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 .
Status of Claims
1. Claims 1-3, 8, 10, and 12-19 are currently amended.
Claims 1-20 are pending.
Claims 1-20 are rejected.
Response to Arguments
2. Regarding 35 U.S.C. 112b Rejections:
Applicant's arguments filed February 4, 2026 have been fully considered but they are not persuasive. Applicant argues in remarks:
Independent Claim 1
Claim 1 has been amended and no longer refers to a "real-world entity cell" or a
"virtual entity cell." A definition of a hybrid cell can be found in claim 1 ("the hybrid cells
comprising a real-world business entity and a complimentary virtual entity"). Applicant
respectfully requests that the 35 U.S.C. § l 12(b) rejection of claim 1 be removed.
Independent Claims 14 and 18
Claims 14 and 18 have been amended. The definition of a "hybrid cell" can be
found in claim 14 ("a hybrid cell comprising a real-world entity and a virtual entity") and
claim 18 ("a hybrid cell comprising a real-world entity and a virtual entity"). Claims 14
and 18 do not refer to a "real-world entity cell" or a "virtual entity cell" and cannot be
indefinite on the basis of these terms. Applicant respectfully requests that the 35 U.S.C. §
112(b) rejection of claims 14 and 18 be removed.
However, Applicant’s amendments are still viewed as indefinite and fail to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter with the inventor or join inventor regards as the invention. Applicant has amended claims to read that hybrid cells comprise a real-world business entity and a complimentary virtual entity. This still does not render clear what the business and virtual entities are, respectively. Please see the full rejection in the 35 U.S.C. 112b rejection below.
3. Regarding Objection to the Title:
Applicant has not responded to Examiner’s objection of the title of the invention. Examiner asserts again that the title of the invention is not descriptive. A new title is required that is clearly indicative of the invention to which the claims are directed.
4. Regarding Prior Art Rejections:
The arguments regarding the rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 103 challenge certain limitations. These limitations are newly added and were therefore not addressed in the previous rejection; therefore, the arguments are moot. The amendments are newly addressed by the new grounds of rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103.
Applicant’s arguments with respect to claim(s) 1, 10, 14, and 18 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.
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.
5. Claims 1-20 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 following claim language is unclear:
Claims 1, 14, and 18 include the limitations of “the hybrid cells comprising a real-world business entity and a complimentary virtual entity.” The terms “real-world business entity,” and “virtual entity” are 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. When speaking of configuring hybrid cells to provide services to customers of the tenants, there is no further clarification as to what real-world business entities, and virtual entities are. It is neither clarified in the claim or drawings. For examination purposes, the examiner interprets the real-world business entity as a business with users/tenants looking to execute a service, and the virtual entity is any computing resource used to execute the service.
Regarding claims 2-13, they are dependent on claim 1 and fail to cure the deficiencies set forth above for claim 1. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claims 15-17, they are dependent on claim 14 and fail to cure the deficiencies set forth above for claim 1. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale.
Regarding claims 19-20, they are dependent on claim 18 and fail to cure the deficiencies set forth above for claim 1. Therefore, they are rejected under the same rationale.
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.
6. Claims 1-3, 5-8, 14, and 18 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenstein et al. US 20200007457 A1 in view of Han et al. US 20220091970 A1.
7. With regard to claim 1, Greenstein teaches:
A system, comprising:
a data store storing information for a plurality of hybrid cells, the hybrid cells comprising a real-world business entity and a complimentary virtual entity, wherein the hybrid cells are configured to be provisioned to tenants for use in providing a plurality of types of services to customers of the tenants ([0094] Each tenant data store 826 may contain tenant-specific data that is used as part of providing a range of tenant-specific business services or functions, including but not limited to ERP, CRM, eCommerce, Human Resources management, payroll, etc. Data stores may be implemented with any suitable data storage technology, including structured query language (SQL) based relational database management systems (RDBMS); [0097] Another business information system that may be provided as part of an integrated data processing and service platform is an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which is designed to assist in obtaining a better understanding of customers, enhance service to existing customers, and assist in acquiring new and profitable customers. By way of example, the capabilities or modules of a CRM system can include (but are not required to include, nor limited to only including): sales force automation (SFA), marketing automation, contact list, call center support, returns management authorization (RMA), loyalty program support, and web-based customer support, as well as reporting and analysis capabilities relating to these functions; [0098] In addition to ERP and CRM functions, a business information system/platform (such as element 808 of FIG. 8(A)) may also include one or more of an integrated partner and vendor management system, eCommerce system (e.g., a virtual storefront application or platform), product lifecycle management (PLM) system, Human Resources management system (which may include medical/dental insurance administration, payroll, etc.), or supply chain management (SCM) system. Such functions or business applications are typically implemented by one or more modules of software code/instructions that are maintained on and executed by one or more servers 822 that are part of the platform's Application Server Tier 820; Examiner’s Note: The business entity is the business and its customers, and the virtual entity are the CRM system.);
one or more computing devices configured to implement a hybrid cell inventory management system ([0072] The program modules are configured with stored instructions, such as processor-executable instructions 520, that when executed by at least a processor, such as processor 540, cause the computing device to perform the corresponding function(s) as described herein.), the hybrid cell inventory management system configured to:
receive information indicative of current or future hybrid cell usage levels for a plurality of types of hybrid cells ([0054] The cloud computing environment comprises a monitoring module 330. The monitoring module 330 is configured to monitor 335 resource usage by executing instances. The monitoring module 330 monitors resources consumed by executing instances. The monitor module 330 also monitors demand from remote devices for each service and latency experienced by the remote devices. The monitoring module 330 also monitors remaining available resources of a zone, percent utilization of resources, resource utilization trends, etc. In one embodiment, the monitoring module 330 may determine that one or more instances of a zone are to be migrated based upon monitored resource utilization, as will be described later in further detail; [0067] Once the migrated instance 365 is operational for processing the subsequent access requests, a notification of the migration is provided to the monitoring module 330. The notification instructs the monitoring module 330 to stop/disable the monitoring 335 of resource usage by the executing instance 310 of the first zone 305 because the executing instance 310 is no longer processing access requests. The notification instructs the monitoring module 330 to start/enable the monitoring 380 of resource usage by the migrated instance 365. In this way, the monitoring module 330 can monitor trends of resource usage, perform predictive analysis of future resource consumption, and/or perform load balancing of computer resources and instance execution within and/or across zones.);
determine target inventory levels to be maintained for each of the plurality of types of hybrid cells, wherein different ones of the types of hybrid cells are used to provide different ones of the plurality of types of services to the customers of the tenants ([0097] Another business information system that may be provided as part of an integrated data processing and service platform is an integrated Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, which is designed to assist in obtaining a better understanding of customers, enhance service to existing customers, and assist in acquiring new and profitable customers. By way of example, the capabilities or modules of a CRM system can include (but are not required to include, nor limited to only including): sales force automation (SFA), marketing automation, contact list, call center support, returns management authorization (RMA), loyalty program support, and web-based customer support, as well as reporting and analysis capabilities relating to these functions.); and
for one or more of the types of hybrid cells for which an inventory level is less than its respective target inventory level, initiate establishment of additional real-world business entities of a type corresponding to the respective hybrid cell type for which the inventory level is less than its respective target inventory level ([0102] In some cases, a tenant may desire to modify or supplement the functionality of an existing platform application by introducing an extension to that application, where the extension is to be made available to the tenant's employees and/or customers.); and
one or more computing devices configured to implement a hybrid cell management system configured to:
allocate, to a requesting tenant, a given one of the respective real-world business entities for a requested hybrid cell of a given type ([0103] Thus, in an effort to permit tenants to obtain the services and functionality that they desire (which may include providing certain services to their end customers, such as functionality associated with an eCommerce platform), a multi-tenant service platform may permit a tenant to configure certain aspects of the available service(s) to better suit their business needs.); and
provide a corresponding complimentary virtual entity for the requested hybrid cell of the given type, wherein the complimentary virtual entity performs management operations for the real-world business entity of the hybrid cell of the given type ([0103] In this way aspects of the service platform may be customizable, and thereby enable a tenant to configure aspects of the platform to provide distinctive services to their respective users or to groups of those users. For example, a business enterprise that uses the service platform may want to provide additional functions or capabilities to their employees and/or customers, or to cause their business data to be processed in a specific way in accordance with a defined workflow that is tailored to their business needs, etc.), wherein performing the management operations comprises:
Although Greenstein teaches a multi-tenant environment that is comprised of a business entity and a complimentary virtual entity, Greenstein fails to explicitly teach of selecting, for a given management task to be performed, a template based on the given type of the hybrid cell; instantiating a virtual machine using the template, wherein the virtual machine is instantiated for use in performing the given management task; and executing a workflow included in the template to perform the given management task.
However, in analogous art, Han teaches:
selecting, for a given management task to be performed, a template based on the given type of the hybrid cell ([0007] A virtual machine may execute an application that is created from a base image, which may be a set of software files associated with the same time, such as a Linux base image that includes files for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application's source code, metadata, and database that were running [...]);
instantiating a virtual machine using the template, wherein the virtual machine is instantiated for use in performing the given management task ([0074] In one embodiment, the system 316, shown in FIG. 3, implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, the system 316 includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from the user systems 312 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, the system 316 implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, the system 316 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform 318, which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system 316.); and
executing a workflow included in the template to perform the given management task ([0074] In one embodiment, the system 316, shown in FIG. 3, implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, the system 316 includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from the user systems 312 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, the system 316 implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, the system 316 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform 318, which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system 316.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein with the teachings of Han of selecting, for a given management task to be performed, a template based on the given type of the hybrid cell; instantiating a virtual machine using the template, wherein the virtual machine is instantiated for use in performing the given management task; and executing a workflow included in the template to perform the given management task. Greenstein does teach of an instance that is similar to a template, but Han describes it in more detail and only strengthens Greenstein. Similarly to Greenstein, Han teaches of CRM applications. Moreover, Han teaches of utilizing a template to launch the CRM application and host it on the virtual machine. This is extremely beneficial in cases such as testing, which Han describes ([0007]; [0074]). However, it is also beneficial for managing CRM applications as pre-configured templates and automated workflows allow for instant instantiation and reduce setup time. For example, Han discusses this and shows how a virtual machine may execute an application that is created from a base image, which may be a set of software files associated with the same time, such as a Linux base image that includes files for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application's source code, metadata, and database that were running on a Linux virtual machine in a test environment at 2:00 A.M. When a software developer selects the version of the application to be executed by a virtual machine, the test automation framework can select the base image and the change list for that version of the application. Then the test automation framework stores the application in the virtual machine, such as by synchronizing the source code from the base image with the perforce (P4) source code from the change list, downloading the core-app JAR files (metadata changes which may be referred to as artifacts) for the change list, and compiling the metadata that enables the correct execution of the synchronized source code ([0007]). Here, it is shown how a template/base image of an application allows the VM to quickly download all relevant files for the application and execute it.
8. With regard to claim 2, Greenstein further teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
store a plurality of templates for implementing a plurality of types of complimentary virtual entities for a plurality of types of real-word business entities corresponding to the plurality of types of hybrid cells ([0023] As used herein, a “pre-provisioned instance” includes a configured collection of Virtual Machines (VMs) and service-supporting dependencies including computer resources. This is an initial resource configuration but has no specific application software loaded. The pre-provisioned instance is proactively constructed in advance of an anticipated demand for a service so the system can more quickly setup and provide the service when needed. The pre-provisioned instance does not include application software (executable code) of a service and is not yet assigned to a customer in production.);
receive, via a user interface of the system, a tenant selection of a given type of real-world business entity to be allocated to the requesting tenant ([0029] An instance of a service is provisioned by configuring one or more VM shapes (e.g., specifications of CPU, CPU cycles, a number of processors, memory resources, storage resources, and networking resources) to a computing environment based on the type of service requested.);
allocate, to the requesting tenant, a given one of the real-world business entities of the given type from an inventory of real-world business entities of the given type maintained by the hybrid cell inventory management system ([0029] The computing environment (e.g., a virtual machine) is configured to execute the executable code of the service through the provisioned instance. That is, a provisioning system determines an appropriate VM shape and uses resources to create one or more virtual machines to execute a service instance being provisioned. In one embodiment, resources include instances of other services. For example, a service requires a network load balancer and a database. The service will make use of a Load Balancer as a Service (LBaaS) and a DataBase as a Service (DBaaS) as ready, separately provisionable, service instances. The provisioning system may be called (e.g., recursively) to provision lower level services for use by the new service instance being provisioned. In this way, a remote device can access functionality of the service through the executing provisioned instance hosted by the cloud computing environment; [0095] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, distributed computing service/platform 808 may be multi-tenant and service platform 808 may be operated by an entity in order to provide multiple tenants with a set of business related applications, data storage, and functionality. These applications and functionality may include ones that a business uses to manage various aspects of its operations. For example, the applications and functionality may include providing web-based access to business information systems, thereby allowing a user with a browser and an Internet or intranet connection to view, enter, process, or modify certain types of business information.); and
provide the complimentary virtual entity for the given real world business entity, wherein providing the complimentary virtual entity comprises instantiating one or more virtual resources using one or more of the stored templates, wherein the one or more virtual resources, when instantiated using the one or more stored templates, are configured to perform management operations for managing the real-world business entity of the given type ([0006] A service instance (hereinafter “instance”) is a collection of one or more computing resource(s) interrelated in a way defined by the particular service and comprising an orderable and provisionable unit of the service. The instance can be hosted within a virtual machine that executes software of the service using processor, memory, and storage resources of the cloud computing environment. The instance can be comprised of a collection of virtual machines of diverse shapes; [0095] In accordance with one embodiment of the invention, distributed computing service/platform 808 may be multi-tenant and service platform 808 may be operated by an entity in order to provide multiple tenants with a set of business related applications, data storage, and functionality. These applications and functionality may include ones that a business uses to manage various aspects of its operations. For example, the applications and functionality may include providing web-based access to business information systems, thereby allowing a user with a browser and an Internet or intranet connection to view, enter, process, or modify certain types of business information.).
9. With regard to claim 3, Greenstein further teaches:
wherein to instantiate the one or more virtual resources, the one or more computing devices that implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
allocate computing and/or storage capacity at a cloud-based service provider to be used to instantiate the one or more virtual resources ([0006] A service instance (hereinafter “instance”) is a collection of one or more computing resource(s) interrelated in a way defined by the particular service and comprising an orderable and provisionable unit of the service. The instance can be hosted within a virtual machine that executes software of the service using processor, memory, and storage resources of the cloud computing environment. The instance can be comprised of a collection of virtual machines of diverse shapes; [0029] An instance of a service is provisioned by configuring one or more VM shapes (e.g., specifications of CPU, CPU cycles, a number of processors, memory resources, storage resources, and networking resources) to a computing environment based on the type of service requested. The computing environment (e.g., a virtual machine) is configured to execute the executable code of the service through the provisioned instance. That is, a provisioning system determines an appropriate VM shape and uses resources to create one or more virtual machines to execute a service instance being provisioned.); and
execute program instructions included in the given one or more templates to configure the reserved computing and/or storage capacity of the cloud-based service provider to provide the complimentary virtual entity cell for the given real-world business entity ([0029] The computing environment (e.g., a virtual machine) is configured to execute the executable code of the service through the provisioned instance. That is, a provisioning system determines an appropriate VM shape and uses resources to create one or more virtual machines to execute a service instance being provisioned.).
10. With regard to claim 5, Greenstein further teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
configure the one or more virtual resources to provide a user interface to the customers of the requesting tenant, wherein the user interface is provided within an existing user interface of the requesting tenant ([0092] The distributed computing service/platform (which may also be referred to as a multi-tenant business data processing platform) 808 may include multiple processing tiers, including a user interface tier 816, an application server tier 820, and a data storage tier 824. The user interface tier 816 may maintain multiple user interfaces 818, including graphical user interfaces and/or web-based interfaces. The user interfaces may include a default user interface for the service to provide access to applications and data for a user or “tenant” of the service (depicted as “Service UI” in the figure), as well as one or more user interfaces that have been specialized/customized in accordance with user specific requirements (e.g., represented by “Tenant A UI” , . . . , “Tenant Z UI” in the figure, and which may be accessed via one or more APIs).).
11. With regard to claim 6, Greenstein further teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
implement at the one or more virtual resources, one or more application programmatic interfaces (APIs) for receiving queries relayed to the one or more virtual resources from the existing user interface of the requesting tenant ([0092] The distributed computing service/platform (which may also be referred to as a multi-tenant business data processing platform) 808 may include multiple processing tiers, including a user interface tier 816, an application server tier 820, and a data storage tier 824. The user interface tier 816 may maintain multiple user interfaces 818, including graphical user interfaces and/or web-based interfaces. The user interfaces may include a default user interface for the service to provide access to applications and data for a user or “tenant” of the service (depicted as “Service UI” in the figure), as well as one or more user interfaces that have been specialized/customized in accordance with user specific requirements (e.g., represented by “Tenant A UI” , . . . , “Tenant Z UI” in the figure, and which may be accessed via one or more APIs); [0094] Each tenant data store 826 may contain tenant-specific data that is used as part of providing a range of tenant-specific business services or functions, including but not limited to ERP, CRM, eCommerce, Human Resources management, payroll, etc. Data stores may be implemented with any suitable data storage technology, including structured query language (SQL) based relational database management systems (RDBMS).); and
provide, to the requesting tenant, program instructions for incorporating user interface elements into the existing user interface of the requesting tenant, wherein the user interface elements to be included in the existing user interface of the requesting tenant are configured to generate the queries relayed to the APIs of the one or more virtual resources ([0093] The default user interface may include components enabling a tenant to administer the tenant's participation in the functions and capabilities provided by the service platform, such as accessing data, causing the execution of specific data processing operations, etc. Each processing tier shown in the figure may be implemented with a set of computers and/or computer components including computer servers and processors, and may perform various functions, methods, processes, or operations as determined by the execution of a software application or set of instructions. The data storage tier 824 may include one or more data stores, which may include a Service Data store 825 and one or more Tenant Data stores 826; [0094] Each tenant data store 826 may contain tenant-specific data that is used as part of providing a range of tenant-specific business services or functions, including but not limited to ERP, CRM, eCommerce, Human Resources management, payroll, etc. Data stores may be implemented with any suitable data storage technology, including structured query language (SQL) based relational database management systems (RDBMS).).
12. With regard to claim 7, Greenstein further teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
provide, to the requesting tenant, program instructions for incorporating user interface elements into the existing user interface of the requesting tenant, wherein the user interface elements to be included in the existing user interface of the requesting tenant are configured to redirect a customer of the requesting tenant to a user interface implemented via the one or more virtual resources ([0092] The distributed computing service/platform (which may also be referred to as a multi-tenant business data processing platform) 808 may include multiple processing tiers, including a user interface tier 816, an application server tier 820, and a data storage tier 824. The user interface tier 816 may maintain multiple user interfaces 818, including graphical user interfaces and/or web-based interfaces. The user interfaces may include a default user interface for the service to provide access to applications and data for a user or “tenant” of the service (depicted as “Service UI” in the figure), as well as one or more user interfaces that have been specialized/customized in accordance with user specific requirements (e.g., represented by “Tenant A UI” , . . . , “Tenant Z UI” in the figure, and which may be accessed via one or more APIs); [0093] The default user interface may include components enabling a tenant to administer the tenant's participation in the functions and capabilities provided by the service platform, such as accessing data, causing the execution of specific data processing operations, etc.).
13. With regard to claim 8, Greenstein further teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
receive, from the requesting tenant, information about potential customers of the requesting tenant ([0006] A user will subscribe to the cloud computing environment by providing identifying information and an intent to utilize one or more services in the future.); and
select the given template to be used to instantiate the one or more virtual resources based on the potential customer information ([0006] A user will subscribe to the cloud computing environment by providing identifying information and an intent to utilize one or more services in the future. Once the subscriber is defined, the subscriber can request access to a service instance. When a request for access to the service is received from a remote device, an instance of the service is created on-demand and executed. On-demand creation and execution of the instance is triggered when the cloud computing environment receives the request for access to the service. A service instance (hereinafter “instance”) is a collection of one or more computing resource(s) interrelated in a way defined by the particular service and comprising an orderable and provisionable unit of the service. The instance can be hosted within a virtual machine that executes software of the service using processor, memory, and storage resources of the cloud computing environment. The instance can be comprised of a collection of virtual machines of diverse shapes.).
14. With regard to claim 14, Greenstein teaches:
A method, comprising:
receiving, at one or more computing devices implementing a hybrid cell management system, from a requesting tenant, a request to provide a hybrid cell comprising a real-world business entity and a virtual entity configured to perform management tasks for the real-world business entity, wherein the hybrid cell is configured to provide a service to customers of the requesting tenant ([0006] A user will subscribe to the cloud computing environment by providing identifying information and an intent to utilize one or more services in the future. Once the subscriber is defined, the subscriber can request access to a service instance. When a request for access to the service is received from a remote device, an instance of the service is created on-demand and executed. On-demand creation and execution of the instance is triggered when the cloud computing environment receives the request for access to the service. A service instance (hereinafter “instance”) is a collection of one or more computing resource(s) interrelated in a way defined by the particular service and comprising an orderable and provisionable unit of the service. The instance can be hosted within a virtual machine that executes software of the service using processor, memory, and storage resources of the cloud computing environment. The instance can be comprised of a collection of virtual machines of diverse shapes; [0098] In addition to ERP and CRM functions, a business information system/platform (such as element 808 of FIG. 8(A)) may also include one or more of an integrated partner and vendor management system, eCommerce system (e.g., a virtual storefront application or platform), product lifecycle management (PLM) system, Human Resources management system (which may include medical/dental insurance administration, payroll, etc.), or supply chain management (SCM) system. Such functions or business applications are typically implemented by one or more modules of software code/instructions that are maintained on and executed by one or more servers 822 that are part of the platform's Application Server Tier 820.);
allocating, by the one or more computing devices implementing the hybrid cell management system, to the requesting tenant, from an inventory of pre-established real-world business entities, a given one of a plurality of pre-established real-world business entities to function as the real-world entity of the hybrid cell requested by the requesting tenant ([0094] Each tenant data store 826 may contain tenant-specific data that is used as part of providing a range of tenant-specific business services or functions, including but not limited to ERP, CRM, eCommerce, Human Resources management, payroll, etc. Data stores may be implemented with any suitable data storage technology, including structured query language (SQL) based relational database management systems (RDBMS).);
selecting, by the one or more computing devices implementing the hybrid cell management system, from a plurality of types of templates for a plurality of types of real-world business entities, a given template for a type of real-world business entity allocated to the requesting client ([0006] A user will subscribe to the cloud computing environment by providing identifying information and an intent to utilize one or more services in the future. Once the subscriber is defined, the subscriber can request access to a service instance. When a request for access to the service is received from a remote device, an instance of the service is created on-demand and executed. On-demand creation and execution of the instance is triggered when the cloud computing environment receives the request for access to the service. A service instance (hereinafter “instance”) is a collection of one or more computing resource(s) interrelated in a way defined by the particular service and comprising an orderable and provisionable unit of the service. The instance can be hosted within a virtual machine that executes software of the service using processor, memory, and storage resources of the cloud computing environment. The instance can be comprised of a collection of virtual machines of diverse shapes; [0029] An instance of a service is provisioned by configuring one or more VM shapes (e.g., specifications of CPU, CPU cycles, a number of processors, memory resources, storage resources, and networking resources) to a computing environment based on the type of service requested. The computing environment (e.g., a virtual machine) is configured to execute the executable code of the service through the provisioned instance. That is, a provisioning system determines an appropriate VM shape and uses resources to create one or more virtual machines to execute a service instance being provisioned. In one embodiment, resources include instances of other services. For example, a service requires a network load balancer and a database. The service will make use of a Load Balancer as a Service (LBaaS) and a DataBase as a Service (DBaaS) as ready, separately provisionable, service instances. The provisioning system may be called (e.g., recursively) to provision lower level services for use by the new service instance being provisioned. In this way, a remote device can access functionality of the service through the executing provisioned instance hosted by the cloud computing environment; [0094] Each tenant data store 826 may contain tenant-specific data that is used as part of providing a range of tenant-specific business services or functions, including but not limited to ERP, CRM, eCommerce, Human Resources management, payroll, etc. Data stores may be implemented with any suitable data storage technology, including structured query language (SQL) based relational database management systems (RDBMS).);
automatically provisioning, by the one or more computing devices implementing the hybrid cell management system, on behalf of the requesting tenant, computing and/or storage capacity at a cloud-based service provider to be used to instantiate one or more virtual resources that implement the virtual entity ([0006] A user will subscribe to the cloud computing environment by providing identifying information and an intent to utilize one or more services in the future. Once the subscriber is defined, the subscriber can request access to a service instance. When a request for access to the service is received from a remote device, an instance of the service is created on-demand and executed. On-demand creation and execution of the instance is triggered when the cloud computing environment receives the request for access to the service. A service instance (hereinafter “instance”) is a collection of one or more computing resource(s) interrelated in a way defined by the particular service and comprising an orderable and provisionable unit of the service. The instance can be hosted within a virtual machine that executes software of the service using processor, memory, and storage resources of the cloud computing environment. The instance can be comprised of a collection of virtual machines of diverse shapes.);
Although Greenstein teaches a multi-tenant environment that is comprised of a business entity and a complimentary virtual entity, Greenstein fails to explicitly teach of causing, by the one or more computing devices implementing the hybrid cell management system, the one or more virtual resources to be launched using a machine image or container included in the given template, wherein the machine image configures the one or more virtual resources for performing the management tasks for the type of real-world business entity allocated to the requesting client, wherein performing the management tasks comprises executing one or more workflows included in the given template; and automatically providing, for the requesting tenant, management services for the allocated real-world business entity, allocated to the requesting tenant, using the launched one or more virtual resources.
However, in analogous art, Han teaches:
causing, by the one or more computing devices implementing the hybrid cell management system, the one or more virtual resources to be launched using a machine image or container included in the given template, wherein the machine image configures the one or more virtual resources for performing the management tasks for the type of real-world business entity allocated to the requesting client, wherein performing the management tasks comprises executing one or more workflows included in the given template ([0007] A virtual machine may execute an application that is created from a base image, which may be a set of software files associated with the same time, such as a Linux base image that includes files for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application's source code, metadata, and database that were running [...]; [0074] In one embodiment, the system 316, shown in FIG. 3, implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, the system 316 includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from the user systems 312 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, the system 316 implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, the system 316 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform 318, which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system 316); and
automatically providing, for the requesting tenant, management services for the allocated real-world business entity, allocated to the requesting tenant, using the launched one or more virtual resources ([0074] In one embodiment, the system 316, shown in FIG. 3, implements a web-based customer relationship management (CRM) system. For example, in one embodiment, the system 316 includes application servers configured to implement and execute CRM software applications as well as provide related data, code, forms, webpages and other information to and from the user systems 312 and to store to, and retrieve from, a database system related data, objects, and Webpage content. With a multi-tenant system, data for multiple tenants may be stored in the same physical database object, however, tenant data typically is arranged so that data of one tenant is kept logically separate from that of other tenants so that one tenant does not have access to another tenant's data, unless such data is expressly shared. In certain embodiments, the system 316 implements applications other than, or in addition to, a CRM application. For example, the system 316 may provide tenant access to multiple hosted (standard and custom) applications, including a CRM application. User (or third party developer) applications, which may or may not include CRM, may be supported by the application platform 318, which manages creation, storage of the applications into one or more database objects and executing of the applications in a virtual machine in the process space of the system 316.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein with the teachings of Han causing, by the one or more computing devices implementing the hybrid cell management system, the one or more virtual resources to be launched using a machine image or container included in the given template, wherein the machine image configures the one or more virtual resources for performing the management tasks for the type of real-world business entity allocated to the requesting client, wherein performing the management tasks comprises executing one or more workflows included in the given template; and automatically providing, for the requesting tenant, management services for the allocated real-world business entity, allocated to the requesting tenant, using the launched one or more virtual resources. Greenstein does teach of an instance that is similar to a template, but Han describes it in more detail and only strengthens Greenstein. Similarly to Greenstein, Han teaches of CRM applications. Moreover, Han teaches of utilizing a template to launch the CRM application and host it on the virtual machine. This is extremely beneficial in cases such as testing, which Han describes ([0007]; [0074]). However, it is also beneficial for managing CRM applications as pre-configured templates and automated workflows allow for instant instantiation and reduce setup time. For example, Han discusses this and shows how a virtual machine may execute an application that is created from a base image, which may be a set of software files associated with the same time, such as a Linux base image that includes files for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application's source code, metadata, and database that were running on a Linux virtual machine in a test environment at 2:00 A.M. When a software developer selects the version of the application to be executed by a virtual machine, the test automation framework can select the base image and the change list for that version of the application. Then the test automation framework stores the application in the virtual machine, such as by synchronizing the source code from the base image with the perforce (P4) source code from the change list, downloading the core-app JAR files (metadata changes which may be referred to as artifacts) for the change list, and compiling the metadata that enables the correct execution of the synchronized source code ([0007]). Here, it is shown how a template/base image of an application allows the VM to quickly download all relevant files for the application and execute it.
15. Regarding claim 18, it is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 14 above. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale.
16. Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenstein et al. US 20200007457 A1 and Han et al. US 20220091970 A1, as applied in claim 1, in further view of Bryant et al. US 20180129524 A1.
17. With regard to claim 4, Greenstein and Han teach the system of claim 2 but fail to explicitly teach wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to: monitor performance of the one or more virtual resources using the allocated computing and/or storage capacity at the cloud-based service provider; and automatically scale up or scale down the allocated computing and/or storage capacity based on the monitored performance.
However, in analogous art, Bryant teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
monitor performance of the one or more virtual resources using the allocated computing and/or storage capacity at the cloud-based service provider ([0015] The method commences at block 101 where a plurality of virtual machines that are currently operating and in use within a cloud are monitored. The monitoring is performed to generate an input data set based on the operating of the plurality of virtual machines. Illustratively, the monitoring includes collecting any of the following types of input data: a user identifier, an image type, an identifier for a central processing unit (CPU) core, an amount of random-access memory (RAM) being used, a calendar date, a time, and a duration of initialization for each of the plurality of virtual machines.); and
automatically scale up or scale down the allocated computing and/or storage capacity based on the monitored performance ([0023] The first definition is different from the second definition. Next, at block 209, an instance of the plurality of virtual machine pools is configured according to the first definition. Then, at block 211, the instance of the plurality of virtual machine pools is reconfigured according to the second definition. The difference or differences between the first definition and the second definition may reflect at least one of the following types of differences: (a) moving a virtual machine-related resource from a first virtual machine pool of the plurality of virtual machine pools to a second virtual machine pool of the plurality of virtual machine pools, (b) adding a virtual machine pool to the plurality of virtual machine pools, (c) removing a virtual machine pool from the plurality of virtual machine pools, (d) adding a virtual machine-related resource to a virtual machine pool of the plurality of virtual machine pools, and/or (e) removing a virtual machine-related resource from the plurality of virtual machine pools; Examiner’s Note: The definition specifies the configuration of VMs and VM pools.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Bryant wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to: monitor performance of the one or more virtual resources using the allocated computing and/or storage capacity at the cloud-based service provider; and automatically scale up or scale down the allocated computing and/or storage capacity based on the monitored performance. Bryant teaches that VM related resources can be added or removed as VMs are reconfigured due to monitoring. This ensures that VM resources are properly allocated, and can dynamically change when new definitions are made.
18. Claims 9 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenstein et al. US 20200007457 A1 and Han et al. US 20220091970 A1, as applied in claim 1, in further view of Tucker et al. US 20220318921 A1.
19. With regard to claim 9, Greenstein teaches the system of claim 8 and but fails to explicitly teach wherein the one or more virtual resources instantiated using the given template are further configured to: identify in one or more public data sources additional information about the potential customers of the requesting tenant; and generate offers for services to be provided, by the requesting tenant, to the potential customers of the requesting tenant, using the hybrid cell, wherein the offers are generated based on the received information from the requesting tenant about the potential customers and the identified public data about the potential customers, and wherein the offers are configured to be accepted, to implement a service of a service type of the hybrid cell for the potential customers of the requesting tenant, in response to a single indication of acceptance by a given customer without requiring the given customer to supply additional customer information.
However, in analogous art, Tucker teaches:
wherein the one or more virtual resources instantiated using the given template are further configured to:
identify in one or more public data sources additional information about the potential customers of the requesting tenant ([0025] Using the candidate user's data (e.g., geolocation and/or telematics data) and the model generated based upon other users' historical data, the insurance policy and associated premium offered to the candidate user are more precise and relevant to the particular user. Moreover, the insurance policy and associated premium can be offered based upon minimal data (e.g., a user's opt-in and user data automatically retrieved from a user computing device such as through an app or application operating on the user computing device and configured to capture the user data, third-party server, database storing user data, etc.), which may accelerate and/or otherwise make an underwriting or policy-offer process more efficient.); and
generate offers for services to be provided, by the requesting tenant, to the potential customers of the requesting tenant, using the hybrid cell, wherein the offers are generated based on the received information from the requesting tenant about the potential customers and the identified public data about the potential customers, and wherein the offers are configured to be accepted, to implement a service of a service type of the hybrid cell for the potential customers of the requesting tenant, in response to a single indication of acceptance by a given customer without requiring the given customer to supply additional customer information ([0067] The modeling computing device may transmit a notification to a user computing device of the candidate user including the generated insurance policy and associated premium for the candidate user by the modeling computing device. In some embodiments, the notification may include a pre-populated registration form that easily allows (e.g., with “one-click”) the candidate user to register (e.g., accept or agree to) for the insurance policy and immediately begin receiving coverage after registration [...] In other embodiments, the modeling computing device may generate the insurance policy and associated premium automatically (e.g., without user input) as part of an advertising or marketing campaign for an insurance company. In some cases, the modeling computing device is able to predict the modes of transportation of a user, predict the likelihood of that user incurring losses while using those modes of transportation, estimate insurance premiums based upon the loss prediction, generate an insurance policy covering that user for those modes of transportation, transmit the insurance policy to the user's computing device, and register the user for the policy all in a matter of minutes, and in some cases, in a matter of seconds, which could not be done using conventional practices.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Tucker wherein the one or more virtual resources instantiated using the given template are further configured to: identify in one or more public data sources additional information about the potential customers of the requesting tenant; and generate offers for services to be provided, by the requesting tenant, to the potential customers of the requesting tenant, using the hybrid cell, wherein the offers are generated based on the received information from the requesting tenant about the potential customers and the identified public data about the potential customers, and wherein the offers are configured to be accepted, to implement a service of a service type of the hybrid cell for the potential customers of the requesting tenant, in response to a single indication of acceptance by a given customer without requiring the given customer to supply additional customer information. Greenstein teaches of a computer implemented service, which can include insurance administration ([0115]). When the computer implemented services is initiated by a request from a user to execute a service, corresponding virtual resources are also initiated. These resources can include virtual machines. Similarly, Tucker teaches of a computing system that prompts a user to automatically enroll in an insurance policy by monitoring user data. By generating an insurance policy offer to a user based on user data, the insurance policy can be transmitted to the user's computing device, and allow the user to register for the policy all in a matter of minutes, and in some cases, in a matter of seconds, which could not be done using conventional practices, as discussed in Tucker ([0067]). Therefore, streamlining the delivery of services to users.
20. Regarding claim 20, it is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 9 above. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale.
21. Claims 10-13, 15, 17, and 19 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenstein et al. US 20200007457 A1 and Han et al. US 20220091970 A1, as applied in claim 1, in further view of Fohr et al. US 20220405852 A1.
22. With regard to claim 10, Greenstein and Han teach the system of claim 2 but fail to explicitly teach that wherein the real-world business entities comprise: cells of a sponsored captive insurance pool, and wherein the different types of real-world business entities correspond to cells of different sponsored captive insurance pools
However, in analogous art, Fohr teaches:
wherein the real-world business entities comprise:
cells of a sponsored captive insurance pool, and wherein the different types of real-world business entities correspond to cells of different sponsored captive insurance pools ([0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group. A widget is an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service. [0140] b. For those users who have brokers/carriers that do not offer a Live Certification, the instant invention can introduce them to a broker/carrier who uses the instant invention system. [0141] c. The instant invention offers a marketplace for Brokers/Carriers to provide introductions to potential customers for a fee. [0142] d. Brokers/carriers using the instant invention will have the opportunity to offer prospective customers insurance policy quotes. Advertising brokers/carriers do not receive customer details until the customer ops in, however the advertising brokers/carriers are able to offer leads quotes based on an Insured's existing policy numbers.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Fohr wherein the real-world business entities comprise: cells of a sponsored captive insurance pool, and wherein the different types of real-world business entities correspond to cells of different sponsored captive insurance pools. Both Greenstein and Han teach of using virtual machines in order to carry out a management system for a business entity. Moreover, Greenstein teaches that the management system can be used for insurance administration ([0098]). Additionally, Greenstein mentions how a business can utilize systems provided by a third party in order to implement an integrated business platform for a tenant’s needs ([0101]). Greenstein, however, does not specifically mention that the insurance administration is done for captive insurance. However, Fohr integrates the idea of a third party system by utilizing widgets in order for a business to allow their users to sign up for a captive insurance group. This allows a user to easily sign up for a business’s captive insurance group, as discussed in Fohr ([0138]). Together Greenstein, Han, and Fohr teach the idea of real-world business entities comprising cells of sponsored captive insurance pools.
23. With regard to claim 11, Fohr further teaches:
wherein to perform the management operations, the one or more virtual resources instantiated using the given template are configured to implement:
a pool administration service configured to automatically perform, on behalf of the requesting tenant, administrative tasks for the cell of the sponsored captive insurance pool allocated to the requesting tenant ([0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group; [0162] An embodiment of a system of the invention is capable of interfacing with critical business management applications such as Integration/Application for AMSs (agency management systems' such as, but not limited to Applied Epic), Customer Relation Managers (CRMs) such as, but not limited to SalesForce, accounting and financial software such as, but not limited to QuickBooks, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as, but not limited to SAP, Vendor Management system, and additional 3rd party systems. For example, for users who use one of these third-party tools, can integrate with the embodiment of the invention, synchronize their contacts/vendors, and create compliance/insurance requirements. The embodiment of the invention will then commence its business processes to verify coverage and compliance. Data will then be returned to the third-party application and the third-party application user will see vendor/contact compliance information directly inside that third-party application. Put another way, the user will be able to use the embodiment of the invention without needing to leave SalesForce. The integration with the third-party application can connect to the invention via API, an app on the third party's marketplace, or via the invention's Corda application.);
a policy administration service configured to automatically perform, on behalf of the requesting tenant, policy administrative tasks for administering insurance policies of customers of the requesting tenant ([0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group. A widget is an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service. [0140] b. For those users who have brokers/carriers that do not offer a Live Certification, the instant invention can introduce them to a broker/carrier who uses the instant invention system. [0141] c. The instant invention offers a marketplace for Brokers/Carriers to provide introductions to potential customers for a fee. [0142] d. Brokers/carriers using the instant invention will have the opportunity to offer prospective customers insurance policy quotes. Advertising brokers/carriers do not receive customer details until the customer ops in, however the advertising brokers/carriers are able to offer leads quotes based on an Insured's existing policy numbers.);
a claims administration service configured to automatically perform, on behalf of the requesting tenant, claims administration tasks for claims made by customers of the requesting tenant ([0037] The instant invention provides a real-time environment where the COI information is updated as the insurance status changes. Potential users and processes that benefit from a live proof or a smart certificate of insurance or insurance system include real-time and ongoing (live) proof of insurance, real-time and ongoing (live) proof of compliance with contract requirements, real-time and ongoing (live) data sharing and payment sharing information of insurance policy data between carriers, brokers, regulators, and other insurance counterparties, companies that hire vendors, manufacturers tracking suppliers, manufacturers tracking product supply chains, condo associations, HOAs, and other real estate associations tracking vendor insurance and/or professional licenses, landlords, property owners, property management companies, property managers tracking vendor insurance and/or professional licenses and/or proof of tenant renters' insurance, lenders identifying and needing precise insight into the most qualified and low-risk borrowers, insurance carriers requiring detailed information on potential/renewing insureds to better underwrite policies, regulators investigating insurance fraud, regulators trying to prevent worker misclassifications such as independent contractors versus employee status, carriers needing precise insured and accident information in the claims process, carriers needing a secure method to pay different parties in the claims' lifecycle; [0103] The instant invention using the COI system Request JavaScript Widget on Broker Website. The Broker can add a widget onto the website to allow the user to easily initiate COI request; [0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group.); and
a metrics service configured to automatically generate and provide metrics to the requesting tenant with regard to the policies and claims administered by the policy administration service and the claims administered by the claims administration service ([0103] The instant invention using the COI system Request JavaScript Widget on Broker Website. The Broker can add a widget onto the website to allow the user to easily initiate COI request; [0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group; represents and may store the state of a contract. Objects may be immutably added to the graph in an append-only fashion when events, transactions, updates. The data structure provides a versioned history of the COI state that can be used, amongst other applications: [0379] a. to query the data structure to display events such as audit trails and notifications; to provide analytics of the state of one or more COIs (e.g. metrics, graphs, dashboards).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Fohr wherein the real-world business entities comprise: cells of a sponsored captive insurance pool, and wherein the different types of real-world business entities correspond to cells of different sponsored captive insurance pools. Both Greenstein and Han teach of using virtual machines in order to carry out a management system for a business entity. Moreover, Greenstein teaches that the management system can be used for insurance administration ([0098]). Additionally, Greenstein mentions how a business can utilize systems provided by a third party in order to implement an integrated business platform for a tenant’s needs ([0101]). Greenstein, however, does not specifically mention that the insurance administration is done for captive insurance. However, Fohr integrates the idea of a third party system by utilizing widgets in order for a business to allow their users to sign up for a captive insurance group. This allows a user to easily sign up for a business’s captive insurance group, as discussed in Fohr ([0138]). Together Greenstein, Han, and Fohr teach the idea of real-world business entities comprising cells of sponsored captive insurance pools. Additionally, Fohr teaches of functionalities of the instant invention that allow for administrative, policy, claim, and metric tasks to be completed upon the request of a user. These tasks are essential for insurance lifecycles and the instant invention of Fohr allows the carriers/brokers access to real-time metrics for COIs issued and details of the certificate holders so as to identify new risks for an insured therefore mitigating risk and providing risk management ([0056]).
24. With regard to claim 12, Fohr further teaches:
wherein the real-world business entities comprise:
respective pure captive insurance pools, and wherein the different types of real-world business entities cells correspond to different types of pure captive insurance pools ([0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group. A widget is an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service. [0140] b. For those users who have brokers/carriers that do not offer a Live Certification, the instant invention can introduce them to a broker/carrier who uses the instant invention system. [0141] c. The instant invention offers a marketplace for Brokers/Carriers to provide introductions to potential customers for a fee. [0142] d. Brokers/carriers using the instant invention will have the opportunity to offer prospective customers insurance policy quotes. Advertising brokers/carriers do not receive customer details until the customer ops in, however the advertising brokers/carriers are able to offer leads quotes based on an Insured's existing policy numbers.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Fohr wherein the real-world business entities comprise: respective pure captive insurance pools, and wherein the different types of real-world business entities cells correspond to different types of pure captive insurance pools. Both Greenstein and Han teach of using virtual machines in order to carry out a management system for a business entity. Moreover, Greenstein teaches that the management system can be used for insurance administration ([0098]). Additionally, Greenstein mentions how a business can utilize systems provided by a third party in order to implement an integrated business platform for a tenant’s needs ([0101]). Greenstein, however, does not specifically mention that the insurance administration is done for captive insurance. However, Fohr integrates the idea of a third party system by utilizing widgets in order for a business to allow their users to sign up for a captive insurance group. This allows a user to easily sign up for a business’s captive insurance group, as discussed in Fohr ([0138]).
25. With regard to claim 13, Fohr further teaches:
wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to:
receive information from the requesting tenant regarding types of risks and/or types of potential customers of the requesting tenant ([0148] The system of the invention provides underwriting improvements with regards to: [0149] a. Policy renewal where the underwriters can automatically send forms to Insureds at renewal time to ask them for additional information prior to renewal. [0150] b. Real-time auditing where the carriers/brokers have real-time metrics for the number of COIs issued and details of certificate holders to identify new risks for an insured.); and
make a recommendation to the requesting tenant of a type of pure captive insurance pool or a type of sponsored captive insurance pool that is to be used for the requesting tenant’s real world business entity ([0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group. A widget is an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service. [0140] b. For those users who have brokers/carriers that do not offer a Live Certification, the instant invention can introduce them to a broker/carrier who uses the instant invention system. [0141] c. The instant invention offers a marketplace for Brokers/Carriers to provide introductions to potential customers for a fee. [0142] d. Brokers/carriers using the instant invention will have the opportunity to offer prospective customers insurance policy quotes; [0148] A typical example would be if a painting company said he has only 3 painters on their staff, but issues 100 COIs, this might suggest the painting company is larger than estimated and his policy should be modified. Another example would be if a residential painting company said he does not work on bridges, if a COI certificate holder name has the word “bridge” in it, then the Carrier/Broker is automatically notified so that he can offer the insured the correct insurance coverage.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Fohr wherein the one or more computing devices configured to implement the hybrid cell management system are further configured to: receive information from the requesting tenant regarding types of risks and/or types of potential customers of the requesting tenant; and make a recommendation to the requesting tenant of a type of pure captive insurance pool or a type of sponsored captive insurance pool that is to be used for the requesting tenant’s real world business entity. Both Greenstein and Han teach of using virtual machines in order to carry out a management system for a business entity. Moreover, Greenstein teaches that the management system can be used for insurance administration ([0098]). Additionally, Greenstein mentions how a business can utilize systems provided by a third party in order to implement an integrated business platform for a tenant’s needs ([0101]). Greenstein, however, does not specifically mention that the insurance administration is done for captive insurance. However, Fohr integrates the idea of a third party system by utilizing widgets in order for a business to allow their users to sign up for a captive insurance group. This allows a user to easily sign up for a business’s captive insurance group, as discussed in Fohr ([0138]). Additionally, Fohr teaches of an example where based on a tenant’s risk, an estimated policy is modified. This allows the carrier to offer the insured the correct insurance coverage, as discussed in Fohr ([0148]).
26. Regarding claim 15, it is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 13 above. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale.
27. With regard to claim 17, Fohr further teaches:
wherein automatically providing the management services for the real-world business entity, allocated to the requesting tenant, using the launched one or more virtual resources comprises:
automatically issuing new polices to customers of the requesting tenant, wherein tasks of issuance are performed, at least in part, by the one or more virtual resources ([0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group. A widget is an application, or a component of an interface, that enables a user to perform a function or access a service. [0140] b. For those users who have brokers/carriers that do not offer a Live Certification, the instant invention can introduce them to a broker/carrier who uses the instant invention system. [0141] c. The instant invention offers a marketplace for Brokers/Carriers to provide introductions to potential customers for a fee. [0142] d. Brokers/carriers using the instant invention will have the opportunity to offer prospective customers insurance policy quotes. Advertising brokers/carriers do not receive customer details until the customer ops in, however the advertising brokers/carriers are able to offer leads quotes based on an Insured's existing policy numbers; [0457] All involved parties may utilize a standardized execution environment which may include but is not limited to: a virtual machine, communicatively connected servers/virtual machines, BDL system(s), a centralized server, cloud environment, container or series of containers, computing cluster, or any other appropriate execution environment or combination thereof.); and
automatically administering claims submitted by customers of the requesting tenant, wherein tasks of claim administration are performed, at least in part, by the one or more virtual resources ([0037] The instant invention provides a real-time environment where the COI information is updated as the insurance status changes. Potential users and processes that benefit from a live proof or a smart certificate of insurance or insurance system include real-time and ongoing (live) proof of insurance, real-time and ongoing (live) proof of compliance with contract requirements, real-time and ongoing (live) data sharing and payment sharing information of insurance policy data between carriers, brokers, regulators, and other insurance counterparties, companies that hire vendors, manufacturers tracking suppliers, manufacturers tracking product supply chains, condo associations, HOAs, and other real estate associations tracking vendor insurance and/or professional licenses, landlords, property owners, property management companies, property managers tracking vendor insurance and/or professional licenses and/or proof of tenant renters' insurance, lenders identifying and needing precise insight into the most qualified and low-risk borrowers, insurance carriers requiring detailed information on potential/renewing insureds to better underwrite policies, regulators investigating insurance fraud, regulators trying to prevent worker misclassifications such as independent contractors versus employee status, carriers needing precise insured and accident information in the claims process, carriers needing a secure method to pay different parties in the claims' lifecycle; [0103] The instant invention using the COI system Request JavaScript Widget on Broker Website. The Broker can add a widget onto the website to allow the user to easily initiate COI request; [0138] The instant invention provides enhancements for the Insurance Marketplace. The instant invention provides the following features: [0139] a. A requestor can easily offer/require that their vendor/supplier signup can add widget onto their website to allow user to easily signup to a captive insurance group; [0457] All involved parties may utilize a standardized execution environment which may include but is not limited to: a virtual machine, communicatively connected servers/virtual machines, BDL system(s), a centralized server, cloud environment, container or series of containers, computing cluster, or any other appropriate execution environment or combination thereof.).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Fohr wherein automatically providing the management services for the real-world business entity, allocated to the requesting tenant, using the launched one or more virtual resources comprises: automatically issuing new polices to customers of the requesting tenant, wherein tasks of issuance are performed, at least in part, by the one or more virtual resources; and automatically administering claims submitted by customers of the requesting tenant, wherein tasks of claim administration are performed, at least in part, by the one or more virtual resources. Both Greenstein and Han teach of using virtual machines in order to carry out a management system for a business entity. Moreover, Greenstein teaches that the management system can be used for insurance administration ([0098]). Additionally, Greenstein mentions how a business can utilize systems provided by a third party in order to implement an integrated business platform for a tenant’s needs ([0101]). Greenstein, however, does not specifically mention that the insurance administration is done for captive insurance. However, Fohr integrates the idea of a third party system by utilizing widgets in order for a business to allow their users to sign up for a captive insurance group. This allows a user to easily sign up for a business’s captive insurance group, as discussed in Fohr ([0138]). Together Greenstein, Han, and Fohr teach the idea of real-world business entities comprising cells of sponsored captive insurance pools. Additionally, Fohr teaches of functionalities of the instant invention that allow for administrative, policy, claim, and metric tasks to be completed upon the request of a user. These tasks are essential for insurance lifecycles and the instant invention of Fohr allows the carriers/brokers access to real-time metrics for COIs issued and details of the certificate holders so as to identify new risks for an insured therefore mitigating risk and providing risk management ([0056]).
28. Regarding claim 19, it is rejected under the same reasoning as claim 12 above. Therefore, it is rejected under the same rationale.
29. Claim 16 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Greenstein et al. US 20200007457 A1 and Han et al. US 20220091970 A1, as applied in claim 14, in further view of Willis et al. US 20100223078 A1.
30. With regard to claim 16, Greenstein and Han teach the method of claim 14 but fail to explicitly teach wherein the recommendation further comprises a recommendation of a domicile for the tenant’s real world business entity, wherein the hybrid cell management system maintains pre-established real-world business entities in a plurality of domiciles.
However, in analogous art, Willis teaches:
wherein the recommendation further comprises a recommendation of a domicile for the tenant’s real world business entity, wherein the hybrid cell management system maintains pre-established real-world business entities in a plurality of domiciles ([0037] The front-end processor may render a help feature that suggests that a user enter or select a desired price that the applicant is willing to pay for insurance. By entering a price, the user causes the client (e.g., remote computer) or quote processor to identify coverages that suit their needs and desired preferences that are sanctioned (or allowed under state, regional law, or governmental laws) within their domicile or a designated area (e.g. a user designated area).).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to combine the teachings of Greenstein and Han with the teachings of Willis wherein the recommendation further comprises a recommendation of a domicile for the tenant’s real world business entity, wherein the hybrid cell management system maintains pre-established real-world business entities in a plurality of domiciles. Together, Greenstein and Han teach instantiating a virtual machine using a template where VM is instantiated for use in a management task for a business entity. Moreover, Greenstein teaches that this management task can be for insurance administration. However, Greenstein and Han do not specifically mention recommendations based on domiciles. Willis, however, mentions the importance of taking into consideration domiciles. When finding insurance policies for a user, it is important to ensure that it both suit their needs and desired preferences that are sanctioned (or allowed under state, regional law, or governmental laws) within their domicile or a designated area (e.g. a user designated area), as discussed in Willis ([0037]).
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.
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/AN-AN NGOC NGUYEN/Examiner, Art Unit 2195
/Aimee Li/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2195
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