DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Continued Examination Under 37 CFR 1.114
A request for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, including the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e), was filed in this application after final rejection. Since this application is eligible for continued examination under 37 CFR 1.114, and the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(e) has been timely paid, the finality of the previous Office action has been withdrawn pursuant to 37 CFR 1.114. Applicant's submission filed on July 13, 2026 has been entered.
Response to Amendment
Claims 1-5 and 7 are pending in the application. Claims 1 and 7 are currently amended. Claim 6 has been canceled. No new claims are currently added.
Response to Arguments
With regard to Applicant’s remarks dated July 13, 2026:
Regarding the rejection of claims 1-7 under 35 U.S.C. 112(b), Applicant’s amendment and arguments have been fully considered. Applicants argue that “claim 1 is amended to clarify two separate cases - first, "when the first private message is based on a second proprietary name, the private transfer protocol server waits for a connection with a second user machine having the second proprietary name, identifies that second user machine based on the second proprietary name, and delivers the first private message to that second user machine," and second, "when the first private message is based on a common name, the first private message is forwarded to an outside network.". However, the claim does not require either one of these conditional situations to ever occur because it does not specify how and where the message is transmitted. Therefore, the rejection is maintained. Examiner provides a possible amendment to resolve this issue in the reasons for rejection below.
Regarding the rejection of claims 1-7 under 35 U.S.C. 103, Applicant’s amendment and arguments have been fully considered and will be persuasive once the claims are amended to resolve the indefiniteness issues explained below.
As to any arguments not specifically addressed, they are the same as those discussed above.
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.
Claims 1-5 and 7 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
As to claim 1, it is unclear under what circumstances a common name would be used and under what circumstances a second proprietary name would be used as a basis for the first private message. As currently claimed, neither “a common name” nor “a second proprietary name” is required be utilized as a basis for the first private message, rendering both “when” conditions indefinite.
Examiner proposes the following changes:
transmitting, via the first self-configuration peer-to-peer virtual private network, a first private message issued by the first user machine to a second user machine through a private transfer protocol server[[,]];
determining, by the private transfer protocol server, whether the first private message includes a second proprietary name or a common name associated with the second user machine,
wherein,
when it is determined that the first private message includes the second proprietary name, the private transfer protocol server waits for a connection with [[a]] the second user machine having the second proprietary name, identifies the second user machine based on the second proprietary name, and delivers the first private message to the second user machine through the first self-configuration peer-to-peer virtual private network, and
when it is determined that the first private message includes the common name, the first private message is forwarded to an outside network.
This (or substantially analogous) amendment would resolve the indefiniteness issue and place the application in condition for allowance.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-5 and 7 would be allowable if rewritten or amended to overcome the rejection under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) set forth in this Office action adopting Examiner-suggested changes or analogous changes that accomplish the same outcome.
Conclusion
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to OLEG SURVILLO whose telephone number is (571)272-9691. The examiner can normally be reached 9:00am - 5:00pm.
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/OLEG SURVILLO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2457
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