Detailed Action
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
This Office action is in response to Applicant’s amendment submitted on 15 June 2026.
Claims 1-5, 11, 16-17 are pending in the application.
Response to Arguments/Remarks
Specification
The specification was objected to because the title of the invention was not descriptive. Applicant has filed an amended the title. Accordingly, the objection has been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
Claims 6-10, 11-15 were 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 subject matter.
Applicant’s amendments to the claims have addressed the rejections. Applicant has canceled claims 6-10, 12-15. Accordingly, the rejections have been withdrawn.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
Claims 1-3, 6-8, 16-17 were rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Franzen et al. US Patent Publication No. 2020/0177494 in view of Zhuang et al. US Patent Publication No. 2023/0239242.
Applicant’s amendments to claims 1, 16, and 17 have overcome the rejection. Therefore, the prior rejection has been withdrawn, and new grounds of rejection are made in this Office action. The new grounds of rejection are necessitated by Applicant's amendment, and accordingly, this Office action is made Final.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of 35 U.S.C. 112(a):
(a) IN GENERAL.—The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor or joint inventor of carrying out the invention.
The following is a quotation of the first paragraph of pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112:
The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(a) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), first paragraph, as failing to comply with the written description requirement. The claim(s) contains subject matter which was not described in the specification in such a way as to reasonably convey to one skilled in the relevant art that the inventor or a joint inventor, or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the inventor(s), at the time the application was filed, had possession of the claimed invention.
The specification does not describe, “acquire, based on an address of each of the plurality of communication interfaces of the information processing apparatus on a network that each of the plurality of communication interfaces connects to and a subnet mask regarding the network, a network number of the network.”
Applicant pointed to paragraphs [0032]-[0034] for support of the limitation. The cited paragraphs disclose storing DNS information regarding a DNS server that the information processing apparatus is able to connect, such as an DNS address and identification information of a communication interface. Paragraph [0050] further discloses connecting to a DNS server, using the DNS information, to acquire an IP address. The specification discloses using an DNS address associated with an interface, which at best is understood to correspond to “an address of communication interface of the information processing apparatus,” to determine an address. The specification, such as on paragraphs [0043],[0045],[0047]), discloses calculating a network number based on a subnet mask on the address, which discloses acquiring a network number based on the subnet mask.
However, the specification does not disclose determining an address or acquiring a network number based on an address of each of the plurality of communication interfaces of the information processing apparatus. A single network number, “a network number of a network” is not determined based on address of each of the plurality of communication interfaces.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 16-17 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.
Regarding claim 16, there is insufficient antecedent basis for “the plurality of communication interfaces.”
Regarding claim 17, there is insufficient antecedent basis for “the plurality of communication interfaces.”
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The text of those sections of Title 35, U.S. Code not included in this action can be found in a prior Office action.
Claims 1-3 and 16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitawaki et al. US Patent Publication No. 2011/0188400 (“Kitawaki”) in view of Zhuang et al. US Patent Publication No. 2023/0239242 (“Zhuang”) and Moberg et al. US Patent No. 6,697,872 (“Moberg”).
Regarding claim 1, Kitawaki teaches a communication system for an information processing apparatus including a plurality of communication interfaces for connecting to a plurality of networks, the communication system comprising: one or a plurality of processors configured to:
determine whether a network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces connect to matches an address of a communication destination;
in a case where the network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces connect to matches the address of the communication destination, connect to the communication destination using a communication interface that connects to the network whose network number matches the network number of the address of the communication destination (para. [0052] router 6 is provided with a plurality of communication interfaces, to be coupled to a plurality of networks. para. [0089] transfer type "direct" indicates that the communication interface identified by the interface ID stored in the field 234 is directly coupled to the network indicated by the destination IP address stored in the field 233);
determine, based on correspondence information in which a network number of each of the plurality of networks accessible via a gateway on the network that the information processing apparatus is able to connect to and a communication interface used for connecting to the gateway are associated with each other, a communication interface to be used for connecting to a network having a network number that matches the address of the communication destination from among the plurality of communication interfaces (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. para. [0086] field 233 stores information that specifies a destination IP address as a key for searching for a transfer destination. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address stored in the field 233 are outputted); and
connect to the communication destination using the determined communication interface (para. [0052] each router 6 is a network device that transfers packet data by using a routing table. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address).
Kitawaki discloses determining whether a network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces matches an address of a communication destination. Kitawaki does not teach matching a network number of each of the plurality of networks and a network number of an address of a communication destination.
Kitawaki teaches determining, based on the correspondence information, a communication interface to be used but not in a case where the network numbers do not match.
Zhuang teaches determining a network of an address and determining, based on a network number of an address of a communication destination, a communication interface to be used (para. [0045] network device 11 is connected to the network domain 1 through an interface I1, is connected to the network device 12 through an interface O2, and is connected to the network device 13 through an interface O3. para. [0046] determine that the destination address 1 matches the prefix 1 in the FIB table entry 1, and obtains a next-hop outgoing interface O2. para. [0060] attribute of the first prefix is the same as the attribute of the destination address. para. [0061] attribute of a prefix of each FIB table entry in the plurality of generated FIB table entries is the same as an attribute of a destination address). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki with Zhuang’s disclosure of determining and matching a network number of an address of the destination with the network number of a network. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for benefits of using a particular attribute of the destination address for routing, which would have improved processing efficiency and performance (para. [0005],[0006]).
Moberg discloses the concept of first determining whether a packet can be sent directly to a communication destination using one or more interfaces, and if not, determining another router to send the packet (col. 4, lines 3-5. router…to allow for the transfer of packets between networks with different protocols. col. 4, lines 5-16. router 20 maintains tables of adjacent routers and LANs on the network. when the router 20 receives the packet, it looks at these tables to see if it can send the packet directly to the destination specified in the packet. if the packet cannot be sent directly to its destination, the router 20 determines the location of another router which can forward the packet to its destination). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki and Zhuang with Moberg’s disclosure of first determining if the packet can be directly sent to the destination and if not, determining a path for the address of the destination such that the apparatus of Kitawaki first determines whether the packet can be directly sent using any of the interfaces of the apparatus, and after determining that there is not an interface of the router to directly send the packet to the destination, determining the communication interface “based on correspondence information” is performed. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to have reduced overhead with other routers and for providing distributed packet processing (col. 55, lines 55-64).
Regarding claim 16, Kitawaki teaches a non-transitory computer readable medium storing a program causing a computer to execute a process for controlling the computer that is able to connect to a plurality of networks, the process comprising:
acquiring route information on each of the plurality of networks that the computer is able to connect to from a gateway on the network (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. para. [0115] transfer destination information collection part 130 communicates with the network devices on the monitored network through the communication part 500, to collect transfer destination information);
storing correspondence information in which a network number of a network accessible via the gateway obtained from the acquired route information and a communication interface used for connecting to the gateway are associated with each other into a memory device (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. para. [0086] field 233 stores information that specifies a destination IP address as a key for searching for a transfer destination. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address stored in the field 233 are outputted);
determining whether a network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces connect to matches an address of a communication destination;
in a case where the network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces connect to matches the address of the communication destination, connecting to the communication destination using a communication interface that connects to the network whose network number matches the network number of the address of the communication destination (para. [0052] router 6 is provided with a plurality of communication interfaces, to be coupled to a plurality of networks. para. [0089] a transfer type "direct" indicates that the communication interface identified by the interface ID stored in the field 234 is directly coupled to the network indicated by the destination IP address stored in the field 233);
determining, based on the address of the communication destination and the correspondence information stored in the memory device, a communication interface to be used (para. [0086] field 233 stores information that specifies a destination IP address as a key for searching for a transfer destination. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address stored in the field 233 are outputted); and
connecting to the communication destination using the determined communication interface para. [0052] each router 6 is a network device that transfers packet data by using a routing table. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address).
Kitawaki discloses determining whether a network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces matches an address of a communication destination. Kitawaki does not teach matching a network number of each of the plurality of networks and a network number of an address of a communication destination.
Kitawaki teaches determining, based on the correspondence information, a communication interface to be used but not in a case where the network numbers do not match.
Zhuang teaches determining a network of an address and determining, based on a network number of an address of a communication destination, a communication interface to be used (para. [0045] network device 11 is connected to the network domain 1 through an interface I1, is connected to the network device 12 through an interface O2, and is connected to the network device 13 through an interface O3. para. [0046] determine that the destination address 1 matches the prefix 1 in the FIB table entry 1, and obtains a next-hop outgoing interface O2. para. [0060] attribute of the first prefix is the same as the attribute of the destination address. para. [0061] attribute of a prefix of each FIB table entry in the plurality of generated FIB table entries is the same as an attribute of a destination address). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki with Zhuang’s disclosure of determining and matching a network number of an address of the destination with the network number of a network. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for benefits of using a particular attribute of the destination address for routing, which would have improved processing efficiency and performance (para. [0005],[0006]).
Moberg discloses the concept of first determining whether a packet can be sent directly to a communication destination using one or more interfaces, and if not, determining another router to send the packet (col. 4, lines 3-5. router…to allow for the transfer of packets between networks with different protocols. col. 4, lines 5-16. router 20 maintains tables of adjacent routers and LANs on the network. when the router 20 receives the packet, it looks at these tables to see if it can send the packet directly to the destination specified in the packet. if the packet cannot be sent directly to its destination, the router 20 determines the location of another router which can forward the packet to its destination). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki and Zhuang with Moberg’s disclosure of first determining if the packet can be directly sent to the destination and if not, determining a path for the address of the destination such that the apparatus of Kitawaki first determines whether the packet can be directly sent using any of the interfaces of the apparatus, and after determining that there is not an interface of the router to directly send the packet to the destination, determining the communication interface “based on correspondence information” is performed. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so in order to have reduced overhead with other routers and for providing distributed packet processing (col. 55, lines 55-64).
Regarding claim 2, Kitawaki in view of Zhuang teach the communication system according to claim 1. Kitawaki teaches wherein the one or the plurality of processors are configured to:
acquire route information on each of the plurality of networks that the information processing apparatus is able to connect to using the plurality of communication interfaces from the gateway on the network (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. one transfer destination information table 230 is generated for each device. para. [0115] transfer destination information collection part 130 communicates with the network devices on the monitored network through the communication part 500, to collect transfer destination information);
store correspondence information in which a network number of a network accessible via the gateway obtained from the acquired route information and a communication interface used for connecting to the gateway are associated with each other into a memory device (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. para. [0086] field 233 stores information that specifies a destination IP address as a key for searching for a transfer destination. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address stored in the field 233 are outputted); and
determine, based on the correspondence information stored in the memory device, the communication interface to be used for connecting to the network having the network number that matches the address of the communication destination (para. [0052] each router 6 is a network device that transfers packet data by using a routing table. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address).
Kitawaki does not teach the network number of the address of the communication destination. Zhuang teaches determining, based on a correspondence information stored in a memory device, the communication interface to be used for having the network number that matches the network number of the address of the communication destination (para. [0045] network device 11 is connected to the network domain 1 through an interface I1, is connected to the network device 12 through an interface O2, and is connected to the network device 13 through an interface O3. para. [0046] FIB table entry 1 includes a prefix 1 and O2 (that is, an identifier of a next-hop outgoing interface from the network device 11 to the network device 12). para. [0048] correspondence between 64598 and redirection to the network device 13 (which, for example, may be an identifier O3 of a next outgoing interface from the network device 11. para. [0061] network device may generate a plurality of FIB table entries based on the BGP FlowSpec information, and an attribute of a prefix of each FIB table entry in the plurality of generated FIB table entries is the same as an attribute of a destination address). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki with Zhuang’s disclosure of determining, based on a correspondence information stored in a memory device, a communication interface to be used for having the network number that matches the network number of the address of the communication destination. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for benefits of using a particular attribute of the destination address, which would improve processing efficiency and performance (para. [0005],[0006]).
Regarding claim 3, Kitawaki in view of Zhuang and Moberg teach the communication system according to claim 2, wherein the one or the plurality of processors are configured to acquire the route information according to a preset acquisition condition, regardless of whether or not communication to the address of the communication destination is made (Kitawaki: para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. one transfer destination information table 230 is generated for each device. para. [0115] transfer destination information collection part 130 communicates with the network devices on the monitored network through the communication part 500, to collect transfer destination information).
Claim 4 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitawaki in view of Zhuang, Moberg, and Statia US Patent Publication No. 2009/0158416 (“Statia”).
Regarding claim 4, Kitawaki does not teach the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the one or the plurality of processors are configured to: in a case where the communication destination is specified by a host name, request a DNS server that the information processing apparatus is able to connect to for name resolution; and extract a network number of the address of the communication destination obtained as a result of the name resolution and determine the communication interface to be used for connecting to the network having the network number that matches the extracted network number.
Statia discloses in a case where a communication destination is specified by a host name, request a DNS server that the information processing apparatus is able to connect to for name resolution; and an address of the communication destination obtained as a result of the name resolution (para. [0057] connection request may be received from a first device. para. [0057] connection request may include a host name or other designator for a destination device. address may be resolved in block 304 by performing a DNS query against an internal database of host names and addresses or by querying a public DNS server). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki and Zhuang with Statia’s disclosure of determining an address as a result of a name resolution and Zhuang’s disclosure of determining a network number of address such that the address used to determine network number of address of the communication destination as disclosed by Zhuang is obtaining as a result of the name resolution. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for providing the capability to determine the address when a request includes another designator of the destination such as a host name.
Claim 5 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitawaki in view of Zhuang, Moberg, Statia, and Iyer et al. US Patent Publication No. 2024/0022539 (“Chan”).
Regarding claim 5, Kitawaki does not teach the communication system according to claim 4, wherein DNS information in which an address of a DNS server that is able to be connected using the plurality of communication interfaces and a communication interface that is able to be used for connecting to the DNS server among the plurality of communication interfaces are associated with each other is stored in a memory device of the information processing apparatus, and wherein the one or the plurality of processors are configured to determine, based on the DNS information, the communication interface that is to connect to the DNS server and request, using the communication interface, the DNS server for name resolution.
Iyer discloses wherein DNS information in which an address of a DNS server that is able to be connected using the plurality of communication interfaces and a communication interface that is able to be used for connecting to the DNS server among the plurality of communication interfaces are associated with each other is stored in a memory device of the information processing apparatus, and wherein the one or the plurality of processors are configured to determine, based on the DNS information, the communication interface that is to connect to the DNS server and request, using the communication interface, the DNS server for name resolution (para. [0034] selects the router's next-hop interface that is associated with one first-tier service machine from several next-hop interfaces that are associated with the several service machines of the first-tier group. passes the DNS request along this next-hop interface. para. [0035] selected first-tier service machine… then performs an L3 and DNS policy-based lookup for the FQDN in the DNS request). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki and Zhuang with Iyer’s disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for benefits of managing traffic among a plurality of DNS servers.
Claim 11 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitawaki in view of Zhuang, Chan et al. US Patent Publication No. 2018/0262461 (“Chan”), and Dharmadhikari et al. US Patent Publication No. 2003/0065816 (“Dharmadhikari”).
Regarding claim 11, Kitawaki does not teach the communication system according to claim 1, wherein the one or the plurality of processors are configured to acquire, based on an address of each of the plurality of communication interfaces of the information processing apparatus on a network that each of the plurality of communication interfaces connects to and a subnet mask regarding the network, a network number of the network.
Chan discloses one or a plurality of processors configured to acquire, based on an address of each of a plurality of communication interfaces of an information processing apparatus on a network that each of the plurality of communication interfaces connects to, a network number (para. [0047] access network, IP. para. [0053] when gateway 101 has selected one or more DNS servers for resolving DNS request, gateway 101 will then determine which WAN interface is used to transmit the one or more new DNS requests. when gateway 101 has selected one or more WAN interfaces for transmitting the one or more new DNS requests, gateway 101 will then determine which DNS servers will be used for solving the new DNS requests). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki and Zhuang with Chan’s disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for providing the capability define selection of a DNS server for network for purposes as described in Chan.
Dharmadhikari discloses acquiring, based on a subnet mask regarding the network, a network number of the network (para. [0032] routing tables also typically include a subnet mask and a gateway IP address. para. [0033] subnet mask defines what portion of the destination IP address must match for that route to be used. subnet mask of 255.255.255.255 (i.e. all "ones" in binary) means that the destination IP address must match exactly). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki, Zhuang, and Chan with Dharmadhikari’s disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so because Dharmadhikari would have provided the capability to identify and match a particular portion of a destination address for routing (para. [0033]).
Claim 17 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Kitawaki et al. US Patent Publication No. 2011/0188400 (“Kitawaki”) in view of Zhuang et al. US Patent Publication No. 2023/0239242 (“Zhuang”).
Regarding claim 17, Kitawaki teaches a communication method for controlling a computer that is able to connect to a plurality of networks, the communication method comprising:
acquiring route information on each of the plurality of networks that the computer is able to connect to from a gateway on the network (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. one transfer destination information table 230 is generated for each device. para. [0115] transfer destination information collection part 130 communicates with the network devices on the monitored network through the communication part 500, to collect transfer destination information);
storing correspondence information in which a network number of a network accessible via the gateway obtained from the acquired route information and a communication interface used for connecting to the gateway are associated with each other into a memory device (para. [0081] destination information table 230 stores transfer destination information of a device (for example, a router) on the monitored network. para. [0086] field 233 stores information that specifies a destination IP address as a key for searching for a transfer destination. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address stored in the field 233 are outputted);
determining whether a network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces connect to matches an address of a communication destination;
in a case where the network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces connect to matches the address of the communication destination, connecting to the communication destination using a communication interface that connects to the network whose network number matches the network number of the address of the communication destination (para. [0052] router 6 is provided with a plurality of communication interfaces, to be coupled to a plurality of networks. para. [0089] transfer type "direct" indicates that the communication interface identified by the interface ID stored in the field 234 is directly coupled to the network indicated by the destination IP address stored in the field 233);
in a case where the network numbers do not match, determining, based on the network number of the address of the communication destination and the correspondence information stored in the memory device, a communication interface to be used (Note: This step is not required because the claim does not require a condition that the network numbers do not match. The claim does not require both steps, network numbers “match” and “do not match.” See MPEP 2111.04 Contingent Limitations); and
connecting to the communication destination using the determined communication interface (para. [0052] each router 6 is a network device that transfers packet data by using a routing table. para. [0087] field 234 stores information that specifies an interface ID of a communication interface to which IP packets destined for the destination IP address).
Kitawaki discloses determining whether a network number of any one of the networks that the plurality of communication interfaces matches an address of a communication destination. Kitawaki does not teach matching a network number of each of the plurality of networks and a network number of an address of a communication destination.
Zhuang teaches determining a network of an address and determining, based on a network number of an address of a communication destination, a communication interface to be used (para. [0045] network device 11 is connected to the network domain 1 through an interface I1, is connected to the network device 12 through an interface O2, and is connected to the network device 13 through an interface O3. para. [0046] determine that the destination address 1 matches the prefix 1 in the FIB table entry 1, and obtains a next-hop outgoing interface O2. para. [0060] attribute of the first prefix is the same as the attribute of the destination address. para. [0061] attribute of a prefix of each FIB table entry in the plurality of generated FIB table entries is the same as an attribute of a destination address). It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to have modified Kitawaki with Zhuang’s disclosure of determining and matching a network number of an address of the destination with the network number of a network. One of ordinary skill in the in the art would have been motivated to do so for benefits of using a particular attribute of the destination address for routing, which would have improved processing efficiency and performance (para. [0005],[0006]).
Examiner’s Note
The following prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Viger et al. US Patent Publication No. 2010/0095002 discloses the concept of first determining whether a network number of any of a network that a plurality of communication interfaces connect to match an address of a communication destination, and if not, determining a path for the communication destination (para. [0137] if the IP destination address belongs to one of the subnets to which one of the interfaces of the router is directly connected…, router then sends the datagram on the concerned subnet. if the destination IP address is part of a subnet to which none of the interfaces of the router is directly connected, the router consults its routing table which is a table that defines the path to be taken for a given address).
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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/JOSHUA JOO/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2445
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