegert further discloses the step wherein the at least information not queried in the input query comprises information about the relationship between the object and the one or more resources. See Paragraph [0410], (Enrichment manager may enrich events received from building subsystems based on event context received and may add entity and/or relationship information associated with an event to generate enriched events with additional added properties or attributes that provide context regarding the event.) See Paragraphs [0252]-[0253], (Enrichment manager 138 may solve a problem wherein a user may request information that requires inferences or additional information. The system may perform inferences on the data via enrichment in order to efficiently process of a request, i.e. wherein the at least information not queried in the input query (e.g. the generated enrichment information) comprises information about the relationship between the object and the one or more resources (e.g. Note [0410]).)
Regarding independent claim 15,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of independent claim 1 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 16,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 2 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 17,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 3 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 18,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 4 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 24,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 10 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 25,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 11 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 26,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 12 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 27,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 13 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim(s) 5-8 and 19-22 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanza in view of Ploegert as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Pal et al. (US PGPUB No. 2019/0147084; Pub. Date: May 16, 2019).
Regarding dependent claim 5,
As discussed above with claim 4, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Kanza-Ploegert does not disclose the method further comprising executing the one or more executable query codes to collect the metadata from the one or more resources and combining the data as the result of the input query.
Pal further discloses the step wherein the method further comprising executing the one or more executable query codes to collect the metadata from the one or more resources and combining the data as the result of the input query. See Paragraph [0271], (Each indexer returns partial responses to a search head that combines the results to produce an answer for the query, i.e. executing the one or more executable query codes (e.g. the subqueries) to collect the data from the one or more resources (e.g. retrieving partial responses) and combining the data as a result of the input query (e.g. the search head combines the partial responses).) Note [0956] wherein the search process includes a comparison of metadata associated with messages received during a given time-window in order to identify any messages not relevant to a given query, i.e. collecting metadata from one or more resources.
Kanza, Ploegert and Pal are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, graph-based data retrieval. It would have been obvious to anyone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Kanza-Ploegert to include the method of performing partial computations on requested data as disclosed by Pal. Paragraph [0244] of Pal discloses that the process allows the search head to start returning interim results to the user at the client device. Paragraph [0353] also discloses that search head 210 allows users to search and visualize events generated from machine data received form homogeneous data sources.
Regarding dependent claim 6,
As discussed above with claim 3, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Kanza-Ploegert does not disclose the step wherein the one or more executable query codes are executed in parallel.
Pal discloses the step wherein the one or more executable query codes are executed in parallel. See Paragraph [0271], (Each indexer may analyze events for a query in parallel to determine partial responses to a query that are later combined to produce an answer for the query, i.e. wherein the one or more executable query codes are executed in parallel.)
Kanza, Ploegert and Pal are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, graph-based data retrieval. It would have been obvious to anyone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Kanza-Ploegert to include the method of performing partial computations on requested data as disclosed by Pal. Paragraph [0244] of Pal discloses that the process allows the search head to start returning interim results to the user at the client device. Paragraph [0353] also discloses that search head 210 allows users to search and visualize events generated from machine data received form homogeneous data sources.
Regarding dependent claim 7,
As discussed above with claim 3, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Kanza-Ploegert does not disclose the step wherein the one or more executable codes are expressed in distributed data query language which comprises at least a building block for filtering and extracting data with an assertion feature.
Pal further discloses the step wherein the one or more executable codes are expressed in distributed data query language which comprises at least a building block for filtering and extracting data with an assertion feature. See Paragraph [0344]-[0345], (Commands may be used to filter unwanted information out of results by retrieving a set of data based on a condition, i.e. wherein the one or more executable codes are expressed in distributed data query language (e.g. Note [0338] wherein a query coordinator may generate subqueries to be executed by indexers) which comprises at least a building block for filtering. Queries may include search terms that can include any combination of keywords, phrases, times, dates, Boolean expressions, etc., i.e. an assertion feature.)
Kanza, Ploegert and Pal are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, graph-based data retrieval. It would have been obvious to anyone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Kanza-Ploegert to include the method of performing partial computations on requested data as disclosed by Pal. Paragraph [0244] of Pal discloses that the process allows the search head to start returning interim results to the user at the client device. Paragraph [0353] also discloses that search head 210 allows users to search and visualize events generated from machine data received form homogeneous data sources.
Regarding dependent claim 8,
As discussed above with claim 7, Kanza-Ploegert-Pal discloses all of the limitations.
Pal further discloses the step wherein the distributed data query language further comprises a scripting building block and data query building block. See Paragraph [0344]-[0345], (Queries may comprise search commands and one or more corresponding search terms, i.e. a data query building block. Commands may be used to filter unwanted information, extract more information, evaluate field values, calculate statistics, reorder results, create summaries/alerts, etc., i.e. a scripting building block.)
Paragraph [0033] of Applicant's specification defines a "scripting feature" as a programming language that executes a task or set of tasks. Additionally, Paragraph [0034] of Applicant's specification defines a "data query building block" as being used to retrieve information or fetch data related to a resource. Therefore, one of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that a "scripting building block" comprises a query command that performs an operation. Similarly, one of ordinary skill int he art would recognize that a search command directed to search terms would be equivalent to the "data query building block" as described in Applicant's Specification.
Kanza, Ploegert and Pal are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, graph-based data retrieval. It would have been obvious to anyone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Kanza-Ploegert to include the method of performing partial computations on requested data as disclosed by Pal. Paragraph [0244] of Pal discloses that the process allows the search head to start returning interim results to the user at the client device. Paragraph [0353] also discloses that search head 210 allows users to search and visualize events generated from machine data received form homogeneous data sources.
Regarding dependent claim 19,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 5 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 20,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 6 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 21,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 7 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Regarding dependent claim 22,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 8 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Claim(s) 14 and 28 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kanza in view of Ploegert as applied to claim 4 above, and further in view of Khillar et al. (US PGPUB No. 2021/0026898; Pub. Date: Jan. 28, 2021).
Regarding dependent claim 14,
As discussed above with claim 1, Kanza-Ploegert discloses all of the limitations.
Kanza-Ploegert does not disclose the method further comprising automatically completing the input query by displaying available one or more resources on a user interface.
Khillar discloses a method comprising automatically completing the input query by displaying available one or more resources on a user interface. See Paragraph [0060], (Disclosing a system for generation of a database schema-compliant search query based on a natural language input. Client 301 may auto-complete the user search query based on segments of the database schema, i.e. automatically completing the input query by displaying available one or more resources on a user interface (e.g. Note [0080] wherein search query recommendations may aid the user in typing elements of the search input query of a graphical user interface).)
Kanza, Ploegert and Khillar are analogous art because they are in the same field of endeavor, natural language query systems. It would have been obvious to anyone having ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify the system of Kanza-Ploegert to include the method for auto-completing user queries according to database information as disclosed by Khillar. Paragraph [0060] of Khillar discloses that the recommendation algorithm associated with the auto-complete functionality may advantageously enhance the accuracy of the natural language input by potentially avoiding misspellings of column titles of a database table.
Regarding dependent claim 28,
The claim is analogous to the subject matter of dependent claim 14 directed to a non-transitory, computer readable medium and is rejected under similar rationale.
Response to Arguments
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1 and 15 have been considered but are moot because the new ground of rejection does not rely on any reference applied in the prior rejection of record for any teaching or matter specifically challenged in the argument.
Applicant’s amendments necessitated the new grounds of rejection presented in this Office Action.
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.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to Fernando M Mari whose telephone number is (571)272-2498. The examiner can normally be reached Monday-Friday 7am-4pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Ann J. Lo can be reached at (571) 272-9767. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/FMMV/Examiner, Art Unit 2159
/ANN J LO/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2159