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 . This office action is in response to communication filed on 1/27/2026.
The instant application having application No. 18/227,832 filed on July 28, 2023, claims priority to the provisional application having application No. 63/369,664 filed on July 28, 2022.
Status of the Claims
Claims 1, 6, and 7 are amended, claims 8-13 are added, claims 1-13 are currently pending in the application.
Response to Amendment
Regarding art rejection: The amended claims overcome current art rejections which are withdrawn.
Examiner Notes
Examiner cites particular columns, paragraphs, figures and line numbers in the references as applied to the claims below for the convenience of the applicant. Although the specified citations are representative of the teachings in the art and are applied to the specific limitations within the individual claim, other passages and figures may apply as well. It is respectfully requested that, in preparing responses, the applicant fully consider the references in their entirety as potentially teaching all or part of the claimed invention, as well as the context of the passage as taught by the prior art or disclosed by the examiner.
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 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.
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.
Claims 1-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
The term "immediate future" in claim 1 is a relative term which renders the claim indefinite. The term " immediate future" is not defined by the claim, the specification does not provide a standard for ascertaining the requisite degree, and one of ordinary skill in the art would not be reasonably apprised of the scope of the invention.
Claims 6 and 7 have the same issue as claim 1.
Claims 2-5 and 8-13 are rejected for the same reason because they depend from their respective independent claims 1, 6, or 7.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. For example, Sriram et al., US 9195455 B2, teaches Reducing Downtime When Patching Multiple Inter-dependent Software Components.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEPHEN DAVID BERMAN whose telephone number is (571)272-7206. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F, 9-6 Eastern.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Bradley Teets, can be reached on 571-272-3338. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/ZENGPU WEI/Examiner, Art Unit 2197
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